Corporate Responsibility @ The North Pole

Our Values

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We believe that God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested. We believe that He created man in His image. We believe that He commanded humankind to be stewards of His creation. We believe that humankind will be held accountable for our stewardship.

We believe that we all - as individuals and as corporations -have a responsibility to make the world a better place than we found it. At North Pole Inc., we exist to fulfill that responsibility. Our contribution is not limited simply to bringing happiness to children around the world every Christmas Eve. We work every day to ensure that we are making a difference in the lives of children, our employees, and the world at large.

Go Green!

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Every year we manufacture or procure several billion toys that are then distributed worldwide. It is a huge challenge to minimize the impact of those operations on the environment but it is a challenge that we are not shying away from. We are proud of the progress we have made but we are not satisified. We believe we can do more. We have set some ambitious goals and we will not rest until we meet or exceed those goals. Check out a few factoids about what we have done... or are planning on doing... to minimize our impact on the environment:

Our worldwide distribution - and business travel - produces NO greenhouse gases thanks to our reindeer-powered sleighs. The sleighs' on-board electronics are all powered by solar cells.
Our company-owned manufacturing & office facilities are all powered by wind-generated energy. Our facilities are all equipped with windmills that produce enough energy to not only off-set our own usage but to also put surplus energy back into the grid.
All of our 3rd party partners must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage by 10% year over year for the next 10 years. Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of their contracts.
We currently re-plant one tree for every Christmas Tree we cut for use at the North Pole and/or for delivery. Our goal is to re-plant 3 trees for each Christmas Tree by 2010.
We recycle every Christmas Tree we use on North Pole Inc. property.
We are actively sponsoring a campaign to eliminate artificial Christmas Trees. While on the surface they may appear to be more environmentally friendly, 90% of those "trees" end up in landfills within 10 years.
We recycle or re-use 70+% of our waste from toy production every year. Our goal is to be at 90+% by 2010 and at 100% by 2015.
Our goal is to reduce waste from our toy production by 10% year over year.
We are actively lobbying toy manufacturers to provide recycling programs for toys and batteries. By 2012, it will be a requirement for any manufacturer wishing to supply the North Pole operations.

Animal Rights

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We have been frequently and publicly criticized by high-profile animal rights groups about the use of reindeer in our operation. This criticism is based on mis-information and a gross mis-understanding of our relationship with the reindeer. All of the reindeer that participate in North Pole operations and/or live in North Pole facilities do so at their own desire. These are not common reindeer. These reindeer are cut from the same cloth as those in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia in that they can communicate clearly with humans.

The reindeer have chosen to live at the North Pole and actively contribute to our mission to make the world a better place. Each family is provided world-class shelter, food, and medical care, as are all other residents of the North Pole. All reindeer are free citizens of the North Pole and as such, all reindeer of adult age have full & equal voting rights. Reindeer are also earn additional money for discretionary use (note: as all basic needs are met & exceeded for all North Pole residents, any additional funds earned is purely discretionary) through voluntary employment with North Pole Inc. A number of reindeer living at the North Pole have chosen to pursue careers with other companies besides North Pole Inc. The average salary for each reindeer employed by North Pole Inc. is roughly equivalent to that of a commerical airlines pilot.

A recent poll of reindeer worldwide shows that North Pole Inc. is the number one employer of choice for reindeer. And each year for the past 7+ decades, aone major international reindeer publication has named the North Pole as the "Top Place To Live & Retire" for reindeer.

In short, the reindeer of the North Pole have all the rights and benefits that are afforded to every human at the North Pole.

Community

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We are proud of our wide-ranging activities in support of the Community. At North Pole, Inc., we define the "Community" as both the local communities that host our facilities and the world at large.

First and foremost, we encourage our employees to volunteer their time. For every hour of time spent volunteering, North Pole Inc. adds a half-hour of pay to the employees' personal retirement fund.

Our CEO, Santa Claus, sets the example for the entire organization as he & his wife commit over 1,000 hours each year to volunteer work around the world. Their focus in recent years has been on assisting refugee children in Africa (http://www.ninemillion.org/) and orphans in China & Vietnam (http://www.orphansoverseas.org/).

We also encourage financial giving by our employees. Every euro donated by an employee to a charitable organization is matched by North Pole, Inc., up to a total of 10,000 euros.

Looking forward, our goals are to:

increase employee giving by 10%, year over year, for the next 3 years,
increase employee volunteer hours by 5% year over year for the next 3 years, and
increase our corporate giving by 15%, year over year, for the next 5 years... not including our annual Christmas Eve gifts.