In a few weeks’ time, adventurers Dixie Dansercoer and Sam Deltour will make a more than 6,000 kilometre crossing of the Antarctic continent propelled only by wind energy. In their luggage will be An Van Rie, a Mobistar employee, who will travel with them as far as their point of departure at the Russian Antarctic base. An is the winner of the ICE Challenge competition launched internally by Mobistar to create a link between all the company’s employees and Dixie and Sam’s expedition.
Respect for the environment, team spirit, outreaching themselves, these are the values upheld by adventurers Dixie Dansercoer and Sam Deltour that led Mobistar to come on board as exclusive partner on their Antarctic ICE expedition, running from November 2011 to February 2012. The two Belgians are aiming to break the world distance record for a non-motorised and unsupported Antarctic expedition. They intend to complete more than 6,000 kilometres of totally ecological and independent travel with the aid of a new type of kite and a specially designed sledges.
Of course, these same values should also be alive and well at Mobistar. That is why the company launched the ICE Challenge. As part of an in-house competition whose fabulous first prize is to travel with Dixie and Sam to the Russian Antarctic base from where their expedition will leave, 10 Mobistar employees came up with exciting projects around the company’s corporate social responsibility, which is about mobility, a healthier lifestyle and the environment. Their aim was to get the suggested projects work and to realize them by involving the maximum number of their colleagues and to get the whole company mobilised around the Antarctic ICE adventure.
Through their unstinting efforts, the 10 ICE Challenge participants really surpassed themselves. Most notably, they persuaded their colleagues to sort their rubbish more thoroughly, to eat less meat, to do more sports, to come to work by bike more often, or to raise money to help the homeless. But in the end it was An Van Rie’s "Move Green" that the jury decided was the clear winner of the ICE Challenge.
"Move Green", whose main aim was to persuade Mobistar employees to come to work on their bikes more often, showed impressive results: between 1st April and 31st August, 145 of the company’s employees cycled more than 9,000 kilometres between their homes and their work places, which equals nearly 5 million grammes of CO2 saved! Beyond this great sporting performance, An Van Rie’s project was also, and most importantly, rewarded for its sustainable aspect. Brimming with energy and motivation, An succeeded in fostering real enthusiasm for the bike at Mobistar. Even more remarkable: she even persuaded 3 of her colleagues to ride a bike for the first time in their lives!
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www.facebook.com/MobistarBetterWorld