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Alpine Toyota Helps the Communuty Breath Easier
Toyota’s commitment to the environment guides every decision the company makes and every action it takes. From the creation and improvement of eco-friendly automotive technologies and waste management techniques to contributions to local environmental and clean-up initiatives, it is a vision that people at Toyota always keep before them.
Toyota has a long history of concern for the environment and actively seeks ways to meet the growing transportation needs of our society in ways that are less harmful to our Earth. To do that, they consistently examine products, business stratgies, and daily operations carefully and set goals for environmental improvement. It’s all part of Toyota’s Earth Charte and 2010 Global Vision, a committment to the environment and to the communities where Toyota does business.
As part of our ongoing commitment to the environment and environmental education, Toyota Canada and its dealerships partnered with Evergreen in 2000 to create the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds Program, a program designed to transform Canadian school grounds into natural learning environments.
To date, they have contributed more than $4 million in sponsorship to help Evergreen provide the tools and support that students, teachers and communities need to turn often barren school properties into inviting play spaces and natural learning environments. The funds donated help Evergreen provide groups that wish to green their school grounds with expert assistance, resources and “how-to” manuals, access to an online native plant database and project registry, funding grants to assist schools in the purchase plants and partnership opportunities with school boards and districts.
With Toyota’s help, more than 265,000 students have participated in greening projects at over 600 schools across Canada. In 2006-2007 alone, the program awarded $265,000 to 132 schools. Typical activities include planting native trees, shrubs and vines; planning shade and seating areas; creating vegetable gardens and other theme zones that transform the traditional asphalt school grounds into dynamic outdoor classrooms. Locally, Alpine Toyota has worked with several schools to help them green their surroundings.
Toyota knows the students of today are the environmental leaders of tomorrow. That is why they originally joined its longtime partner, Earth Day Canada, to create the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program in 2003.
The program honours 15 graduating high school students and Quebec junior college students with $5,000 award for their environmental work in the community. The award is applied directly towards educational expenses for the fi rst year of postsecondary full-time studies in Canada.
A national award winner is then chosen from the 15 regional finalists. The national winner is honoured with an Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award, a Panasonic notebook computer and a $5,000 donation to the high school from which the award winner graduated.
Toyota’s latest generation of hybrid vehicles offer the most desirable features of both a gasoline engine and an electric motor system. Fewer emissions and pollutants, while driving more kilometres on less fuel. The ever-expanding Toyota hybrid fleet is helping us all to breathe more easily. At the present, they include the Prius, Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid.
Alpine Toyota is also proud that their Corolla took top honours in the 2008 CanadianDriver 50-litre Challenge by traveling 1,017 kilometres in a single tank of fuel and outlasting 13 other compact cars in a test on June 23.
