Car manufacturers aren’t all bad apparently, whilst some are lying to you and poisoning the planet, Jaguar Land Rover are out in Kenya working on a project that will provide 300,000 school pupils from Bungoma water that is safe to drink. This is part of a CSR initiative that is on going and has already gained the company a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development for ‘reducing the environmental impact of its vehicles and operations’.
Their current efforts in Africa are in conjunction with ClimateCare and Vestergaard who are experts in the area, Jaguar Land Rover are investing in a water filtration technology, the project will run for the next five years and will hopefully improve students in there area’s health, education and employment prospects, so it’s more far reaching than simply clean water. Makes me feel a little less guilty about my second hand Jaguar S-Type that does about 2 miles per gallon.
Nigel Clarke, Operations Director of Jaguar Land Rover Sub-Saharan Africa said, “As a responsible business which is pioneering new technologies and innovations to reduce the impact of our vehicles, it makes sense for us to invest in new technologies which are tackling other sustainability issues around the world. These ambitions are embedded into the core of our business. That’s why we have set ourselves an ambitious target to create opportunities for 12 million people globally by 2020. Through our support, we hope to inspire and create opportunities for our future consumers and employees.
Africa is a key growth market for us. By supporting the provision of appropriate and effective water purifier technology we are creating opportunities for over 300,000 school-children in western Kenya – giving them the opportunity for a better education and greater opportunity to learn and excel. By 2020, we will create opportunities for three million people in Africa, which will reaffirm our commitment to grow our global business sustainably and responsibly.’
It really brings you back to earth when your worrying about the cost of fuel or whether theres enough of it, whilst huge portions of the worlds population haven’t even got access to clean water. So next time you take your gas guzzling second hand Land Rover Freelander for a spin, you can feel a little bit better about yourself, as you are supporting a company, albeit indirectly and minimally, who are helping others.
