When I joined the Softchoice gym over a year ago I had to sign a 3-page form to release Softchoice from any liability. At this time we had quite a few employees sign up to use the new workout facilities, and therefore went through a ton of paper getting everyone on board.
Over the last year we’ve been talking about trying to get some of our internal paper processes to be done electronically instead. And it’s no easy feat. Our first email back from HR on the topic was: [Read more...]
The project I am currently working on for the Softchoice GreenTeam is arranging a day where everyone brings their lunch to work or uses some kind of green transportation to get their lunch. For the purpose of the day though I am asking that everyone either walks or bikes to go out to lunch in order to maximize the effect of the day. Even though there are green cars or taking a bus etc we can make an even bigger difference just by walking.
Some of the challenges I am running into are finding a day that works for all of our offices and then finding a way to get participation. Also, since I am only in the Chicago office and the rest of
By eating at our desk Softchoice can take a lot of cars off the road.
the GreenTeam is in the Toronto office, how can we make sure everyone else is participating? I first thought that by choosing a day in the winter that people would be more likely to bring in a lunch and stay in the office. Now I am thinking that since even I don’t like packing my own lunch maybe I should have it sooner than later so that people can catch a nice day to walk somewhere.
With our main branches being Toronto, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta I don’t really have concerns with getting people to meet up for lunch together in a green way but I am a little concerned about our smaller sales offices. Softchoice has quite a few offices with only 2 sales people in them. How can we keep tabs on them? Hopefully everyone will see the purpose behind the day and join in with our green efforts. I would love for this to be so successful that we can have it every year.
I will update this as I schedule a day and with any thing we do to encourage participation. Wish me luck.
Joel Neuheimer, Director, Market Affairs at Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) answers some of our paper questions in this interview:
How much recycled content should I look for in my paper?
We recommend that buyers adopt a life-cycle approach as a guiding framework. While some issues may be more important than others, taking a single criterion approach to sustainable practices may not ensure long-term sustainability.
For example, a procurement policy needs to address products made with both recycled content and fresh fibre. This is important for a number of reasons. Any measurement of the environmental benefits of recycled fibre must consider whether waste paper has to be transported long distances or if brighter paper grades need additional processing. Life cycle assessment may show [Read more...]
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