What Are We Doing?

Since its first celebration on April 22, 1970, Earth Day has grown to become the largest secular holiday in the world. What began as a day of peaceful protests all across America has developed into an international environmental movement, with participants in more than 140 countries. Ever since the launch of the Global Energy Initiative, our businesses have come together to play a major part in those yearly celebrations. And 2013 is no different.

Check out our Earth Day 2013 Case Study to discover some of the environmental projects our businesses have taken on.

In an effort to make sustainable transportation options even more accessible for employees, Fox Networks Group has partnered with Blink to offer Electric Vehicle charging at multiple locations on the Fox Lot in Los Angeles.

Blink is an electric vehicle charging infrastructure of charging stations, software, and online service components that make up the Blink Network. The Network allows users to find nearby charging stations for their electric vehicles in any city where Blink chargers are operational.

Fox employees hoping to take advantage of the new system can register for a Blink Card through Fox and enjoy waived membership fees for the remainder of 2013.

Find out more about the Blink Network and electric vehicles here.

One of the easiest ways to reduce one's carbon footprint is to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags, and Fox is now encouraging employees to do just that.

Fox joined hundreds of cities and countries around the world in replacing the single-use plastic bags at the food outlets on the Fox Lot in Los Angeles with reusable to-go bags, which will save an estimated 112,000 plastic bags per year. Fox distributed these bags to employees for free at the annual Wellness Fair on March 14.

The initiative is one more step Fox is taking to reduce its impact on the environment, by shrinking its waste system and helping to protect marine life.

MORE »

"We just might be looking at the most environmentally conscious blockbusters ever to grace the silver screen," wrote Mother Nature Network blogger Michael d'Estries about the announcement that the production of 20th Century Fox's Avatar sequels will be solar powered.

Last summer, James Cameron announced that MBS Media Campus in Southern California will serve as the setting for filming the next two sequels to 2009's Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time. Cameron intends to make the production of the films carbon neutral, as MBS features an extensive water conservation program, a campaign to encourage greener employee transportation, and eco-friendly paints and cleaning products.

To provide the electricity needed for the films' production, the campus installed a 960 kilowatt solar array. The solar system, developed and fitted by Stellar Energy, was completed in September 2012 and will offset over 1,034 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Matt Lugar, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Stellar Energy, said, "This solar project is an excellent example of how our smart businesses are reaping the rewards of solar energy and also illustrating how to be intelligent stewards of the planet at a point in our history when the global community desperately needs more leaders like them."

Cameron seconded Lugar's statement, calling these environmental efforts "a moral responsibility to the planet." Fox also announced that it will donate a large portion of the films' box office earnings to environmental causes.

The decision to make the films' production carbon neutral is the latest in a series of efforts to use the Avatar brand to effect positive change in the environment. When the Avatar DVD was released in 2010, Fox launched the Home Tree Initiative, which announced in 2011 that it had planted over 1 million trees across six continents.

Filming on the first Avatar sequel is expected to begin this year.