Kumon's Environmental Activities that
Spread throughout the World

The environmental data of the Group’s companies in Japan show favorable results for FY2018. Compared with the previous year, electricity use was 93.6%, paper usage was 79.0%, and paper recycling was 99.5%.

The Kumon Institute of Education introduced multi-function copy machines on a nationwide scale in January of 2018. At the same time personal recognition IC cards were introduced. Together, these measures have raised environmental awareness and led to a reduction in the usage of paper. In addition, work reforms have been introduced wherein digital means for information communication and exchange are being promoted. As more and more paper documents are replaced by digital means, we can expect further savings in paper usage in the future.

The Kumon Chiba Distribution Center (the logistics warehouse responsible for the distribution of all Kumon Publishing productions) has replaced all of the lighting in its warehouse space, work space, and office space to LED lighting. In addition, the roof of the warehouse has been reinforced with insulation material that is highly efficient and this has led to a reduction in the costs for heating and air conditioning. Furthermore, revision of work practices and usage of ICT have enabled a reduction in operation hours, and energy savings and paperless operations are also being promoted.

Environmental Data in Japan

In the area there were a great many discarded cigarette butts. The Green Team cleaned up the smoking area on Earth Day. A total of 15 pounds of garbage and five pounds of cigarette butts were collected. The cigarette butts were recycled via the Terra Cycle company. Cigarette butts cannot be used for composting and are one of the worst forms of global pollution. The Green Team hopes that everyone will keep this point in mind in the future.

The goal of the Kumon Green Team is to raise awareness of the environment through proactively carrying out activities such as cleaning up outside areas. It is necessary to take small actions that are beneficial to the environment. Each of us hope to become models and ensure that our building becomes as environmentally friendly as possible.

We have also done such things as promoting the placement of flowers and plants in offices, attached packets of vegetable seeds to bulletin boards, and encouraged gardening. Staff can take home the packets of vegetable seeds they are interested in and plant them in their own gardens. Staff were also invited to color in a poster which says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better it’s not.” *

*Quote from Dr. Seuss’s book The Lorax

So far, we have been doing many activities regarding the environment to reduce paper, water, and electricity usage. This year, as well as improving the quality of those activities, we expanded our contribution outside the company, which is planting trees.

This Go Green – Family Gathering activity was held in each branch office. Surabaya had it on September 15th and Bali held the gathering on September 30th. For Jakarta Head Office, it was held last month on 29th September 2018.
125 Jakarta staff together with their family joined this activity making 287 participants in total. We planted trees in Mount Gede Pangrango National Park, Bogor. All participants actively planted about 135 trees in this area.

By this activity, Kumon Indonesia would like to make a real contribution to Go Green. In addition, it is expected that staff and their families will be able to implement these activities in their respective neighborhoods so that they will also spread the message to their surrounding environment.

Firstly, they have been circulating news throughout the company on a regular basis regarding environmental data and environmental news. They have been confirming reductions in electricity and paper usage while striving to realize further reductions in the future. Staff are stimulated to make further improvements when they keep the numerical data regarding environmental management in mind. Kumon China will continue to reduce the usage of energy and resources in the future.

Secondly, we share green information and tips with staff via email. We highly encourage every staff member to apply green thinking to their daily life so that environmental protection can gradually become a habit at work. Kumon Shanghai (KSH) and Kumon Guangdong (KGD) highly encourage staff to exchange digital files instead of printed documents to share information.

Last but not least, we attached “green tips” to electronic devices such as printers, fax machines, and paper shredders. Kumon Beijing Trading (KBT) inspires staff to take green actions right away, such as turning off machines or turning on the energy saving mode when not in use. Kumon Beijing (KBJ) promotes duplex printing (using both sides of paper) which saves on printing output. Each office places a box of used paper that has already been printed on one side next to the printer to urge staff to print using recycled paper.

We achieved savings on our office equipment rental bill by introducing new printers in 2018. In addition, in-house printing became more efficient and environmentally friendly. The office equipment was chosen based on the following criteria:

• A supplier who strove to maintain the highest standards to preserve our environment, committed to environmental sustainability.
• A supplier who was committed to eliminating the use of persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic materials, and heavy metals throughout the supply chain.
• A supplier who was investing and using technologies that reduce the energy and carbon emissions by cutting energy use by providing energy-efficient products and solutions.
• A supplier whose products were designed to use resources efficiently-minimizing waste and reusing or recycling materials.

These new printers are easier on the environment and allow us to better grasp the amount of paper we are using. We are also able to understand how may trees must be replanted to replace the paper we have used. The introduction of these new printers will make us more aware of our responsibility to the environment.