How to make a green company? By behaving environmentally-friendly in your offices and giving to the environment something in return. At Deloitte, we have been taking environmental requirements into account for several years - waste sorting, recycled paper, a new building - that is for sure. At the beginning of the year, we decided to bring all “green” activities together and call the whole initiative Deloitte Green.
“Deloitte is a business-oriented company, but at the same time, people need to feel that they do something good for the society and give it something in return,” says Lucia Rončáková, one of the founders of Deloitte Green established under the auspices of the Risk Advisory department and led by Partner Nik Černomorský.
Other impulses for the creation of Deloitte Green included the growing interest in ecology among young people. “At interviews or student fairs, we began to notice that young people do not ask us so often about salaries and bonuses, but they are interested in what Deloitte does for the environment,” Lucia explains and adds: “We are asked whether the company supports commuting to work by bike, whether our building and technology meet various environmental standards or whether employees are educated in sustainability.” An ecologically-oriented company which can answer “yes” to the above-mentioned questions thus gains, among other things, plus points in the competition for young talents. And this is something that counts in the current shortage of qualified employees.
An important step for the further successful operation of Deloitte Green was the creation of a working group in which all departments have their representatives. They deal with all voluntary environmental activities of employees, plan events and ensure that all important information reaches all people from their teams.
5 life hacks of our new environmentally friendly building
The most significant environmental achievement in recent years is the new office, the Churchill I building in Vinohrady (Prague), to which we moved in February 2019. What eco life hacks can it boast?
- Energy recovery;
- Using rainwater collected in retention tanks for flushing toilets and irrigating green areas around the building;
- Reduced water flow from taps (which reduces water consumption);
- Bikeroom twice as big as in the previous building; and
- LEED Gold certification.
There are a number of activities that Deloitte Green has organised or will carry out in the future: screening documentaries on ecology, providing returnable cups for drinks at the annual meeting of current and former employees, or the planned announcement of an employee competition in the number of steps walked. We have a lot of ideas.
We cleaned Rohanské nábřeží. Twice already
Litter collection and cleaning of selected outdoor areas is a good way to improve the environment and at the same time enjoy non-traditional teambuilding. Deloitte Green thus started its activities with the cleaning of Rohanské nábřeží in Prague as we were close to this place when we were based in Karlín.
In two hours, a 15-member team managed to collect 180 kg of waste on a small riverbank and filled 23 rubbish bags. The second time, twelve participants managed to collect 160 kg of litter in 45 minutes.
We planted herbs
We planted all sorts of herbs on the terrace of our new building and harvested two full baskets of herbs in August. They will be dried and subsequently packed in small packages together with tea or herb salt and distributed as a small present to our clients.
We restored part of the Třešňovka orchard
One day in November, we gathered with colleagues from various departments and planted 20 fruit trees under the guidance of experts in the Třešňovka orchard. The new planting will promote the aesthetic impression and contribute to the biodiversity and sustainability of the surroundings.
Seminars, webcasts, business breakfasts and other events organized by Deloitte.
