Throughout the last several years, First Mid has taken steps to conserve the environment. Lee Harms, Director of Real Estate & Property Management, has answered a series of questions about First Mid’s carbon footprint and the choices First Mid is making to reduce our impact on the environment.
How long has First Mid committed to climate change, sustainability, and energy-saving across its many locations throughout Illinois, Missouri, and Texas?
For the past several years, we have been making incremental changes to the way we approach environmental conservation. New projects and technology are regularly evaluated, debated, and assessed for their potential implementation benefits.
What are your environmental policies or climate strategies throughout the Company?
We adopted our Energy Management Plan in Spring of 2022, which is designed to identify capital improvement opportunities aimed at energy reduction and conservation.
Are Environmental Management, Energy Efficiency, and Carbon Intensity important to First Mid’s stakeholders and the Company?
Yes, we see this as an area of business that is important to our employees, customers, and shareholders. Our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) committee is developing a Materiality Matrix to identify the primary initiatives the committee will focus on.
What initiatives are you implementing across your locations to save energy, reduce emissions, and other strategic efforts to address climate change?
We have several ongoing initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. Over the last several years, we have been upgrading our interior and exterior lighting systems to LED, which reduces both our electricity demand and maintenance on outdated lighting fixtures. Many of our properties are equipped with programmable thermostats, which allow us the ability to schedule temperature setbacks outside of regular business hours. This allows us to conserve a considerable amount of energy and reduce our impact on the environment. All the paper destroyed by our confidential document destruction vendors is recycled, minimizing the amount of paper waste we send to landfills. We are also considering solar panel projects that will help offset the electric usage at our facilities and further reduce our environmental impact.
Does First Mid currently take steps to encourage water conservation?
Many of our facilities have low flow plumbing fixtures that help reduce our demand for water. Our landscaping contractors monitor our irrigation systems to ensure we are following local watering guidelines and, when applicable, install native plants that do not require excessive watering. Our facilities and accounts payable teams monitor monthly water usage through invoicing and quickly respond to any significant changes in water consumption.
Does First Mid encourage the reduction of paper printing or landfill waste?
One of our strategic initiatives is Robust Digital Solutions, meaning we will have robust competitive digital solutions for our customers with real-time access and convenience. We make ongoing investments in our comprehensive suite of digital offerings to ensure we are continually making strides toward this initiative. First Mid’s Online and Mobile Banking products include services such as Bill Pay and electronic statements (eStatements), which offer both increased convenience for our customers and a positive impact on the environment. Over 40% of our customers utilize eStatements, and around 60% of our customers utilize online and mobile banking.
Internally, we have invested in new technology/software that minimizes our need for physical documents, such as utilizing e-signatures, as well as offering the option of sending receipts electronically to retail banking customers. We always encourage employees to “think before they print”. In addition, we shred and recycle “confidential” papers at all of our locations.
Are there any other steps First Mid is taking or plans to take to reduce your carbon footprint?
We strive to replace outdated equipment with more energy efficient equipment. In the future, we expect to expand on the area of tracking emissions used across our locations and the amount of energy each building is using.
First Mid’s paper reduction initiatives, energy efficient upgrades, and use of technology have helped us become a more sustainable company. We understand the actions we take today will shape tomorrow and beyond, both for our Company and all the communities we serve. Our focus on these important endeavors allows us to continue to serve and support our customers, communities, and shareholders.
