Ceylinco Life collects 732kgs trash off Crow Island beach

The staff of the head office of Ceylinco Life and their families took a shocking 732 kilogrammes of harmful pollutants and trash off a stretch of beach at Mattakuliya recently, at a beach cleanup organised by the company’s Green Club.

The initiative was supported by the non-governmental organisation Clean Ocean Force, which undertook the responsible disposal of the collected items, which included plastic containers, polythene, rubber, glass, rigifoam and mixed trash.

The company said the exercise was fruitful as it engaged employees, their family members including young children and volunteers from Clean Ocean Force in a project that also generated greater awareness of the harmful impacts of litter on the environment and marine ecosystems. It also provided an eye-opener on the extent of the problem at the Crow Island beach, which is part of the only coastal wetland in the Colombo district.

Ceylinco Life’s Green Club consists of like-minded individuals across departments who are responsible for initiating and executing green activities. Since its inception, Green Club members have spearheaded many initiatives such as an annual e-waste collection campaign and coordinating the company’s Carbon Footprint Audit.

Members also play a vital role in creating awareness about the importance of following environmentally friendly practices at work and in the home.

Committed to enterprise-wide sustainability, Ceylinco Life is in the process of building a network of green branches on company-owned land. This effort has already resulted in 33 purpose-designed new buildings that are solar-powered, have rainwater harvesting facilities and waste water recycling systems that minimise the use of pipe-borne water, are designed for optimal use of natural light and are equipped with the latest energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning systems.

Ceylinco Life has also recently undertaken the reforestation of 10 acres of degraded rainforest in Balangoda and its maintenance for five years, as a corporate sustainability initiative that will be executed in collaboration with the non-profit environmental organisation Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka. The project entails planting 10,000 trees in the Rajawaka Forest Reserve.