Case Studies

HSBC North America has a major presence in New York state and thus is involved in many environmental initiatives around the state – a land area of more than 47,000 square miles (120,000 square kilometres), roughly equivalent to the land mass of Eritrea, with a population of nearly 19 million inhabitants.

HSBC supports environmental initiatives and encourages its employees to engage with the local community to make a greater difference. Following are some of the recent environmental activities which HSBC North America has supported in New York.

Seeds to Trees

This is a hands-on forest ecology programme which teaches children about the importance of environmental preservation and management and trains teachers to utilise city parks to demonstrate practical applications of these lessons. The programme is run by City Parks Foundation (CPF) and designed for 6-13 year-olds. It helps to address the critical need for improved science learning; in 2004, only 50% of fourth grade students (aged 9-10) were able to pass the New York State science exam.

Focusing on the impact of individual actions on the natural environment, in 2006-07, Seeds to Trees has chosen the theme of Human Footprints. The four classroom lessons are spread throughout the year, culminating in a field trip led by City Parks Foundation educators. CPF also offers teacher training workshops, resources and technical assistance.

The programme was initiated in 1992 and HSBC has been supporting it since 2001 with more than US$125,000, enabling 1,300 students per year to take part in this programme.

HSBC-Hands On New York Day

21 April, 2007 was New York Cares' 14th annual Hands On New York Day – involving over 4,000 volunteers across New York City to revitalise parks, gardens and other public spaces. HSBC has provided funds and volunteers for Hands On New York Day previously but this year HSBC was the title sponsor and recruited its staff in New York City and the surrounding areas to attend HSBC-Hands On New York Day.

In 2006, Hands On New York Day involved the following:

3,500 volunteers; 1,158 gallons of paint; 1,855 paintbrushes; 7,500 garbage bags; 400 rakes; 341 paint rollers; 124,650 square feet (11,580 square metres) of drop cloth; 68 parks and other community spaces; thousands of pounds of soil, mulch and woodchips

©Marty Heitner, 2006

Olmsted Re-Leaf Effort

In October 2006 a severe storm destroyed more than 90% of the 12,000 trees in the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC) in less than 24 hours. HSBC set up a matching funds programme and collected contributions in its branches; it also matched donations made directly to BOPC, some from as far away as Arizona and Florida. HSBC employee contributions were matched twice – once as a public donation and once on the employee fund matching scheme. Overall, US$100,000 was raised for the Re-Leaf effort.

HSBC's efforts helped encourage other businesses to contribute to the Re-Leaf project, too, as Jerry Castiglia, Olmsted Parks Conservancy chair commented:

'HSBC started the ball rolling and the community has generously followed suit. The support has been overwhelming. The Conservancy is now in the process of mapping out a strategy for replanting throughout the entire 1,200-acre system. This will be an on-going process, beginning in the spring [2007] and carrying over to the next several years.'

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy was created to promote and preserve the parks and green areas in the greater Buffalo area. The 1,200 acre (480 hectare) system was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who is better known for designing New York City’s Central Park.

Replanting began in April 2007 and HSBC employees have committed to help with replanting and clearing alongside community volunteers. To read more about the project, the conservancy, or to get involved, click here.

HSBC in New York