Earth Day may only come once a year, but we try to honor our planet every day, in dozens of little ways. Green practices are part of our company DNA, and every year we look for new ways to treat our environment with care and respect. Here are just some of the ways we’ve found so far:
- Brella produces several kilowatts of solar power on-site.
- We use green cleaning supplies.
- We purchase recycled or low consumption office supplies, when possible.
- Brella recycles batteries from small (AA, AAA) all the way up to car-battery sized.
- We compost and recycle.
- Whenever possible Brella prefers contractors to repair rather than replace broken items.
- When shipping, we re-use cardboard boxes.
- Brella avoids single-use kitchenware, in favor of re-usable dishes, and has multiple efficient dishwashers to keep water usage down.
- Brella uses a coffee maker that grinds beans rather than a single-use Keurig-style machine (which produces plastic waste).
- We turn off lights when rooms are not in use.
- In-sink and fridge water spouts provide employees with filtered water, reducing the use of bottled water.
- The Brella fleet has two electric vehicles, and we provide an onsite plug for staff electric car charging.
- Brella employees rely heavily on cloud based electronic communications, rather than the printed documents.
- Free-cycling is encouraged (what you don’t use, bring in and give to someone who will).
- Hand dryers in bathrooms replace paper towels.
- Fabric kitchen towels and cloth rags in each kitchen also reduce paper towel use.
- Brella provides bike racks to encourage bike riding to work.
- Remote work options lessen car travel for of our employees.
- Many of the materials used to build our HQ were made from upcycled products, including Brella’s 3rd floor deck.
- Brella donates working electronics for reuse, and recycles non-functional or very old electronics with FreeGeek Chicago.
- We purchase much of our day-to-day dishes and silverware from thrift shops and rummage sales.
- Excess office supplies or production props are donated to schools.
- Excess food from video shoots are donated to homeless folks.
- Excess costumes are given away to staff or donated to clothing charities.
- Office paints are Low VOC.
- Brella’s HVAC is customized by sections of floors, and by day and time, to keep energy usage at a minimum.
- 98% of Brella’s office lighting is LED or CFL.
- The majority of Brella’s production lighting is LED.
- Most of the office has operable windows and patios for open air-cooling during colder seasons.
- Brella shops local and/or organic and/or fair trade for much of its coffee, tea, and related hospitality items.
- Brella’s IT dept sets up computers, monitors, and peripherals to run on profiles that snooze when not in use to minimize power usage.
- Brella is located deliberately within walking distance of public transportation to allow staff to use mass transit for their commute.
- Brella has several on-site kitchens to allow for creation or reheating of meals, reducing food waste and travel power usage.
- We produced Today’s Green Minute, a series about all things green, with our good friend Jim Parks.
- Brella has social-friendly options (many of which are earth-friendly) in its 401k portfolio.
- Brella’s external landscaping is designed around low water usage.
- The office is filled with plants for beauty and air quality.
- Brella’s external landscaping is designed around low water usage.
- Brella has a staff community container garden for growing veggies and herbs.
Conscientious living isn’t a part-time practice. Here at Brella, we strive to make the world a better place through sustainable choices, community-building, and healthy work-life balance. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.