Live United…Live Green(er)
A new year brings new commitment, new ideas and new opportunities to grow and give back. As an organization, Metro United Way is focused on giving back to the community. I feel that we do this work with great passion for our community. Over the last few months I have also discovered that a great deal of our staff have a passion and love for the environment.
It was with this new knowledge of our staff’s concerns about Metro United Way’s imprint on the environment that the “Green Team” was formed. We were able to meet and discuss several opportunities for us to be more responsible stewards of the planet that has been loaned to us. Some of the immediate “fixes” the Central Services department is currently working on implementing are making reusable plastic cups available for MUW personnel, adjusting thermostats during on and off hours, and increasing staff awareness. There were so many great ideas offered up and I am looking forward to working with this team to find ways of implementing them. I also look forward to sharing those ideas with you over the next few months.
Now, here is the “Ask” as we like to say around here. I am looking for your feedback and ideas/tips you have used at home or in the office that have helped you decrease your impact on the environment. I am open to any suggestions. I have to admit this is a relatively new “environment” (pardon the pun) for us to move in, but it certainly falls in line with living united. Not only with each other, but with all that makes this such a wonderful region to live in.
And now the challenge: if you haven’t thought about what type of imprint you are having on the environment, perhaps January of 2009 is a great time for you to begin doing so. There are so many small ways we can contribute to saving this planet. I recently heard a radio commentator state, and I am paraphrasing, “We do not own the planet on which we live; it is on loan from our children.” - Something to think about, right?
- John Sands, Central Services
