After a blue-gray and white winter, spring is a time for celebration. It starts the party with bursts of rich and vibrant colors. It beckons living things to wake a little earlier and stay out a little later. We take deeper breaths of clean, fresh air and head to the beach, park, or backyard to connect with nature.
Here in the Northeast, we’re probably more excited about spring than the rest of the United States after Mother Nature crafted for us a record-setting winter with sub-arctic temperatures and snowfall levels of more than 100 inches in some parts of our region. Now, it’s spring and as we watch the earth regenerate, we realize what a gift the world is to us.
So, as Earth Day 2015 approached, we decided it made sense for our office to dedicate not just one day, but a week of Earth Day activities that lessen our negative personal and business environmental impacts. Our entire office successfully participated in a series of events that helped us become better advocates for the earth in our professional and personal lives all while finding fun ways to collaborate in new ways with one another.
Throughout the week employees were rewarded for completing earth day-related challenges from identifying ways to reduce, eliminating junk mail, recycling plastic bags, and cleaning their workspace to designing 3D art using old car parts and eliminating the use of disposable plastic drinking cups at the water fountain. They learned what “carbon footprint” really means and were asked to examine and find ways to reduce it.
The company’s emphasized the importance of eco-conscious thinking by supporting our earth day initiatives. We rewarded employees with time to complete activities, beautiful office plants, ceramic mugs, reusable tote bags, and a potluck lunch.
What was the result? We saved trees, reduced the amount of waste produced, conserved energy, saw that many items can be reused before discarded. We learned that it can take 1,000 years for plastic to break down, that photodecomposition means requiring sunlight to decompose which is a problem because much of landfill matter doesn’t see the sun so we have to stop using unrecyclable plastic. We committed to reusable tote bags and ceramic drinking mugs instead of plastic shopping bags and throw-away cups. Our office was made healthier with oxygen-producing plants. People are bringing their lunch instead of having it delivered; they are carpooling or walking to work. We became smarter, more aware, more compassionate and more intentional. We learned new things about each other, found new ways of working together, and the discovered the benefit of taking action together.
About ARS
Advanced Remarketing Services offers innovative solutions to some of the remarketing industry’s toughest questions. We navigate the confusing landscape of wholesale, salvage and consumer markets to sell the vehicles in the best venue to the most appropriate buyer base.