GM`s Resource Preservation Fact Sheet

Reducing Water Use
 Between 2005 and 2010, we reduced water use by 32% on a per-vehicle-produced basis at our facilities worldwide.
 We committed to reduce water intensity by 15% by 2020 over a 2010 baseline at our global facilities. From 2010 to 2014, we reduced
it 11%.
 Whether it’s reusing water in pretreatment processes in our paint shops or capturing rainwater to feed manufacturing equipment
cooling towers at various plants, we are committed to resource conservation throughout our operations.
 We share best practices globally and approach water management at the local facility level. Since water issues vary considerably by
region, each of our operating regions establishes annual internal goals for water use reduction.
 We realize water savings through a variety of initiatives, such as using reverse osmosis – a process that pushes water through a filter to
eliminate particles – to filter water from recycled treated wastewater for toilet flushing and industrial uses at our LEED-certified engine
plant in Joinville, Brazil. It’s the first application of its kind at an automotive facility and saves the plant the equivalent of nine Olympicsized swimming pools – 22.9 million liters per year.
 We also have initiatives underway at our facilities located in some of the world's most water-starved areas.
o In South Africa, water conservation initiatives are integrated into our two plants in Port Elizabeth. Two full-day workshops with
employees have identified 7,360 kiloliters of water-withdrawal savings to date.
o Our Ramos Arizpe Complex in the water-stressed region of northern Mexico features a three-acre artificial lagoon as a part of
its filtration and purification system. In addition to recycling facility water the lagoon serves as an important natural habitat for
wildlife, providing wetland for migrating and local birds. Our San Luis Potosi plant in central Mexico operates a zero liquid water
discharge treatment facility, reducing use of groundwater and saving about 400 gallons of water per vehicle built.
o Employee engagement is a big part of our Zaragoza facility’s conservation efforts. The Spanish plant regularly shares water
conservation tips with employees on ways they can help contribute to Zaragoza’s progress by using water more efficiently. The
plant has also organized a two-day outing that included a tour of environmentally protected lands and a canoe trip down the
Ebro River.
Watershed Education
 Our GM GREEN program (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network), now
in its 26th year, encourages community engagement by helping youth better
understand their impact on local watersheds.
 It is the longest-running conservation education program by any automaker,
impacting 150,000 youth through hands-on learning since its inception in 1989.
 The initiative comprises 50 of our facilities, including all of our U.S. and Canadian
manufacturing plants. We’re now including dealers in the program to further
spread the impact.
 We match more than 10,000 students each year with GM mentors to retrieve,
test and analyze water samples, then channel findings into a sustainable action
plan addressing water quality in their community. GM GREEN is designed to
sharpen problem-solving skills, improve knowledge of science and the
environment, and encourage community involvement through hands-on learning experiences.
 GM GREEN is a partnership between GM, the nonprofit Earth Force, and local schools and conservation groups in GM communities. In
addition to volunteers, GM and the GM Foundation provide financial support to the national and local programs.
o In 2014, 212 mentors volunteered in water monitoring events, classroom visits and student-driven watershed improvement
projects. The program engaged 14,336 students from 42 communities and 135 schools. GM and the GM Foundation contributed
more than $170,000 in funding to GM GREEN partners last year.
Habitat Enhancement
 We strive to increase native biodiversity at our facilities and have more Wildlife Habitat Council certifications than any automaker.
o Our Lansing Delta Township earned Corporate Habitat of the Year in 2014, which recognizes one high-quality Wildlife at Work
program each year for outstanding environmental stewardship. The plant also received the Wings Over Wetlands award in
recognition for protecting wetland habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds.
o Arlington Assembly, Lansing Delta Township and our Canada headquarters in Oshawa hold WHC’s Rookie of the Year awards for
newly certified programs recognized for outstanding environmental education, stewardship and voluntary employee efforts.
 We actively manage nearly 4,700 acres of WHC-certified wildlife habitat at 46 sites in eight countries.
o We were the first company to establish a certified wildlife habitat in China, Korea and Argentina, at our Guangde Proving
Ground, Gunsan Complex and Rosario Automotive Complex, respectively.
Updated Nov. 17, 2015
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o Some features at these sites include walking trails, native tree plantings, butterfly gardens, rain gardens to control storm water
runoff, restored prairie and wetlands, and bat and duck nesting boxes.
We committed to secure wildlife habitat certification at each of our manufacturing sites by 2020. As of November 2015, we are
halfway toward our goal.
o We converted 16.5 acres of lawn area at our Detroit-Hamtramck assembly
plant into a grassland habitat for migratory birds.
o We developed a 75-acre wildlife habitat at our Bowling Green, Ky. assembly
plant that also features a 1.5-mile walking trail, as well as 42,000 pounds of
recycled shredded organic mats from the facility that provide soft ground
cover for a picnic area.
We are the first automaker to use IBAT, an integrated biodiversity assessment tool
that tracks features such as threatened species, sites important for biodiversity,
and wildlife hotspots near any facility around the world. The insight increases
opportunities to work closer with communities to have a more beautiful working
environment and strategically protect native flora and fauna through habitat
programs.
We repurpose scrap Chevrolet Volt battery covers as bat, bluebird, wood duck and
scaly-sided merganser nesting boxes.
o The battery cover is challenging to recycle by traditional means, so this initiative provides a more practical solution with less
environmental impact.
o We’ve designed and created 800 of these houses over the last five years.
o The houses are located on GM sites and on various public and private lands across the U.S., Canada, China and Russia.
We work with local schools, NGOs, nonprofits and environmental preservation groups to enhance our habitats and increase
community awareness about wildlife preservation.
Endangered Species
 White-nose syndrome has killed 5.7M bats in the U.S. and Canada. Bats with the disease act abnormally and wake from hibernation.
o We create bat houses out of scrap Chevrolet Volt battery covers that can hold up to 150 little brown bats each. We have
installed more than 200 of these bat houses at our facilities and in other private and public lands in the United States.
o We work with bat experts from Bat Conservation International and Organization for Bat Conservation to
examine repurposing leftover adhesive used in manufacturing the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray as a stalactite. Artificial
stalactites provide more surface area from which to hang, spreading bats out around the cave. This may slow transmission of
white-nose syndrome.
 Nearly a third of U.S. honeybee colonies died or disappeared last winter, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service cites habitat loss as one of
their main threats. Many of our facilities incorporate pollinator gardens in their onsite wildlife habitats.
o Our Guangde Proving Ground in China features a 27,000-square-foot pollinator garden and wetland.
o The pollinator garden at our Saginaw Metal Casting Operations received the 2013 Pollinator Advocate Award from the Wildlife
Habitat Council and North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. The garden’s black-eyed-susans and purple coneflowers
provide local bee populations with an ample source of nectar, and swamp milkweeds serve as food source for the monarch.
 Peregrine falcons were only recently taken off the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list, but they remain an
endangered species in Michigan. There are 14 active peregrine nests in the Detroit area and 45 nesting pairs in the entire state.
o Our GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan has been home to a peregrine falcon aerie for the last several years.
o Three juvenile peregrine falcons – Chevy, Sonic and Dino – hatched earlier this year and all three have successfully fledged.
 Scaly-sided mergansers are an endangered species in East Asia, due in part to the declining number of trees old enough to provide
natural cavities for nesting. Today only 2,200 breeding pairs are estimated to exist.
o We tailored our Volt nesting box design and partnered with WWF and Wetlands International to install 10 inside China’s
Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve. A few months later, it became home to a merganser hen and her 11 chicks.
Dealer Outreach
 We recognize Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealerships across the U.S. with proven track records in areas such as energy
reduction, renewable energy use, water conservation efforts, recycling, on-site nature habitats and community outreach through the
Green Dealer Program.
o We designed the program to encourage dealers to continue these voluntary efforts and build a network for sharing best
practices to help others begin or advance their sustainability journeys.
Updated Nov. 17, 2015