Covia Marks World Environment Day by Going to the Birds

On June 5, Covia’s Environmental Team hosted our annual virtual World Environment Day (WED) celebration, in alignment with the United Nations’ theme, #BeatPlasticPollution. This is our 4th year of marking WED with a virtual event that aims to inspire Team Members to get involved and support environmental stewardship.

"World Environment Day is an important event at Covia,” said Doug Losee, VP, Environmental. “It’s an opportunity to do something a little out of the ordinary to bring attention to our environmental goals and efforts. We’re always looking for ways to engage our people so they understand our 2030 goals and how they can contribute to the important work we’re doing.”

Over the years, we have highlighted many of Covia’s key collaborations and invited well-known advocates to address our team. We’ve had speakers such as Steve Adair, Ducks Unlimited’s Chief Scientist, and Wildlife Habitat Council’s President, Margaret O’Gorman. This year’s virtual event was filmed at the Houston Audubon Raptor Center and included a hands-on interview with Education Director, Mary Anne Morris as well as members of Covia’s environmental leadership. Doug Losee, Covia’s VP, Environmental, and Natalie Eglinton, Covia’s Director, ESG, discussed ways Covia is working to beat plastic pollution.

According to Mary Ann Morris “Plastic pollution impacts bird populations through ingestion and entanglement. Therefore, anything we can do to prevent plastic pollution is important such as discouraging the use of single-use plastics. This will go a long way to keep our bayous and watersheds healthy.”

After the event, the Environmental Team invites Team Members and their extended families to participate in a scavenger hunt that reinforces the WED topic. Last year, in conjunction with the UN’s theme, “Only One Earth,” the scavenger hunt encouraged Team Members to safely explore their neighborhoods to complete tasks such as litter clean up. This year, the scavenger hunt tasks Covia Team Members with exploring the natural environment for different birds and their habitat and finding ways to reduce single-use plastic.

Through the efforts of our Covia Team Members and their extended family members, we are improving air quality, wildlife habitat, increasing pollinators, and advancing other important environmental initiatives for the communities we live and work in. For more information about Covia’s environmental stewardship, visit: https://www.coviacorp.com/esg/environmental-stewardship/.