EllaNews

I know I’ve been promising a trip report (or two, or three) about India. But it’s Earth Day that’s on my mind today. I’ve been reading Natural Capitalism, as well, so I’m mulling over strategies to “act locally”.

Energy Use
Ellaroo World Headquarters is located in an old Flour Mill in McKinney, TX. We chose this space because there is abundant natural light, gorgeous wood floors and beams, high ceilings, and it’s just off of our downtown square, with plenty of walkable restaurants, coffee shops, and even an office supply shop that has been in business for 40 years. It’s those high ceilings that have been giving us trouble, though. It’s not easy to regulate the temperature of one big space with 20 foot ceilings. With the help of the building owner (whose primary concern is energy costs - I’ll take whatever motivation I can get!), we are embarking on a plan to insulate the old multi-pane windows that ring the building (by adding one big clear pane on the inside, creating a ~4 inch insulating air space), as well as install ceiling fans to circulate the rising hot air in the winter and cool us off in the summer. I’m hoping to get the landlord to compare the energy costs year over year, so I can post them here.

Recycling
When we hire new staff, the indoctrination begins! One of the first and easiest lessons is about recycling.
Cardboard: As a company that ships products all over the world, we process a lot of cardboard boxes. Those that are strong, we reuse. Those that are spent, we store and haul to the recycling center periodically.
Paper: With office paper, we have a double opportunity to make a dent. First, paper reduction. Do you really need to print that email? Can you receive faxes to your computer (we use eFAX)? Can you reuse printed paper for scratch pads? Shredded sensitive documents make great “browns” for your compost pile (I get two lovely loads of compost per year). By the time you get to the point of recycling, there’s not much to deal with!
Tyvek: Even fluffy mail can be dealt with. Dupont runs a recycling program for Tyvek envelopes.

Cleaning
We have our work space cleaned every two weeks by a professional service (that way no one staff member resents cleaning up after others). We recently found and contracted with a natural cleaning service that uses cleaners without harsh chemicals. I can feel confident that we’re not all sucking in fumes in the name of hygiene. The bonus is how nice it smells when they leave: peppermint, lavender, tea tree oil, mmm.

Carbon
Now we come to the bugaboo. Well, my bugaboo; I don’t know about yours. As a business-owner, I feel like I have a particular responsibility and opportunity to make a real difference in modeling good business practices. Hence our transition to sustainable fibers in our products. But carbon dioxide output is another issue, particularly for international businesses, like Ellaroo. Air flights, domestic shipping, international shipping, office energy use, staff commutes, manufacturing processes. I’ve recently become aware of two different companies that offer a way to offset carbon dioxide output through purchasing credits, calculated to offset certain activities, such as air travel or office energy usage. The money paid into these credits goes toward activities that reduce carbon dioxide emissions elsewhere, such as investing in wind farms (TerraPass) or increasing plankton populations in the ocean (Planktos). These companies are currently focused on residential packages, but will gladly work with companies to calculate appropriate offsets for specific activities, such as Ground shipments versus Air shipments versus Sea freight shipments.

I hope our journey helps other small-business owners find their way. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to share what I’ve learned.

Happy Earth Day!

-Vesta