Green Gain: Babson Capital’s Environmental Program Reaps Benefits – and Earns Award
05/15/2009 -- After one year, what does Babson Capital’s green initiative - the Environmental Awareness & Stewardship Program (EASP) – have to show for itself?
- A 20% drop in electrical consumption in one office
- More than 100 mobile devices collected for charity
- More than 280 pounds of sneakers collected to become new playground surfaces
- A new low-carb(on) “diet”
- A spot on the Uptime Institute’s “Global Green 100.”
It’s a nice list of accomplishments since the program started in Spring 2008. The EASP is instrumental in encouraging employees to rethink many of their habits (e.g. turning off computers & lights and duplex printing) and thereby reduce the use of electricity and supplies. The benefits of these reductions are not only a reduction of carbon and other emissions, but they also save Babson Capital money.
Here is further detail of the many EASP accomplishments:
- Culminating the EASP’s first year was the announcement in April 2009 that Babson Capital is one of the first companies to be named to the Uptime Institute's Global Green 100. This awards recognizes companies who have “a demonstrated board-level policy and governance commitment to increasing energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of their enterprise IT and data center operations.” [More information on the Global Green 100.
- Reduced electrical use: Shutting down computers and turning off lights contributed to a 20% decrease in the Boston office’s electrical consumption in the first quarter of 2009 compared to first quarter 2008. A similar decrease in electrical consumption is expected in other locations in the next year. Our goal for 2009 is to ensure a savings at all locations and reduce energy usage by 10-15% on an annualized basis firmwide.
- Supplies reduction: Several locations have reduced their need for disposable plates and utensils by using ceramic dishes and silverware. In addition employees bi-annually turn in excess office supplies to be used by others and have adopted lower-density printing as well as printing on both sides of the paper (known as “duplex”) as a default to save paper and toner. This year’s goal is to reduce per-person paper use by 20% through digitization and double-sided copying.
- The EASP web page: The EASP internal web page with location specific information, committee lists, eco-tips and advice for employees on how to participate in the sustainability movement at work as well as at home.
- Electricity meters and appliance timers: Several offices have been monitoring their electricity use to determine which appliances/equipment could benefit from timers that shut them down when not in use. The EASP strives to have timers on all appliances where practical by the end of the year.
- Cell Phone Drive: Many of the offices have been collecting cell phones for reuse and recycling. Over 100 mobile devices have been collected which will benefit non-profit organizations. This collection is an on-going recycling drive at many locations and is just one of several drives that are planned throughout the year.
- Earth Hour: We encouraged Babson Capital employees to participate in turning off their lights for an hour in March to show their support for the environment. Additionally, several office buildings that house Babson Capital offices as tenants also participated in Earth Hour.
- Earth Day: The theme for Earth Day this year at Babson Capital was Spring Cleaning. Employees had the chance to turn in their excess office supplies for use by others, buy CFLs at cost, and conveniently and responsibly dispose of their old electronics. Earth Day also wrapped up a successful sneaker drive in several locations where over 280 pounds of sneakers were collected to be remade into playground surfaces. This is an example of just one of the environmentally-related quarterly events held each year.
- The “Low Carb(on) Diet:” The pilot program of this carbon-footprint reducing plan was launched in April. Once completed, each participant is anticipated to reduce his/her carbon footprint by over 5,000 pounds annually. There are plans to expand this program in the future to all employees.
- Book Collection: Over 1,000 books were collected for reuse in local hospitals.
This is just a sampling of the initiatives, goals and accomplishments of the Babson Capital’s Environmental Program. We continue to look for ways in which we can positively impact our working environment.
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