Trees have many benefits that extend beyond their beauty. They offer social, environmental and economic benefits for years after they are planted. Trees not only create an ecosystem to provide habitat and food for birds and numerous other animals but also absorb carbon dioxide and other potentially harmful gases, reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Because of this, Lexmark employees have planted trees around the world in parks, schools, cities and forests. Other reasons include reforestation due to invasive species, natural disaster recovery, park revitalizations, community improvements, and tree canopy improvement needs to reduce larger city heat island effects.
While there are countless benefits for planting trees, there is an additional reason that Lexmark has prioritized tree planting in our global community efforts. Lifecycle assessment analyses on our devices show that the largest environmental impact associated with printing is paper consumption during the use phase. Planting trees is a way that Lexmark can offset this impact.
Lexmark partnered with Arbor Day Foundation, planting 10,000 white and red mangroves in Ile a Vache, Haite in 2022. Haiti's mangrove forests help stabilize shorelines, improve the quality of the water and provide a natural habitat for fish and other coastal sea life in addition to supporting coral reef health.
Lexmark India employees have been working with local non-profit organizations to plant trees as part of the Cyclone Amphan recovery. For example, 2,350 native species saplings and over 1,000 mangroves were planted in areas of need after the devastation.
Since 2000, Lexmark has given over 72,000 native species tree seedlings to U.S. employees to plant at their homes or in the community. This is an Earth Day tradition that employees look forward to each year.
Lexmark has teamed up with various organizations and customers to plant trees in communities around the world. Since 2008, Lexmark has planted over 627,456 trees, the majority of which were donated by Lexmark and planted by our employees.
Examples of Lexmark reforestation teamwork include the following:
Many tree planting efforts were put on hold due to the pandemic but are planned to continue as when possible.
