2012, Cognizant

Started on the right note

Hundreds of associates across Cognizant shared their green resolutions for the year.

Cleanliness Drive at Pune-Hinjewadi January 2, 2012 Over 30 associates joined hands to promote a clean environment outside our campus.

Me and my carpool friends campaign

January 20, 2012

Associates shared their car pooling experiences to inspire other associates to take small steps towards carpooling.

Go Green quiz at Kolkata February 1, 2012 Green Brigadiers spread awareness amongst associates by getting them to rack their grey cells and participate in a series of quizzes.

Associates took a pledge to adopt/donate saplings and planted some saplings.

Pune Hinjewadi Sapling Nursery Launch February 2, 2012 World Wetlands Day

Nature Walk at Sunderbans, Kolkata February 4, 2012 More than 40 associates did a nature walk at the Sunderban Tiger Reserve to explore and learn about nature & wildlife.

Chennai Coastal Clean up February 5, 2012 Hundreds of associates picked up trash to clean up Elliots Beach, Chennai.

Chennai Coastal Clean up February 5, 2012

Hundreds of associates picked up trash to cleanup Elliots Beach, Chennai.

Gardening Basics Pune March 2012

100 +
associates participated
Associates learnt about different species of flora and their requirements such as nutrition, water, medication or simply some attention!

Learning about wildlife conservation at Mangalore March 8, 2012

Mangalore Green Brigade partnered with Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) to impart knowledge on wildlife conservation.

Power Smart Campaign - March 2012:

Spread awareness on the importance of saving power during the power crisis in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The global World Water Day campaign encouraged associates around the world to take heed to the need of saving water on March 22, 2012.

Rain water harvesting - Hyderabad March 22, 2012 Gopala Krishna (Founder- Pasigoba Energy Consultants) gave a session on the importance and techniques of Rain Water Harvesting.

GASS forest museum visit in Coimbatore March 24, 2012

Around 35 associates visited the GASS museum to mark the occasion of World Forestry Day to learn about different types of forests and components of a forests eco system.

Earth Hour Celebrations across Cognizant March 31, 2012

Green Brigadiers joined hands to create awareness on conserving energy and showing Cognizants support for Earth Day.

Earth Month - April 2012

Promoted use of e-gadgets wisely and dispose them responsibly

Tweet and Cweet Earth Day slogans April 22, 2012

More than 100 associates shared their earth day slogans.

Inspired by the Cup n Kerchief Club, a project team at Chennai took an oath to stop the use paper cups and tissues on April 03, 2012:
The team used waste to decorate their bay areas and spread the message. Over 81 associates participated in the event.

Veggie Corner Navalur, Chennai April 26, 2012 Associates cooked up delicious energy efficient dishes with no use of gas/electricity.

Flash mob at Hyderabad on April 20, 2012:

Associates enjoyed the performance of Crazzy 6, Theatre Arts Club to mark Earth Week celebrations.

Save the Tiger Campaign, Bangalore on April 19 and 20, 2012: More than 300 associates showed their support and clicked a picture with the Mascot.

Sustainable Living Fair at Pune April 23 2012

More than 400 associates visited the sustainable living fair which gave ideas a green lifestyle.

Save our Earth Kolam competition at Chennai-TCO April 27, 2012 Green Brigadiers hosted the Kolam contest to promote awareness on earth day.

International Day for Biological Diversity May 22, 2012 80+ blog comments in support of the campaign

Spot biodiversity at TCO May 2012

More than 100 associates participated in the photography contest with fantastic entries on biodiversity at our TCO office.

Go Green Mime at CCO, Chennai on May 11, 2012 The MEPZ mime team spread the word at CCO on going green and saving water through a fantastic mime performance.

Pedal Wise Club Launch @ Chennai - Pallikaranai May 18, 2012 50 Green Brigadiers cycled to show their support towards cycling and reducing emissions. This fever caught up in Bangalore, Coimbatore and Kochi too.

Bird Watching at Coimbatore May 19, 2012 35 associates went bird watching to sight birds and wildlife.

Plant a tree. Grow hope. Bangalore - May 20, 2012

D-I-Y and Save Biodiversity on May 25, 2012

Associates participated in the Do-It-Yourself contest to create useful things from waste which could help save biodiversity around us. Some examples were bird house, bird feeders, drip irrigation sets, etc.

Green Week at Kolkata from May 22 to June 5, 2012:

The Green Brigadiers at Kolkata hosted a Green Week which saw a series of activities like quizzes, poster competitions, eco fairs, etc.

World Environment Day at Kochi June 4, 2012

Team Admin and Green Brigade volunteers joined hands to do plant saplings, distribute re-usable mugs, organize Sun control film removal campaign and vehicle pollution checkup.

Sapling plantation at Kolkata wetlands on June 5, 2012:

Volunteers took a stand to green the areas around GTP office and planted saplings.

Walk the Marina at Chennai on June 5, 2012:

The walk was organized in association with the US Consulate and Make my Earth Smile Again (MESA). Associates from Cognizant walked alongside a group of over 500 enthusiasts.

Green Leadership walk at Pune Hinjewadi on June 5, 2012:

Shreeranganath Kulkarni, Vice-President and Head of Operations-Pune, inaugurated the carpooling stop, checked the new bird house and felicitated associates who had adopted a sapling and pledged to recycle ewaste regularly.

Zen Garden in Hyderabad June 5, 2012

On World Environmental Day Admin team enhanced the Zen garden at our campus and created awareness on a green way of living. The activity included identifying plants and some interesting competitions like dry Leaves collage.

Carpool stop at Cognizant Pune

June 5, 2012

Cognizant wins FE-EVI Green Business Leadership Award 2011-12 in June 2012.

Green Walk at Hyderabad on June 5, 2012:

Associates took a stand to promote clean environment by cleaning the Ameerpet area.

Promoting green commute at Bangalore June 8, 2012

A group of cycling enthusiasts set out to pedal their way to work. Srikanth Srinivasan, Director-HR flagged-off this unique program. The cyclists rode to the MBP campus in Bangalore from as far as HAL airport (16 km) and Marathahalli (20 km).

More than 500 associates participated in healthy soil quiz and showed their support towards combatting desertification and drought on June 15, 2012

Sapling Plantation at Pune June 30, 2012

Volunteers from Go Green and Outreach teams collaborated to create a green cover at the Bhoirwadi, Zilla Parishad School. Plantatingwas followed by a fun filled session to create awareness on the importance of trees in our ecology.

Green our city campaign at Pallikaranai on July 26, 2012

To mark World Nature Conservation Day as well as to kick-start green your city program, around 32 associates volunteered at the Panchayat Union Primary School, Pallikaranai to plant tree saplings.

Green Treasure Hunt at Chennai GMR on July 27, 2012:

Green Brigade GMR celebrated World Nature Conservation Day in a green avatar with a carpooling stall, video screening and a green treasure hunt.

Associates plan trees in Cognizants upcoming campus in Pune July 28, 2012

Associates and their families planted trees and learnt about different species of flora and their requirements such as nutrition, water, medication or simply some attention!

Launch of Teach Reuse at Pune - August 2012

Green Brigadiers at Cognizant-Pune organized sessions for over 150 associates & 400 school kids teaching to make useful and decorative items from waste.

Explore Cycling - Coimbatore - August 1 , 2012: Coimbatore Green Brigade team helped spread the word on adopting cycling. Many varieties of cycles were on display which associates could try out. More than 500 associates participated.

Promote a clean environment, Hyderabad on July 28, 2012: Associates at Hyderabad took the stand to promote a clean environment by cleaning the Ameertpet area.

More than 100 associates joined us in our Facebook campaign on promoting growing local on World Kitchen Garden Day August 24, 2012.

Launched a new way to plant trees and track them online - August, 23, 2012
We partnered with TIST Tree planting program (TIST) in India to plant 100,000 trees and transform 200 acres of dry wasteland while providing 150 farmers with subsistence. In association with TIST, we launched a platform to track the location of these trees via a GPS enabled satellite map. Now an associate can choose to plant a tree and track it from any location.

Mahalunge tree plantation at Pune on August 25, 2012

Associates at Pune joined for a tree plantation drive at Mahaluge hills and planted around 50 saplings.

Bangalore Admin unveiled the Dynapodd bicycle in August 2012 to generate electricity by pedaling.

50+ associates shared their ZeDay stories on Car Pooling September 21, 2012

Launched Cognizant Carbon Footprint Calculator September 10, 2012

Carbon calculator encourages associates to keep a track of their carbon footprint and take small green actions to reduce their carbon footprint.

Face painting contest at Chennai-Siruseri on September 21, 2012

15 teams participated in the green face painting contest promoting the message of reducing carbon emissions.

Soles for Souls Campaign at Cognizant US from September to October

Cognizant US Green Brigade launched shoe collection campaigns around the country.

In over two months the team covered Teaneck, Phoenix, Tampa, Bentonville and Holliston collecting more than 300 pairs of shoes.

World Habitat Day and Wildlife Week! October 3, 2012

Bird Watching at Chennai October 6, 2012

30 associates took time off to watch birds and the amazing biodiversity at Pallikarnai Marsh. They identified birds and understood their habitats as they celebrated World Wildlife Week from October 1 to 7 along with Care Earth.

Spreading the message of Green - Pune October 6, 2012

70+ associates with family members, joined to help lay a green foundation at our new campus.

The Joy of Green - Hyderabad

November, 2012

To celebrate Cognizants joy of 10 years in Hyderabad, we planted trees in our campus.

Ramam Atmakuri Vice President & Centre Head- Hyderabad initiated the event with his inspiring speech on the need for ecological balance.

Cognizant-Australia celebrated the National Recycling Week from November 12-18, 2012. The importance of recycling printer cartridges, mobile phones, batteries and plastic bags were discussed. The week ended with a Recycling Quiz.

Bird Survey at C3Coimbatore November 2012

The survey recorded 27 species of birds showcasing fantastic biodiversity! The related blog post received more than 176 comments from associates

Namathodu plantation drive at Chennai on December 1, 2012:

54 associates visited Namathodu village as a part of the CognizantTIST tree pledge program wherein associates who had pledged trees through the online intranet portal planted the pledged trees.

Pune Nature Trail to Mayureshwar on December 2, 2012

60 associates went on a nature trail to Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary to learn about the importance of grasslands and sighting many chinkaras which are a dominant species of the grasslands.

Go Green Cyclothon at Kochi - 4th December, 2012

Kochi Green Brigade team cycled from Technopolis facility to Athulya campus flagged off by Prem Pandurangam (Senior Director - Sustainability).

Click Green - Chennai-Siruseri on December 11, 2012: Green Brigadiers celebrated World Soil Day and International Mountain Day with a photography contest on the theme of Magic of our Soil and Mountains.

The Green Riders Club launch at Bangalore December 9, 2012

Bangalore Green Brigade team launched the Green Riders Club encouraging associates to pedal wise by using a bicycle for commuting.

Nokia Take Back campaign in Mumbai December, 2012

Mumbai associates participated in a weeklong campaign bringing in their old mobile phones for recycling.

Promoting the 3Rs through Rangoli

Green Brigade volunteers organized contests at Chennai, Hyderabad & Bangalore to create awareness among associates on the 3Rs Reduce > Reuse > Recycle

Touch of Green in Celebrating Cognizant Grand Finale - Pune December 19, 2012
Go Green stall at the Celebrating Cognizant finale had associates joining the Green Brigade team and sponsoring saplings.

The Green Brigade volunteer team decorated the stall with the help of waste material making it a zero waste stall. More 100 associates visited the stall.

Bin IT bins for e-waste recycling

E-waste recycling bins installed in offices to encourage associates to dispose their e-waste in an environmentally responsible manner.

Established bicycle bays in our facilities to make it easy for associates to cycle to work.

Finance embraces paperless processes

The Cognizant Finance team developed collaborations with financial organizations to make it easy to report investments and medical reimbursements cutting down on paper usage saving more than 300,000 sheets of paper!

Project Teams go paperless with innovations

A team based in our London office working for a leading UK retailer built a Spool File Convertor that helps convert reports into a soft copies and sends e-mails instead of printing them saving considerable amount of paper and money.

A team of associates set on a mission to identify reports that can be converted to edocuments for one of our insurance clients. The Support team convinced their customers to switch policy documents to soft copies. The team also advocated avoiding printing of sensitive data. Both initiatives saved thousands of sheets of paper.

Wealth out of Waste

Cognizants procurement team tied up with ITCRamkys Wealth out of Waste (WoW) program, wherein we recycle and buy back recycled A4 paper sheets.

Go Green on Social Media

Go Green is a front runner in leveraging internal and external social media platforms

online

2012, Cognizant

Reduced per capita carbon emissions by 32%

2008 Scope 1 Emissions
Direct Emissions: Reduction due to better efficiency of our Diesel Generators

2009

2010

2011

2011 - 2008

0.37 MT per associate

0.28 MT per associate

0.28 MT per associate

0.20 MT per associate

45% reduction

Scope 2 Emissions
Purchased Electricity: Reduction due to efficiency improvement from the Energy Program

1.66 MT per associate

1.33 MT per associate

1.17 MT per associate

1.06 MT per associate

36% reduction

Scope 3 Emissions
Indirect Emissions: Due to air travel
0.58 MT per associate 0.36 MT per associate 0.44 MT per associate 0.47 MT per associate

19% reduction

2012, Cognizant

Rapidly improved our reputation in the market

NEWSWEEK GREEN RANKINGS US Top 500

2012, Cognizant

2012, Cognizant