Bolidea – Giving Rise to Stellar Companies

by Magda Rocki

The key to going greener is of course thinking greener. In light of Earth Hour‘s recent occurence and Canada’s celebration of Earth Day happening in a few weeks, we have been paying closer attention than usual to our office’s green practices.

Although we still have a way to go, here are some of the green basics we have appropriated within the Bolidea office:

With 42% of household garbage recyclable¹, we encourage materials to be reprocessed:

• Electronics and office supplies are reclaimed: while we all declare a profound love for tech gadgets and electronics, team members usually bring in their old cell phones and other outdated electronic devices to be dropped off at a local eco-centre, along with our office’s used ink cartridges.
• Recycling receptacles throughout the office: if it falls under the city’s recycling norms, in the blue basket it goes. The Ville de Montreal recycling dutifully picks it up weekly.
  

With 38% of household garbage compostable², we allow materials to rot:

• In-office composting: fairly inexpensive to implement within a start-up, all it takes is a little bit of team awareness, participation and diligence to carry out. Our kitchen waste ( fruit and vegetable peels/rinds, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells) finds new use through the process. Some Montreal-based compost services: Compost Montreal, Centre Environnemental Tourne-Sol or check with your city borough.

Finally, we focus on encouraging earth-friendly practices:

• Use of green cleaning products and biodegradable garbage bags: just because we wish to maintain our office spic and span does not mean we want to dirty the environment. Special attention is payed to purchasing office supplies with high biodegradability, low toxicity, and reduced packaging.  Inform yourself of your cleaner’s green quotient or find alternatives at Good Guide.
• Advocating bikes over cars: strong encouragement is directed towards alternate forms of transport. The office’s great location near public transport and Mt. Royal’s bike path is an incentive in itself, while carpooling and flex hours options take care of reducing our carbon and greenhouses gases imprint.

The effects of greening on our team:

As our team’s awareness heightens, our environmentally responsible mind-set becomes further entrenched with each step we undertake. Implementing these changes at the start-up level has been very rewarding and we will continue doing so in our personal mandate to limit our impact on Earth and her resources. While we still have inroads to make on our desire to become fully environmentally-sustainable, the psychological and financial benefits of thinking green are certainly already tangible and so is the ” feel good” feeling that goes along.

¹ Source: Chamard-Criq-Roche, 2000. Caractérisation des matières résiduelles au Québec. Centre de récupération et de tri des matières recyclables de la Ville de Montréal , Alain Leduc, Ville de Montreal.

² ibid

[Image credit: Creative Commons photo by Incase Designs]