Corporate citizenship: Green Office for a sustainable daily life

Did you know that in 2017 employees in Uniper headquarters were using an average of 15,000 disposable cups per week? If standing on top of each other, that would be 5 times taller than the Eiffel tower!!! This shocking visualization together with other non-sustainable practices like abuse of single use plastics for takeaway, waste not being separated and over rely on paper print-outs it’s what prompt the early initiators Claudia Ramírez, Assistant of COO Asset Operations and Juan José de Blas, Energy Solutions for Datacenters/Industry together with other green-minded Uniper employees to join for action. Green Office was officially born!

But, what is actually #GreenOffice (GO!) ?

Green Office is a grassroots movement (led by employees, not by senior leadership) with the aim of improving our sustainable behaviour as individuals and as a company in regular work-related activities. Behind Green Office there is a group of highly motivated and action focused Uniper volunteer backed by an internal community of more than 300 members sharing their ideas and concerns to raise awareness on different sustainability topics. Based on these ideas, Green Office initiates and coordinates joint initiatives by taking a broad approach to sustainability including environmental, social and cost-effective aspects. These initiatives contribute in the areas of corporate citizenship and social responsibility, employee engagement and impulse change reinforcing a robust sustainability culture within Uniper.

“The transition towards sustainability and a decarbonized world is in the core of Uniper’s strategy; a high priority for our company, shareholders and customers. Our employees really believe in this transformation and want to experience it on a daily basis at work and surroundings. Green Office is a great example of empowering Uniper employees“, said David Bryson, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Uniper

We are proud of our achievements

Since creation of Green Office and despite challenges like shortage of resource allocation and resistance to change, a significant number of achievements were made by the Green Office initiatives, including:

• Reducing disposable cup usage in our headquarters in Düsseldorf by issuing personal ceramic cups to all employees
• Partnering and sponsoring ‘River Cleanup’ projects like cleanups in the river Rhine (read more below)
• Participation in Stadtradeln in the last two years to encourage employees to use bike for commuting and moving around the city
• Increasing waste separation in our headquarters in Düsseldorf
• Addressing the different sustainability employee concerns to the relevant internal department with the aim to find permanent solutions like the update of internal Policies (e.g Travel Policy).

And many other smaller initiatives like digital cleanups, awareness meetings, printers allowing recycling paper. Everything counts! Green Office is the example of a success story, which not only has brought many significant changes through persistence and many little steps but also has strengthen ties between colleagues from different areas and locations.

River Cleanup sponsorship, our lighthouse project!

“Our sponsorship of the River Cleanup and participation to the annual Rhine Cleanup is one of our oldest (we are organizing this since 2018!) and most renamed projects. It is a brilliant action. Employees come with their families or friends to retrieve trash from the Rhine riverbeds and teach their kids (and themselves) how to be more engaged with the environment and sustainability at the same time. And all this by having a good time. Employee engagement at its best! Last year, because all the uncertainties around Covid-19, we decided sponsoring the deployment of a smart technology to collect floating debris on the Rhine in Düsseldorf Medienhafen: the River Whale. It was an interesting project, from the technical point of view since this was the first time such a technology, designed and produced by H2ope in France, was tested in Germany, and due the support Uniper showed towards the community. And the event was followed by the press and inaugurated by the major of Düsseldorf at that time! For me it was the highlight of the year” said Sandra Garcia, Compliance Officer at Uniper.

What are the future plans of Green Office?

The coronavirus pandemic raised several challenges in our daily work routines but Green Office saw this as a transformational opportunity for the future. “If/when coming back to the office, I hope we can stay as digital as we have been in home office. In regard to working from home, I find it a great vision to aim for carbon-neutral home office. It´s under full control of each one of us, and we are very curious to hear about success stories from Uniper employees!” said Norman Thoms, Head of Emissions Management.

Green Office has proved to be an effective way to bring sustainable change to our offices finding solutions to the main initial concerns. Going forward it will continue strengthening the sustainable culture across different locations and countries where Uniper has operations with initiatives like River Cleanup.

But the movement should not just remain as an internal one. Green Office believes it is time to start engaging with like-minded people from outside and keep leading the change towards the World we all want to live and pass on to future generations!