Making sure nobody gets left behind; “We’ve made sure that even our employees living in apartments with no outdoor space get to enjoy the amazing produce grown by their colleagues”
Sri Lanka’s most innovative, and leading sustainable fibre cement board provider – El Toro has taken another step towards sustainable living. Fresh from recently being ranked in the 2022 Great Place to Work® list, El Toro’s pragmatism and positivity has guided them towards an amazing sustainable practice to increase their employees’ quality of life. The current economic crisis has adversely affected us all and as a responsible corporate citizen El Toro has decided to serve its employee community with sustainability. As food prices get more inflated, a choice we have is grow our own –a sustainable practice that will also lead to community growth through the sharing of excess fruits and vegetables.
El Toro hopes to initiate the project via the sharing of fruits and vegetable seeds among its employees, for self-sufficient gardening – with the intention of educating and sharing knowledge to bring their employees further along the path of sustainability and create future that is independent and plentiful. All employees will receive a variety of seeds for growing, which will be determined by understanding employees’ soil composition and tending time availability. A WhatsApp group has also been created for sharing information, data, and progress with regards to the cultivation; this will assist employees to help each other and share their insights and create excitement and a sense of togetherness. Here people will be able to motivate each other and watch each other’s hard work come to fruition. To further the cause of camaraderie, employees who participate in this initiative are also encouraged to share what they do not consume with those who could not, due to various reasons such as: not having a yard, living in an apartment, or simply not having the time. All these factors will lead to further strengthening the sense of community El Toro has nurtured, and which employees enjoy and cherish, making the journey to sustainability steadier and faster.
“It is El Toro’s belief that true sustainability comes from a steadfast confidence in doing the right thing for the world at large, this is why green initiatives like this are close to every one of our stakeholders’ hearts. The path to sustainability is a rocky road with many obstacles and hard left turns but sustainability is a science and not an art, so with every obstacle we learn something that helps us strengthen ourselves for the next challenge. This new initiative, although sounds small, is a momentous step in the right direction; quite soon we won’t be able to fathom why we were not doing this the entire time. We firmly believe that sustainability, innovation and out-of-the box thinking is the key to the future and we will take every step possible to usher in a brighter future – through our products, initiatives, vision and people.” said Manoj Weeraman – CEO of El Toro, speaking on the accolade.
El Toro believes that making business decisions while keeping the Earth in mind reaps immense benefits, especially if you make decisions based on the sustainable future of the earth. Doing things the green way can lead to more economical businesses in the future, unpolluted water and air will lead to better productivity and overall quality of life improvements. This is what El Toro envisions, a world made better through sustainable practices and innovation.