Each year, Earth Day provides a chance to appreciate the awe-inspiring planet that we inhabit and collectively work to preserve it for future generations. The Earth Day Network says that more than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities each year.
Its mission could not be more vital today than it was in 1970, when the Earth Day movement began, as impacts from climate change intensify, threatening human health, communities, and buildings.
Here’s how you and your company can celebrate Earth Day.
- Plan a sustainability-related volunteering event for your staff.
- Attend a local Earth Day event.
- Start or take the next step in a sustainability initiative for your portfolio.
- Launch a campaign to engage your tenants or residents in your green programs.
- Sign up for a utility energy or water efficiency program.
- Schedule an energy audit, retro-commissioning study, or waste audit.
- Begin benchmarking your properties in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.
Here’s how some in the IREM community are taking action this Earth Day and Earth Week.
Alliance is holding a zero-waste challenge for Earth Week where our properties will be implementing zero-waste practices. Wednesday of Earth Week we will have The City of Phoenix come out and host a waste and recycling education booth for our corporate office associates to learn more about proper recycling and composting methods. We are excited to see how our properties and corporate office departments will go zero-waste during Earth Week and look forward to continuing our waste reduction and education efforts throughout the year. We’ll also do some volunteering. Friday of Earth Week we will host an annual volunteer event with Keep Phoenix Beautiful. This year, we are building a brick pathway and cleaning up one of the city’s many community gardens.
Kelly Vickers, LEED Green Associate, GGP, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Alliance Residential Company, AMO, Phoenix
For Earth Day 2019, we will put our theme “7+ Easy Ways You Can Help Heal the Planet Every Day!” to good use and ask our tenants to be mindful by recycling, flushing less, using LED light bulbs, unplugging electronics when not in use, using public transit and planting trees. We will also host an informational table in the lobby of the building to answer questions and hand out bookmarks made of 100 percent recycled materials, a planting pot with seeds and stainless-steel straws. This is a very well-received event by the tenants; we are looking forward to it!
Arlene Sarmiento, Property Manager, Brookfield Properties, Houston
Cushman & Wakefield is helping our teams and tenants at our managed properties celebrate Earth Day by providing a toolkit of resources with actionable ideas for events and activities. The toolkit includes items such as campaign posters and educational Earth Day tips and tricks on how to save energy at home and at the workplace. We encourage our colleagues and property management teams to share their photos and activities on social media using the hashtag #CWEarthDay.
Rachel Schiftan, LEED Green Associate, TRUE Advisor, Fitwel Ambassador, Project Manager, Sustainability Services, Cushman & Wakefield, AMO, Washington, D.C.
To celebrate Earth Day, Greystar is engaging our communities by sharing and capturing ideas through our internal social media platform, Yammer, as well as through the Greystar Green Awards. The Green Awards Survey is sent to all Greystar-owned and -managed communities annually around Earth Day, and it allows us to measure and benchmark sustainability performance across our global portfolio. The survey captures information around energy efficiency, water conservation, community engagement, recycling, etc. Communities that go above and beyond are recognized as sustainability leaders within Greystar. We truly believe positive change begins at each of our communities and one small change multiplied across our portfolio can have an enormous, positive impact on our overall footprint.
Lexie Goldberg, LEED AP O+M, Senior Associate of Sustainability, Greystar Management Services, AMO
LORD Green is celebrating Earth Day this year by closing our office on Friday, April 26, to volunteer as a team at the 2019 EarthX Expo in downtown Dallas. We are excited to volunteer at EarthX because it promotes environmental awareness and provides the general public with opportunities to make sustainable decisions in their everyday lives.
Charlotte Walker, Sustainability Services Manager, LORD Green Real Estate Strategies, Dallas