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A week for the Earth – Earth Day is being extended to three days this year. Companies around the world are showing how they and their employees want to help curb climate change. Of course, GOLDBECK SOLAR will also be there. For one week, we want to show what contributions our employees are making. Our patron for sustainability, Monika Leiner, summarizes why the topic of environmental protection is so important to us.
For GOLDBECK SOLAR, climate protection is not just about solar systems. For a year now, as patron of sustainability, you have been working with our employees to turn many ideas into reality that will make us more sustainable. What are they, for example?
That is now a huge range. We separate waste, have switched our paper to recycled paper, only use black and white prints and have also reduced the amount of printouts by over 90 percent. We only use organic milk and organic coffee in the office and offer alternatives to cow’s milk. The company vehicle fleet is becoming ever greener; the proportion of electric and hybrid vehicles is constantly growing. We also offer our employees access to alternatives to the car via JobRad. We collect disused cell phones and electrical appliances and donate the proceeds to NABU. The travel guidelines for business trips aim to avoid travel (especially air travel) wherever possible. This year, we plan to introduce at least one environmental day at GOLDBECK SOLAR, where employees can actively participate in projects. This is just a small selection of the many internal measures. But there is much more that we want to implement. Not everything works immediately.
What are the challenges?
For example, if we want to switch our sanitary paper to recycled paper, we have to coordinate this with our landlord. This also applies to replacing the cleaning agents used by the cleaning staff with biodegradable agents or switching the lighting to LEDs. We have already been able to initiate some measures (e.g. our electricity supplier supplies “green” electricity and our IT service provider also works with green electricity), but others are still in progress.
What external projects is GOLDBECK SOLAR pursuing?
For example, I am currently calculating the carbon footprint of our supply chain. Of course, we also source products from China for the construction of our solar parks. Our contracts stipulate that manufacturers must provide appropriate evidence regarding their supply chains, social standards, the carbon footprint of their materials and their plans to reduce this. Wherever possible, we try to switch to products that are produced in Europe. We also look for alternatives to shipping from Asia and prefer to work with carriers that either operate locally or have greener truck fleets. We give advice to our suppliers on how packaging can be minimized. In addition, we try to implement nature conservation measures at the open-air facilities that we build. For example, we make sure that fences do not reach the ground so that hedgehogs and other small animals can move around freely. We can create habitats for lizards where appropriate and set up breeding boxes for birds. RifCon supports us in this by developing concepts for us. And we are a member of the Leaders of Climate Action and offset our footprint every year through Climate Partner.
Environmental education is also playing an increasingly important role …
Exactly. We have employees who go to schools and talk about photovoltaics and renewable energies. Schools are welcome to request such presentations from us.
Why is it so important for companies like GOLDBECK SOLAR to get involved beyond days like Earth Day?
We are active in the field of renewable energies, so the topic is a matter of course for us. It is simply up to everyone – every company, but also every private individual – to do something. We can’t wait any longer, because climate change, environmental destruction and the decline in biodiversity are already far too advanced. It is encouraging that society is beginning to recognize this and that the younger generation in particular is demanding action. We as individuals, but also as companies, have a responsibility here! Campaigns such as Earth Day draw attention to this, but we have to act every day of the year.
What is the feedback from customers, suppliers and partners?
That’s where we open doors. The topic is well known and very important to many. The problem is that there are few to no standards against which sustainability can be measured in concrete terms. In Europe, of course, there are requirements such as the RoHS or WEEE directives or ISO14001 for manufacturing companies – but none of this goes far enough, and the supply chain in China is not always transparent. For example, our cable supplier can tell us exactly where they buy their copper and thus guarantee that their sources are free of child labor or forced labor. Here, we as purchasers – but also the legislator and our customers – must recognize that we cannot always meet our sustainability requirements by choosing the “cheapest” product. “Green” raw materials, CO2-optimized logistics and socially fair work have their price. This must be taken into account when evaluating offers and, if necessary, even given preference by law.
And the college?
Our staff is very international and relatively young; the average age is just over 30. They put their heart and soul into many great ideas and support all of our projects. I think many of them would like us to do even more. We now also have an internal sustainability page, which I use to share topics and information. It’s well received.
As part of a campaign with and for Fridays for Future, World Earth Day 2020, our employees wrote down what they personally do to minimize their ecological footprint last year, for example. It was a great campaign and resulted in a very motivating, beautiful collage.
Tobias Schüßler and Joachim Goldbeck
