Bayer employee-volunteers and Students join the Campaign

Reaffirming its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, Bayer employee-volunteers, along with students from their Partner in Education school, Magnolia High, recently rolled up their sleeves and grabbed their spades as the company announced it had joined the the Billion Tree Campaign.

Participants planted trees along the re-routed Beaver Run, a wetland mitigation project under way on 25 acres at the south end of the Bayer New Martinsville plant site.

This announcement by Bayer marks the local commitment to the company’s global pledge to UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, which strives to combat climate change by encouraging individuals and organizations to plant at least 1 billion trees around the world by the end of 2007. Earlier this spring, Bayer AG in Germany pledged to help plant trees in Nairobi, and Bayer Corp. in the United States pledged $100,000 from the Bayer Foundation to the National Arbor Day Foundation to help plant 100,000 trees in an effort to reforest America’s national parks damaged by fire, drought, disease and disaster.

In addition, through its local Making Science Make Sense program, Bayer is providing free environmental education CDs to Magnolia High School students and teachers. The CDs feature fun facts about trees and the environment, hands-on science activities and several MSMS audio series segments, like “Why do leaves change colors?” and “Why do pruned trees grow fuller?”

“Making Science Make Sense is about providing students with the kind of quality experiential science education that builds science literacy,” said Debby Stauver, Bayer New Martinsville’s MSMS liaison. “With the Billion Tree Campaign, we at Bayer are able to help students make the connection between science literacy and climate, while reinforcing the notion that everyone has a responsibility when it comes to environmental protection — from the largest companies like Bayer that are working to develop innovative and environmentally sound products and practices, to private citizens who can help by carpooling, shutting off light switches and, in this case, planting trees.”

The impact of trees on climate is well documented. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1 acre of forest absorbs 6 tons of carbon dioxide and puts out 4 tons of oxygen, enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people. In addition, the net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.

Stauver said in addition to the six trees planted at Beaver Run, Bayer also recently sponsored an Eagle Scout environmental project at the site. The first phase of the “Habitat Improvement” project involved teams of Scouts and Bayer employee-volunteers installing wood duck nesting boxes, bluebird houses, bat nesting boxes and osprey nesting platforms. The second phase will have the Eagle Scouts monitoring the boxes and platforms and establishing a database to track the various species that are using the habitat area. This information will ultimately be shared with the West Virginia Department of Wildlife and The Wildlife Habitat Council.

Making Science Make Sense is Bayer’s company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education. Currently, Bayer’s New Martinsville site is one of 12 Bayer sites around the country that operate local MSMS programs, which together feature a national volunteer corps of more than 1,000 employees.

In New Martinsville, Bayer has formed Partnerships in Education with five local schools — Magnolia High School, Washington Lands Elementary School, St. Francis Xavier School, Our Lady of Peace School and St. Michael Parish School. Some of the science-related activities include chemical demonstrations in the classroom or at other special programs, plant tours for science classes, class visits to the NASA Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling Jesuit University and outstanding science and math student awards. Also, Bayer employees participate in career fairs, serve as judges for science fairs and help students and parents on “how to do” a science fair project. Two of the partner elementary schools participate in Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission’s Riverwatch Program with the help of Bayer employees who are involved in the partnership. This program includes sampling and testing the quality of water in the Ohio River. More>>

Source : The Intelligencer - Wheeling News Register