In 2007, my colleague Pierre Bichon and I, supported by our manager Alain Voiment, decided to plant a tree for every purchase of IT equipment. Our business has changed a lot in recent years, and we now realise that computers are using more and more energy, which we didn’t know until fairly recently. In order to restore the ecological balance, the three of us therefore instigated a partnership with the Cœur de Forêt charity association: for every item of IT equipment purchased, the Group pays the charity 5 euros to replant trees. In just 4 months, 700 trees have thus been planted in French Guiana.

However, this quantitative approach rapidly reached its limit. We therefore extended the partnership towards a true sustainable development policy, and have joined – still with the same charity – a programme in Peru. In our minds, the people who replant the trees also need to be able to live from this. 50,000 euros were invested in 2008 and 61,000 euros in 2009 to sponsor plantations of essential oils. These investments make it possible to plant tens of thousands of trees, but also, and more importantly, to enable around a hundred Shipibo Indian families to live. Being able to help people make ends meet by spending just 5% of one’s time is a great example, one that everyone can copy, that we want to maintain despite the economic situation.

What I am most proud of, though, is that we have managed to turn our colleagues’ DNA green: today, when the Group buys new IT equipment, energy consumption is one of the main criteria!