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recycled plastic? And that the number of paper coffee cups used can be reduced dramatically if employees write their names on them and reuse them? There are endless examples of simple adjustments that can save a great deal of waste. GBC commissioned a team of young professionals to develop a method for increasing the sustainability of these every day articles on the work floor. With the help of a specially developed flow chart, employers can inventarize which products on the work floor can be replaced by more sustainable/ recyclable products and which products can already be recycled. Using this method, up to now two large companies have switched to more recyclable coffee cups, and another company has observed a 28% reduction in coffee cup use. In two other large companies, all throw-away pens have been replaced by pens made from recycled plastic. Start the week without meat For many people, eating less meat remains a challenge. Nevertheless, reducing the amount of meat we eat has a hugely beneficial impact on the environment. The production of a single beef cow involves the emission of the same amount of greenhouse gases as producing 4.5 cars, or of driving 70,000 km. And the production of a single kilo of beef requires 15,000
litres of water! In collaboration with GBC, several companies have introduced the Meatless Monday. This means that on Mondays, no meat or fish is served in the company restaurants. Although it took a bit of getting used to for some people, the impact of this small change soon became evident. Arno Krikke, candidate notary at Van Doorne, for example, quickly took a positive stance towards Meatless Monday: “It’s good to focus attention on this as a company. At first, it took a while for some colleagues to get used to it, but one meat-free day in the week should be doable. After all, there are still four more days in the working week, and the alternatives to meat are good.” E-bike instead of car For most employees living between 20 and 30 km from their work, it feels just a bit too far to go by bike. Public transport is a sustainable solution, but with delays and transfers between trains/buses, it can be time-consuming. For this group of commuters, an e-bike presents a great alternative to the car. To familiarize employers with the benefits of the e-bike, GBC regularly makes e-bikes and speed bikes available for employees to try out for a few weeks. This on the condition that the bicycle is genuinely used as an alternative to the car. Employees from eight companies have since participated in the e-bike pilot and almost all participants are highly enthusiastic. Mark Hofstee Holtrop from United I Trust (based in WTC Amsterdam) commutes every day to Zuidas: “It takes about the same amount of time by e-bike as it does by car, but if there’s heavy traffic, the e-bike is quicker. The e-bike is ideal for travelling to work, because you don’t have to pedal so hard, so it’s really relaxed. I noticed that I arrived at work less stressed, and also arrived home more relaxed at the end of the day, especially by avoiding the traffic jams.”
Green Business Club Green Business Club Nederland is an impact organization that encourages local collaboration in the area of sustainability. In the Netherlands there are eight Green Business Clubs active in various business centers and business parks. Large and medium-sized companies and governmental organizations have joined the Green Business Clubs, as a way of implementing local sustainability projects together. In choosing the sustainability projects, the central focus lies on the needs of the companies, and from that point, projects are initiated. The participating businesses are, after all, the ones who will actually be able to deliver results. Green Business Club was founded six years ago and since then has been involved in a large number of projects of varying scopes, in the area of mobility, water & green, energy, waste & reuse and people. From car sharing to installing charging stations for electric cars, and from green site fencing to a pop-up park. Business organizations WTC Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht are participants in the local Green Business Club. Would you like to know more about Green Business Club or one of the projects mentioned above? Then please contact GBC Nederland director, Eline Kik Eline@greenbusinessclub.nl
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