In the majority of my previous jobs, interactions with co-workers were limited to the superficial: discussions about goings-on at work, sporting events, movies, and what we did the previous weekend. We certainly didn’t discuss our positions on the environment or recycling. Sure, there were recycling bins sprinkled throughout the office but environmental issues were never part of the culture of any of the companies I worked for.
At DefinedLogic, however, I quickly found that the employees had a more personal relationship with each other and the world around them. Many of the employees had worked together at a previous company and seemed to be friends as much as they were co-workers. Part of it might have been that the company was relatively small and most of the employees had known each other for a while. Another part of it seemed to be that many of the employees seemed to be of a common mind. And what that translated to was sharing a similar social conscience that spread beyond the four walls we shared as co-workers.
For example one of my colleagues, Derek Riddle (Twitter handle @derekriddle), is active in the Jersey Shore Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation (http://jerseyshore.surfrider.org/), a nonprofit that aims to protect oceans, waves and beaches. Twice annually Derek captains a ‘clean beach sweep’ in collaboration with Surfrider. The response has always been positive, with up to a dozen employees and their family members participating in a 4 hour beach sweep on a Saturday morning. Derek’s activism with respect to Surfrider has even resulted in a handful of DL employees joining Surfrider to show their support for the cause of the oceans.
At DL I also quickly noticed that there were recycling bins seemingly everywhere: bins for plastic, glass, cans, and paper. We were even recycling printer cartridges through a program run by Staples. Employees would even send emails to the entire company to make recycling related comments on occasion. I had always thought of myself as a fairly active recycler but since joining DefinedLogic and being exposed to an environment that so actively encourages it I’ve found my own dedication to recycling has increased exponentially. I look to recycle everything these days, from the obvious items such as can, glass and plastic to cardboard, printer ink cartridges, and household batteries. My 5 year old is a great helper at home, too. Seeing me recycling so actively he’s even taken to giving me the plastic caps that accompany soft drink bottles and telling me to ‘bring them to work’ because we collect those at DL for proper disposal/recycling, too.
Through a couple of casual conversations in the common areas at DL a couple of years ago a number of us even purchased compost bins from the county park system, furthering our own environmental interests. And in a continued outgrowth of our commitment to the environment our management team is discussing purchasing a number of refurbished bicycles for the office to use for pedaling, rather than driving, the area surrounding our offices in Red Bank.
I’m proud to say I work at DefinedLogic for a number of reasons but one of my favorite things about the company is its commitment to preserving the environment. How many of us can say that the place where we work also asks us to think about making the world a better place for future generations?
