Take One Action!

Take One Action is a program designed to teach and encourage the adoption of more sustainable behavior, to enhance sustainability in the office at and home. Here are some of the themes we’ve featured in this program:

• Take One Action to reduce disposables identifies money savings from reuse instead of disposable products.  For example, a person who buys $1.50 bottle of water a day, can save over $500 a year by filling a water bottle and using a filter.
• Take One Action to save energy and water is based on Earth911′s article and identified 8 ways to save up to $290.
• This year, we’re working on the landfill challenge as we turn into the homestretch of our journey to zero waste in our operations.  We’re asking associates to throw away less to meet specific goals to reduce waste in each location.

Associates who participate are eligible to win drawings for gift cards and other prizes.  All participants earn “ALC bucks” to spend in the company store, where they can buy American Licorice merchandise or donate their bucks to a food bank or the local humane society.  Associates also save money in energy and water conservation and by reducing waste–during one month, we estimated a total savings of over $2,600 for associates who participated in the program.

Our latest initative is Take One Action for Travelers, designed to reduce costs and emissions used in business travel, by encouraging carpooling and other forms of transportation on business trips and videoconferencing in the place of traveling for meetings.  Business travel is the second largest downstream source of emissions we measured in 2011.  Stay tuned as we measure our results…

Prior to the launch of Take One Action!, we provided sustainability education to each associate team on issues in sustainability–emissions, waste, and the rapidly increasing demand for water, the business case for sustainability, and the Natural Step’s principles.  We even showed a clip from Portlandia’s Sanitation Twins, about recycling,  for a little comic relief.  At the end of each training session, we asked each team to commit to the Sustainability Challenge, where they agree to take on a project to make the office more sustainable. Through this initiative we’ve taken the following actions:

• Replaced water coolers with filtered water in Bend, Oregon.  According to Minnesota’s Energy Smart program, water coolers use about $82 of electricity per year.
• Eliminated bottled water from Plant Offices.   8 out of 10 plastic bottles end up in the landfill, according to Earth911.
• Added a printer option for duplex printing in Bend, Oregon.
• Switched from paper-based reporting to electronic in Human Resources.  The average person uses 700 lbs of paper a year, so a reduction of 10% could save $17 per person per year, at an office.
• Set up a consistent recycling system for office associates in Bend, Oregon–we reduce more waste when we make it easier to do.
• Optimized customer pick-ups by distribution center and plant to consolidate shipments and reduce transportation emissions.
• Recycling all toner cartridges in the field.

Collectively, we’ve saved the company thousands of dollars and are creating a more sustainable workplace.

Cleaning up the neighborhood for Earth Day, in Bend Oregon