WELL known for its great service and savvy marketing in the telecommunications business, Digicel is making strides in a less eye-catching, but vitally important area, as an environmentally friendly company.

At the forefront of this thrust are its “green” soldiers — a group of about 20 employees from different departments and with varying responsibilities, each committed to ensuring that green is not just a colour in the company’s logo, but that it becomes a way of life for Digicel’s staff at work and at home.

“We intend to champion the green project and to bring awareness of the importance of protecting the environment to as many persons as possible. Going green not only affects us today but also generations to come,” Fabian Williams, business development manager at Digicel, told Environment Watch.

Having worked with the “bigger, better network” for nine years, Williams has seen the company grow from a small start-up to now dominate the lucrative mobile communications market. He relishes his role as a “green” soldier; always looking for ways in which the company can reduce its demand on the earth’s resources.

The soldiers’ meetings — held every two weeks — have resulted in many innovative ways of reusing, reducing and recycling material in the company. Some initiatives of the “green” soldiers include:

* placing bins to collect plastic and aluminum in the canteens;

* the installation of toilets that flush with less water;

* the use of filtration systems in canteens instead of bottled water;

* introducing the use of ID cards when printing documents to prevent abuse of printing facilities;

* ensuring double-sided printing of documents to save paper; and

* the shredding of used paper, which is donated to the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Started in October last year, the “green” soldiers initiative is the brainchild of CEO Colm Delves, who is determined to set new standards for environmental stewardship among corporate entities in the region.

“As a company, we believe we should be responsible for our carbon footprint. Our mission is to change the mindset of people to think and live green,” Williams said.

The “greening” activities have saved Digicel “quite a bit” in terms of money, although Williams was unable to supply a precise monetary figure.

Meanwhile, it is often small things that help to change people’s viewpoint on the environment and Digicel has done its bit in many ways. For example, it has given each employee gifts of plants or fruit trees, including tomato and pepper, and used recyclable bags while gifting apples for Valentine’s Day to keep the environment foremost in their thoughts.

The company has also done an environment audit of its buildings; as it seeks ways of being more environmentally friendly, and has begun to operate cell sites on solar power in Haiti and Suriname. Digicel, through the Digicel Foundation, has, too, partnered with the Jamaica Environment Trust to sponsor the Jamaica Environmental Challenge Awards — the nominations for which closed last Friday.

The telecommunications firm’s Go Green programme is also sponsoring the prizes for the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica’s Poster and Essay Competition, launched Earth Day on April 22. It also collects old cellphones and batteries — including those from rival companies — for proper disposal overseas.

Williams hopes the green soldiers will set an example for greater environmental activism in the corporate world.

“Going green is not what we do for show. It’s what we do during our daily lives,” he said.