In honor of Earth Day on April 22, 2022, here are five ways Hughes helps protect our natural resources.
1. We Recycle! Within our facilities, we recycle everything from cardboard, scrap metal and yard trim to batteries, lights, and used oil. In 2018 alone, we decreased trash by over 23,000 pounds by recycling voluntary plastics including strapping, shrink wrap and packing material. Over the last five years, our recycling programs have saved:
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754 Trees
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89,129 Gallons of Oil
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26,188,913 Hours of Electricity
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227,378 Gallons of Water
2. We Re-use! When a customer returns equipment they used for HughesNet® service, we bring it back to our factory where we refurbish and re-purpose it for new customers and repairs. Any equipment that can’t be re-used in this manner gets disassembled and recycled.
3. We Choose Earth-friendly Partners! We choose partners who are committed to recycling materials across the supply chain. For example, our direct mail vendor recycles all paper waste and gives preference to the use of recycled fiber sourced from post-consumer waste.
4. We Support STEM! Our efforts extend far beyond environmental stewardship. We teach critical hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills and build future leaders through our partnership with National 4-H, the premier youth development organization. Here are a couple of Earth Day-inspired STEM activities for the young people in your life:
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Solar Oven S’Mores — Learn how engineers harness the sun’s energy by building a tin foil-lined cardboard box that uses the sun’s rays to cook delicious s’mores! (Grades 3-5)
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Recycle, Garden, Repeat — Use recycled containers from around your home to create a beautiful flower garden. (Grades 3-8)
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Kitchen Waste Analysis — Sort through a virtual kitchen trash can to learn how proper food disposal, good planning, and waste management can save money and reduce environmental impact. (Grades 7-10)
5. We’re Good Stewards of Space. As an owner and operator of satellites in space, we also make sure to comply with all regulations and policies when it comes to space sustainability. Geostationary satellites, like our upcoming JUPITER 3 satellite, are designed to last 15 years in orbit, making them highly resource efficient.
While Hughes offices were open during the pandemic, most employees worked remotely. Even still, the company recycled plenty of items, including pallets, cooking oil, machine oil, and packaging. Since more employees are now back in the offices, we are making significant progress on our full range of sustainability initiatives. And, since they’ve been gone, we’ve installed a new walking trail around the Hughes campus.
Best of all, after two years, we’re eager to host an in-person Earth Day celebration once again on April 22nd. To reinforce this year’s theme, “Invest in the Planet,” we’ll give away free packets of seeds, host a raffle to benefit Trees for the Future and offer employees a chance to win a live tree. The festivities underscore what Hughes has learned through its many years of environmental stewardship: small daily efforts across the organization can make a big difference for the planet (and all who live here).