Employee Commitment
We remind ourselves every day that we only have one earth and we
all need to do our part, one step at a time!
Here at Bigelow, all employees are committed to making a
difference. All three Bigelow facilities have formed "Green Teams".
The teams' objectives are to educate Bigelow employees about
environmentally friendly practices, identify new initiatives to
make Bigelow Tea more environmentally friendly and implement these
new initiatives. Meet the Bigelow "Trash Hippies", and our
new "EIT"
(Employee Involvement Team), our two Boise, Idaho
Green Teams, and learn how they are making an impact and here are
some additional ways we're all making a difference at Bigelow
Tea:
- Actively participating in local annual Earth Day events
- Encouraging employees to car pool to work, offering subsidized
commutation costs
- Educating Bigelow customers (e.g. Sam's Club) on Bigelow Tea's
SustainabiliTea programs
- Recycling empty inkjet cartridges and donating to a program
called "Funding Factory Cartridge Recycling Program" allowing
teachers to use the funds raised by this program to buy computer
supplies for the children.
- Installed recycling bins in the cafeteria to separate metal,
glass and redeemable items
- Recycling old sneakers for Nike "Reuse-a-Shoe" program that
creates playing surfaces for underserved communities
- Encouraging employees to use both sides of paper in the
printers and copy machines throughout the facility
- Recycling white paper by discarding previously used paper into
recycle bins once both sides of the paper have been used
- Tracking department paper use on monthly basis to continue to
reduce unnecessary paper copying
- Sharing trade publications within departments and with other
departments
- Discontinued publication subscriptions that are offered online
or are no longer necessary or relevant
- Utilizing packaging materials that are biodegradable (e.g. tea
paper filter bag, tea tags, outer case shipper cartons) versus
those made from plastics Biodegradable products are able to be
broken down by natural processes into more basic components, rather
than being discarded into landfill.
- Invited local companies such as the local utility company to
visit Bigelow Tea in order to educate employees on energy savings
tips and services such as home energy audits, rebates on energy
efficient appliances and air-conditioner trade-ins
- Replaced 100% of our cleaning supplies with "green'
cleaners
- Sponsored "Bring your mug to work day" to reduce the use of
Styrofoam cups
- Installed compact florescent light bulbs throughout the three
facilities
- Implemented a program to recycle video tapes. Employees bring
old video tapes to work and Bigelow employees deliver them to
recycling locations
- Implemented an on-going book swap by placing bookshelves in
company First-Aid room to encourage employees to donate and borrow
books
- Converted to recyclable cups and plates in company
cafeteria
- Converted the majority of all invoices to electronic payments
(eliminating paper checks)
- Installed LED dock lights on our loading docks to reduce energy
consumption
- Installed programmable thermostats on water heaters throughout
the facilities in order to save energy and money by
automatically adjusting the hot water temperature when
the building is not occupied. This has saved over 7,000
kilowatts of energy translating to over 7,000 pounds of carbon
or 115,000 trees annually.
- Installed motion detectors in each office to automatically turn
out the lights when the office is not occupied
- Installed a dumpster to recycle metal-based materials such as
old broken pallet jacks, metal shelving, machine shop scrap
aluminum and carbon steel. tin spools and other recyclable
metals
- Established programs to recycle electronics equipment such as
computers and photo copiers
- Recycling disposable batteries and replaced them with
rechargeable batteries
- Incorporated annual "Green Goals" into employee and department
goals to ensure green initiatives are a company-wide priority
- Provide every employee with a free reusable shopping bag to
encourage the use of reusable items. In addition, with every green
initiative, the Bigelow Green Team shares new "green" tips and
education with employees.
- Post "Weekly Green Tips" on the Bigelow Intranet website and
company bulletin board.
- Created "Libraries" on each floor to share print materials and
periodicals
- Replaced conventional plastic trash bags with biodegradable
plastic bags.
- Installed flow restrictors in corporate restroom sinks and
kitchenettes reducing the amount of gallons per minute flowing from
the sinks saving 1/2 gallon per minute of water usage in our sinks
for a total savings of over 56,000 gallons of water annually!