Thursday, March 13, 2008

Our Green Team


Here is a picture of our Green Team. These wonderful women come from all areas of our company – Customer Service, Marketing, Warehouse, Administration and my assistant. They are looking into all corners of our business to see where we can improve our environmental consciousness.

Here are some of the things they’ve accomplished so far:

Sourced compact fluorescent light bulbs at .75c – the company is offering these to its employees for home use at 50% discount
Eliminated plastic cups, plates and utensils
Installed timers in bathrooms and kitchen that automatically switch off the lights
Instituted a policy to turn off all computers at night
Sourced 100% recycled paper for our fax and copying machines
Instituted a policy of double-sided copies
Switched to “green” cleaning products
Placed recycling bins at every desk

They are now looking at ways to encourage car-pooling, eliminate plastic wrap from our warehouse, installing a water filter to take care of the whole building, and putting pressure on our CFO to replace our boiler so we have efficient heat. (I think they’re winning.)

What all this shows me is that small things add up to big things. We’re going to do a study to show what our savings have been but more important than that is the good feeling it’s giving us all. We’re making a contribution not just in the products we produce but how we conduct ourselves. It isn’t that we haven’t thought of these things in the past but time is always the enemy.

It took the formation of the Green Team to put energy behind the idea and get it done. Sitting around the table with these young women as they explore ideas and make decisions (not always convenient or comfortable ones), inspires me do more and more.

We’re in the process of designing a new office building. It’s going to be a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building with roofs that don’t have shingles but grow plants instead. I’M EXCITED!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's great to hear that your team is going green! I was wondering if you will ever come up with a recycling program? I have a few beautiful pressed powder compacts that I can't bare to throw away. Could you possibly be coming out with refils for the compacts? Or perhaps a place where we can send them for recycling? Thank you for your wonderful products!

Jane Iredale representative said...

Thank you for your comments. The compacts can be recycled with your local bottles/cans recycling program. We recommend cleaning the compact first. We are always looking at ways to improve our products and packaging. We are presently looking into refillable compacts.

The EcoDiva said...

I love the fact that you pay so much attention to the company as a whole. Your products are amazing.

EcoDiva
theEcoDiva.blogspot.com

Jane Iredale representative said...

Dear LaLaNatural,
Thank you so much for your comments. We appreciate it!