The most sustainable way to become sustainable.
Those of you who are regular readers know that we sometimes do things differently. Not just to be different, but because we know by experience that reasoning is better than replication. Especially when it comes to sustainability.
Why so corporate?
To us, sustainability is not a corporate issue. It’s a human one. And we’re all human. So, we’re not in favor of making big speeches or big promises that might make a difference in 10 or 20 years’ time. We love to make a difference from yesterday on. That’s why in our sustainability approach, we go for…
The power of small things.
The biggest problem with sustainability is that many people give up before they even start. Because they believe that “small things” don’t have any impact. Well, we are doing these little things, and we are doing all of them. We offer company bikes (including roadside services) to our employees. When we give presents to our clients or employees, we make sure, that they are sustainably produced and fair trade. We only serve organic coffee in our offices. Our lunch is sourced through local organic providers and freshly prepared. And there are no single-use plastic bottles in the office.
None of this seems particularly worth mentioning, but it is all the more worth doing. At this point, we’d like to quote the Berlin Wall: “Many small people doing many small things in many small places can change the face of the world.” Eliminating plastic bottles may be a small thing. But if done in all those small places, it alone could save up to 203 billion kg of CO2 a year. So much for the one-person-can’t-change-anything equation. To inspire all the other “many small people” in all the other “many small places,” we’ve decided to lead by example.
We are “starting with the man in the mirror”.
The King of Pop undeniably has the best advice on sustainability. That’s why we decided to start with ourselves. We are convinced that in order to find the optimal answers, we must ask the perfect questions first. Therefore, during the last year, we organized a series of discussions to get every kreuzwerker to enter into a dialog – to establish a common ground of understanding. If the home office taught us anything, it’s that sustainability is not a structural issue but a personal one.
We set the stage with sustainability lunches, Open Fridays, and internal blogs that provided hardcore information for those who crave raw data. We educated ourselves, we analyzed, and now we are ready to implement – and support each other in the process. From this basis, we will let the topic grow naturally outward. We want to act as enablers and encourage other companies and communities to become more sustainable themselves.
This is the kreuzwerker way.
- We make sustainability an integral part of our company’s DNA: We are ready to make sustainability part of our product and service portfolio, as well as our recruiting and professional development.
- We are committed to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. We want to use this platform to educate, inform and measure ourselves to improve.
- We are focused on the long term. With our initiative, we aim to gain a long-term perspective for our company that connects us as kreuzwerkers and acts as a bond across generations and competencies.
- We wish to become a role model – a blueprint and case study for other companies and communities. Our goal is to inspire customers, businesses, and partners with great performances from skilled, fast-learning people who are passionate about sustainability.
- We will unleash sustainability potential. In everything we do, we look for the best possible solution for our customers AND the planet. We will support our customers in achieving sustainable business practices and seek partnerships to promote sustainability, learn from others’ experiences and maximize our efforts.
- We will report regularly on how sustainability is evolving sustainably in our business. We will share our experiences, successes, and failures with you.
Your kreuzwerker sustainability coordinators
Leo & Ana