Our commitment to sustainability and giving back.
We fundamentally believe that a company is responsible for providing more benefits than just profits for shareholders. A company has a role to play in treating its employees well, preserving the environment, respecting fair trade, respecting cultural differences and supporting philanthropy, amongst others.
The sustainability of teak wood.
By design, teak wood plantations are where teak wood trees are grown and managed for long-term sustainability. Plantations are usually planted in rows and trees in any given part of the plantation and are even-aged.
Every planted tree is harvested during thinning and at maturity and then replanting is done to replace the harvested trees. This keeps the plantation at full environmental benefit level at any given time.
Teak trees can be considered carbon-negative.
When mammals, including humans, breathe, we use the oxygen in the air and breathe out CO2. Trees do the exact opposite. They breathe air, absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, turn it into timber fibres, locking away the carbon and releasing oxygen back into the environment. Therefore, teak wood trees can be considered a carbon-negative material so long as the timber is reused or recycled at the end of the product’s life. In the worst case it can be used for biomass energy.
The importance of responsible harvesting.
If timber is harvested irresponsibly or allowed to decay in tropical or temperate forests, a typical tree that was storing carbon and helping to balance the oxygen and CO2 in our atmosphere releases CO2 back into the atmosphere. However, in teak plantations the mature trees are harvested at an age where it is no longer in its peak growth period. It is not turning as much carbon into timber anymore. The area is then replanted and the saplings become trees and continue growing at a fast rate. When a tree grows, every fibre of timber is carbon that is being taken from the environment and stored in the tree.
Our model is sustainable and keeps disruption to a minimum.
This does a world of good for our environment. Every tree is replaced by a new one. It is a totally sustainable model for years to come. It also keeps disruption of wildlife to a minimum. Deforestation has caused numerous species of animals and plants to become extinct or near extinct. Teak wood plantations ensure that deforestation will not occur. The result is that we have more species of plants, more species of animals and a slower rate of climate change. All because of responsible plantation practices. It is important to note that mature teak wood plantations have the lowest energy used in its processing, production, and transport, from tree to end user, than any of any mainstream building materials. This is mainly because teak wood requires only minimal processing compared to other materials. Every cubic metre of teak wood, used instead of other materials, is estimated to save a total of 2 tons of carbon dioxide.
The recyclability of scrap metal.
There are significant ecological benefits of scrap metal recycling. A few decades back scrap metal was treated as a part of the waste collection and disposal process. However, a shift in the thinking of governmental regulatory bodies and the consumer focus towards sustainability has raised awareness to just how vital scrap metal recycling is, placing metal recycling at the centre of a sustainable future.
The trade of scrap metal gives this "waste" a second life.
Metals can be recycled an infinite number of times whilst retaining their original properties. There is really no need to smelt new metals if the supply of scrap metal is not exceeding demand. Such recycling offers three key benefits.
It saves the planet's resources.
The amount of metals in the earth’s crust we have access to is limited. With every day of mining, we reduce the resources we have left. Recycling metals can slow this process down, but we don’t recycle nearly enough to stop it. However we do hope that one day the entire metal space will be of recycled metal.
The use of scrap metal lowers carbon dioxide emissions.
Since recycling uses a lot less energy than we need to mine and process the new materials, it would also allow us to conserve the resources needed to produce that energy. For instance, it takes approximately the same amount of energy to make one can from raw materials as it does to make 20 cans from recycled metal. Metals such as Aluminium and Copper can save you more than 75% in energy bills when using recycled metal instead of natural resources too.
Natural habitats are left undisturbed.
Metal is acquired through the mining of metal ores and most metal ores are found in untouched landscapes. There are very few processes as damaging to the environment as mining because creating a mine site is impossible without destroying the surrounding habitats and landscapes. We also cannot forget about the risk of soil and water contamination that comes with the whole process. That’s why limiting the number of mines will be very beneficial.
The power of education.
We believe our business model and our values take care of almost all aspects of our Corporate Social Responsibility except in terms of supporting philanthropy.
We have therefore made a conscious choice to take on philanthropy as a standalone initiative, and within that large space have chosen to focus our limited resources towards ‘Education of the Girl Child’.
Through our partnership with IIMPACT (www.iimpact.net), we sponsor the entire operational expenses of 2 primary schools educating 70 young girls up to the age of 12 years. The schools are located at Village Darigachi (from April 2011) and Village Aamgachi (from October 2013) in District Kishanganj, Bihar State, India. Apart from this initiative we have also made significant investments in teaching aids, from laptops to blackboards to books to wall charts, for several schools in South Asia.
As we grow, we intend to make significant and highly focussed investments of our time and capital towards philanthropy.