The 2018 Cox Corporate Social Responsibility Report CEI_2018_CSR_Report | Page 17

WATER: Strengthening
Our Stewardship
Water scarcity impacts more than 40 percent of people around the world and presents one of the
most significant environmental challenges of our time. Being good water stewards — using it
responsibly and conserving it wherever possible — helps ensure there continues to be an adequate
supply for people, communities and businesses. Our work to achieve our 2044 goal to be water
neutral has caused us to change how we think about using, conserving and protecting water.
The largest single contributor to our water conservation program is xeriscaping, which creates
landscapes using plants native to each region that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental
water from irrigation. In water-stressed areas in California, for example, we’ve replaced turf grass
with drought-tolerant plants at Cox Automotive facilities that have large land footprints. Xeriscaping
alone saves more than 42 million gallons of water each year.
OUR GOAL:
Water Neutral by 2044
Our Performance
81M
gallons
reduced annually
in 2018
23M
gallons
of water reduction
from new projects
in 2018
19%
to water
neutral goal

Cox Enterprises, Inc. 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
15