Ecos prides itself on “making a world of difference” through programs that help its clients save energy, save money and operate more sustainably. Now, in an effort to do more to make a difference close to home, Ecos is announcing more workplace opportunities for its employees to give back to the communities in which they serve and take steps to reduce their own environmental impacts.
Approximately 150 employees in four offices – Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Durango, Colo. – have pledged to begin taking part in activities that will assist their communities and make their workplaces more environmentally sustainable. These efforts will be led by internal Community Service and Green teams.
“For over 12 years, Ecos has been working for our environment. So it only makes sense that we take the time to help our own communities and look at the ways we can make our own operations more consistent with our mission,” said Jon Thomsen, president of Ecos.
The Community Service team, led by Leslie Mestman, is a 14-person group with employees from the Portland office and branch offices. The team’s goal is to seek out volunteer opportunities that fit the interests and priorities of Ecos employees. To do that, the team is conducting an internal survey to find out which activities and organizations employees want to support.
“Our team is here to help match employees with the volunteer opportunities that are most meaningful to them,” said Mestman. “Whether it’s supporting youth, the homeless, or the elderly – or volunteering for the environment – these activities will give us extra motivation to keep making a difference.”
The seven-member Green Team, led by Korrin Weldon, is focused on ensuring that Ecos “walks its talk” when it comes to quantifying and reducing the company’s impact on the planet. The team’s first initiative – coinciding with May’s National Bike Month – is to encourage more Ecos employees to bike to work rather than drive.
“This initiative will not only help employees reduce their transportation impact, but it’s a great way to have fun together with bike workshops and group rides,” said Weldon.
The Green Team will also be busy establishing baselines at all of Ecos’ offices, including energy use, waste, air quality and collateral impacts. “Once we have a clear picture of where waste is occurring, we can take the steps to reduce our resource use,” added Weldon. “By implementing these measures in our own offices, it makes our energy conservation and sustainability programs for our clients that much stronger.”
Ecos employees from Portland and its branch offices kicked off their commitment to community service on Friday, March 13, by gathering at the downtown Portland headquarters and then fanning out all across the city for a morning of volunteering. The large contingent divided up to help the following organizations:
- Friendly House – A team assisted Friendly House in NW Portland in setting up for its annual fundraising auction, “Swing into Spring.”
- Sunshine Division – Ecos teams assisted with sorting food for emergency food boxes, sorting donated clothing and bundling children’s books to distribute to local families.
- Loaves and Fishes – A team arrived at the agency’s kitchen in SW Portland to help put together several hundred meals for home-bound senior citizens.
- ReBuilding Center – The largest group visited the ReBuilding Center in North Portland, which carries the region’s largest volume of used building and remodeling materials. The center provides resources that make home repairs affordable to everyone, with the goal of promoting reuse. The Ecos team helped sort and move donated building materials.
“All the Ecos employees marveled at what a great day it was – everyone had a great experience helping these organizations, and we definitely all caught the “community service bug,” said Mestman. “We’re looking forward to determining which organizations we can help next.”
