» amerlux

Changes at Amerlux

Krystal Persaud — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:07:49 +0000

Here are some photos I took of new practices happening around the Amerlux office. I feel like a lot of the employees have made an effort to change their behaviors. No one seems to complain a lot (something I was afraid of).

So far, so good.

The reminder to use a mug

The flyer on the bulletin board

Scrap paper box Jonathan put in the printing/plotting room. This way people can take scrap paper if they need it and all the rest can be recycled.

Temporary recycling bins in the kitchen (until I get permission to buy BIG ones)

Mug hooks that Ron made. It wasn’t even part of the Closed Loop plan, he made them on his own. He felt that employees were hesitant to use the mugs because they were visually hidden in the cabinet. I hope that other employees will start bringing their own ideas to the office like he did.

Success! Closed Loop @ Amerlux.

Krystal Persaud — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:32:34 +0000

The Closed Loop meeting on Friday at Amerlux went very well. I had 11 people volunteer to be on the sustainability team to help lead changes in the office! This week our goals are to eliminate the use of disposable paper cups in the kitchen and start a system of collecting and re-using scrap paper.

We are meeting tomorrow for a few minutes on our lunch breaks to discuss the progress of this week’s goals. Woo! The ball is finally rolling. One coworker today brought in her own cardboard box to collect scrap office paper in. Another took his own initiative to start researching if our factory recycles steel. I feel like now solving these sustainability problems have become something to talk about around the office.

The Closed Loop at Amerlux

Krystal Persaud — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:08:16 +0000

Here are some posters that I made to put up in the Amerlux kitchen.

First one >> Just trying to encourage people to bring in their own mug, plate, and silverware. The kitchen is equipped with a dishwasher so there really is no reason to use disposables!

Second one >> A small note I am going to put by the coffee machine. Some people around the office do use ceramic mugs, but it is an easy thing to forget when disposable cups are so accessible. Hopefully people will see the note when they reach for that disposable cup and make their own mental note to bring in a mug.

“Closed Loop” is growing!

Krystal Persaud — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:13:29 +0000

The Amerlux ball STILL isn’t rolling. I was going to crackdown on my boss today about it, but there is a big meeting with Gensler about a project involving the Shanghai Tower. Definitely check out the Shanghai Tower, when it is built, it is going to be the 2nd tallest building in the world. It is breaking a lot of ground in mixed-use, urban, sustainable building. Anyways, everyone was already really tense about this meeting, so I will postpone my confrontation until tomorrow.

Consulting Amerlux about more sustainable habits got me thinking… what could the Closed Loop become? I used to work for a student-run non-profit organization called F.O.O.T.S.T.E.P.S.. It was a great experience, stressful at times, but great. It made me feel like “wow, this is what I could do…for life”. Really rewarding, volunteer for a non-profit if you have free time or are just interested. Worth it. Anyways, this project with Amerlux makes me want to do more projects. I talked to Rohit Malholtra, the President of F.O.O.T.S.T.E.P.S. and a friend of mine, for some advice. He works in D.C. for the ONE campaign. Yes, that is the one with U2′s Bono. Baller.

So, if Closed Loop expanded…

A) What could Closed Loop do? Helping companies, individuals, schools maybe, adopt more sustainable practices/designs/habits. Right now the economy is really tight and many people do not budget for such changes. And we all know people won’t change for free (unless they REALLY care).

B) How would I afford this? Well, I people have asked me about donating to my cause. But, Closed Loop was just a student project then. Closed Loop it is definitely not a charity. But, it is not a corporation because I am not interested in making a profit. It is not quite a non-profit though. It can be a non-profit consulting company. This means that with the donations I earn, I can allocate them to projects (like cleaning up Amerlux) as I see necessary. I could use the money to up-keep the website, donate to schools, etc.

C) And how exactly do you plan on doing this by yourself? The great thing about being a non-profit consultant is that you CAN do it by yourself. I am thinking on a very local scale right now. So I will approach a future client as an individual consultant or a client can approach me as an individual. Once I have some funds, following through on these projects is feasible– for me to execute and for a client to accept.

What do you guys think? Could it happen?

Progress!

Krystal Persaud — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:31:37 +0000

Finally, I got a meeting with my boss to talk about the Sustainable-Amerlux initiative. The main things I talked to him about were:

1) Recycling the office paper! People print emails, plot drawings, and write notes on office paper that is just thrown away at the end of the day. Each employee has a garbage bin at his/her desk. Imagine how much paper-waste that amounts to!

2) Getting light-sensors. For a lighting company, I think we could be more efficient with the way we use the lights in the office buildings. I suggested light sensors so that lights only turn on when someone is nearby.

3) Switching from paper cups to ceramic coffee mugs and water glasses. People fill up paper cups with water and coffee multiple times a day. One person may throw away three paper cups in one day– this is totally unecessary. The Amerlux kitchen is even equipped with a dishwasher that is not used at all. This will change…

My boss was really into the ideas! He said he agreed that Amerlux could be doing more. There are two main components of Amerlux facilities; the office buildings where people work and the factory where the lighting fixtures are made. I found out that the factory already has a paper compressor that is collected for recycling. We are currently seeing if it is possible for our office paper to be compressed and recycled using that same machine. The wheels are in motion! My boss is also very excited about getting “Amerlux” mugs made. Not only is it going green but it will also emphasize our brand and hopefully unify us more as a working force.

I have a second “guerilla” project in the works too… but I am in the process of trying to access a laser cutter… if anyone knows one that I could use for free (or very, very cheap) let me know!