Campaign To Plant 100,000+ Trees to Support Reforestation, Urban Forestry
Retail REIT Named Green Lease Leader, Honored Among ‘America’s Most Responsible Companies’
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macerich (NYSE: MAC), one of the nation’s leading owners, operators and developers of high-quality retail real estate in top markets, is celebrating Earth Month with its “You Pledge We Plant” campaign to plant more than 100,000 trees across the country.
In partnership with One Tree Planted, Macerich is supporting reforestation and urban forestry efforts, including urban forestry projects in California and New York and post-wildfire restoration in California, Oregon and Colorado. Macerich will also plant trees for Earth Month-related employee volunteer hours in addition to the company’s standard employee benefit of 24 paid volunteer hours per employee per year. In 2023, Macerich’s contributions to One Tree Planted installed more than 50,000 trees.
Urban reforestation is vital to the health of the planet, people, and communities. The need is particularly great in majority non-white neighborhoods, which have 11% less tree canopy and 14% more artificially built surface area, such as asphalt and cement, than majority-white neighborhoods, according to new research. Planting trees where they are most needed could avoid 460 heat-related deaths and 81,000 heat-related illnesses every year and save 4.3 terawatt hours of electricity per year.
As part of the Earth Month effort, shoppers are encouraged to sign a pledge committing to use reusable shopping bags. According to Environment America calculations, last year’s shopper pledge program may have prevented an estimated 22 million plastic bags from entering landfills by generating 71,000 pledges from consumers to always use reusable bags when they shop.
“Macerich’s partnership with One Tree Planted last year was a phenomenal success. Our customers and employees were enthusiastic about this important initiative, which provides cleaner air, reduced risk of floods and landslides, and increased habitat for biodiversity,” said Olivia Bartel Leigh, Executive Vice President, Portfolio Operations and People, Macerich. “This year, we are expanding the program as part of Macerich’s commitment to reducing our upstream and downstream impacts and building a healthier, greener world.”
In early 2024, Macerich also achieved Green Lease Leader – Silver Recognition for its green lease program. The company conducts mandatory energy training for leasing teams and integrates landlord energy management policies and practices in alignment with the Institute for Market Transformation and the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Alliance.
Macerich also was recently named among America’s Most Responsible Companies. Produced by Newsweek and Statista, the ranking evaluates companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics performance.
“One of Macerich’s core values is integrity, and transparency about our sustainability work reflects that value,” said Leigh. “While external validations of our achievements are significant, it is especially meaningful to us to engage our communities in sustainability as we move forward, embodying our goal of working together to improve tomorrow.”
A globally recognized leader in sustainability in the retail real estate industry, Macerich shares its sustainability activities and progress through its Corporate Responsibility Report, Annual Report, Proxy Statement, Form 10-K and other internal and external communications. The company’s annual Corporate Responsibility Report conveys details of Macerich’s comprehensive ESG focus, including plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The most recent report includes data for the period ending December 31, 2022. In early summer 2024, Macerich will release its 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report, incorporating data through December 31, 2023.
About Macerich
Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed, self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 43 retail centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023). For more information, please visit www.Macerich.com.
Macerich uses, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website, which can be found at investing.macerich.com, as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Additional information about Macerich can be found through social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures, including NOI and FFO, to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the earnings release and supplemental filed on Form 8-K with the SEC, which are posted on the Investor Relations website at investing.macerich.com.
About One Tree Planted
One Tree Planted is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is on a mission to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. Their projects span the globe and are done in partnership with local communities and environmental organizations to create an impact for nature, people, and wildlife. Reforestation helps to restore forests that have been degraded or deforested, provide jobs for social impact, and restore biodiversity habitat. Many projects have overlapping objectives that contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at onetreeplanted.org.
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SOURCE: Macerich
MEDIA CONTACT:
Karen Maurer, Macerich, 602-708-6311, Website: https://www.macerich.com/
