Go to any Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch and you’ll notice one thing: instead of the usual counter filled with various bank forms, there are sleek touchscreen monitors for all your transactions.

When your number is called, the teller knows exactly what you need to do. The process is quick, hassle-free, and, more importantly, paperless.

This is just an example of how the 160-year-old banking giant is not just transforming its customers’ banking habits, but also integrating environmental awareness in its day-to-day operations, said Vice President Florendo G. Maranan, BPI Foundation Executive Director and BPI's Chief Environmental Officer. It is a good way to marry innovation with true compassion for the environment, he added.

Paperless initiatives are among a host of other programs that constitute BPI I-GIVE (acronym for ‘I Get Involved. I Volunteer for the Environment’), a campaign that started in 2008. BPI recently unveiled the initiative to highlight the headways it had achieved in just three years, and to thank partners for the support and encourage more collaboration in the future.

And so instead of hauling its 12,000-strong workforce to tree-planting or estero cleanup activities, BPI made its “Greenovation” campaigns in sync with how it does its business. That is, with sustainability in mind.

Beyond savings
After a massive, yearlong information drive in 2008, long-term changes have since been implemented within and beyond BPI premises. These include the installation of energy-saving devices such as LED lighting systems, LCD monitors, cooling systems, and waterless urinals; a bank-wide Electronic Approval System initiative to save on paper; and a No Overtime Fridays policy every second and fourth Fridays of the month to cut down on power costs. These steps not only reduce the Bank’s carbon footprint, they also translate to substantial savings, said Mr. Maranan.

The upgrade of the 30-year-old air-conditioning system in the BPI Head Office building, for instance, is expected to bring more than P6 million in annual electricity savings, apart from the 300 tons of carbon emission reduction each year. Various energy-saving measures implemented in 2010 had since resulted to a reduction of some 98,900 total kilowatt hours from 2009 levels. Meanwhile, the use of waterless urinals had cut BPI’s water consumption by 5%, while the paperless initiatives saved close to P40 million on printing and distribution costs.

In doing these, BPI is giving nature something that it truly deserves, said BPI President Aurelio Montinola III. “At BPI, it is relevant for all of us to take a stand,” he said. “We would not be able to mount our campaign if it were not for the concerted effort of our dedicated workforce.”

Mr. Maranan said BPI wants to emphasize a brand of volunteerism that is automatic and hardwired into the DNA of its employees as they go about their daily work.

“We make a stand to change ways that are wasteful,” said BPI Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. “We want to go with ways that are friendly to Mother Earth more so as we conduct ourselves in the workplace and as we go about our day to day business. BPI I-GIVE strengthens and institutionalizes what we have already started.”

Forging partnerships
Also recognized in the launch were key “sustainability partners,” which, in their own ways, partnered with BPI in one or more aspects of I-GIVE. These include the Ayala Foundation, WWF-Philippines, Far Eastern University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, International Finance Commission, and the BPI Central Security Office.

Ayala Foundation served as BPI’s mentor for its Solid Waste Management programs, including the Recyclables Fair and a ban of Styrofoam-packed food and drinks in its canteens and premises.

WWF-Philippines, meanwhile, helped BPI achieve carbon neutrality across branches and the head office, culminating in the release of the Bank’s first sustainability report in 2010, the first in the local banking industry.

“We want to recognize our partners because we want to establish more partnerships in the future,” said Mr. Maranan.

Away from the competitive bustle of the banking industry, companies should show a united front when dealing with climate change. “After all, environmental conservation is not a competitive business. It’s everybody’s business,” he stressed.