Otak Embraces Earth Month
April, 2021
An interesting discovery was made this year when scientists began to see that forcing everyone to stay home–away from their cars, avoiding plane rides– and watching big businesses turn to remote work had a positive impact on our environment. No one is saying that shutdowns are the answer, but it became a bit clearer that we can do better to protect our planet.
And a clean planet is what is being celebrated this April with Earth Month. Otak embraces sustainable and environmentally sound practices in all that they do, and so it is little surprise the people who make up Otak have been busy engaging in Earth Month activities. From educating clients to rolling up our sleeves to supporting those who work hard to protect the planet, we prioritize the earth this month and all the rest of the months of the year.
We started with our embrace of Earth Month by issuing a reminder to our clients that our accredited staff can help lead them through the sustainable development verification/certification process for their projects. Whether they are looking at LEED, Green Globes, Earth Advantage, Envision, SITES, EcoDistricts certification or others, we stand ready to help. Even for clients that may not be pursuing certification, we can use the same design principles and point them towards a wealth of resources to set them on a sustainable path.
For our “boots on the ground” Earth Month activity, Otak’s Portland office marketing team volunteered to pick up trash for SOLVE Oregon, an organization with a mission to improve the environment and build a legacy of stewardship. The group worked with other volunteers to collect 2,000 pounds of trash filling a 10-cubic-yard dumpster. Others from the Portland office got to work cleaning the company’s adopted stormwater planters, and still other staff members joined in their own Earth Month projects that were closer to their homes or their hearts.
Otak also looks inward to its own environmental stewardship. We have been working internally to reduce our carbon footprint and we’ve made great strides this past year in part because of the shift to remote work. We reduced our emissions a full 25% over 2019 and in partnership with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, we offset 827mT of carbon. Our offsets will go towards projects that include West Coast Tree Planting, Promise the Pod, Tribal Lands Renewable Energy, and Clean Energy Futures Education Program.
The last way Otak recognized Earth Month was by supporting environmental initiatives directly with our charitable giving. For Earth Month donations this year we chose organizations whose missions were focused on environmental conservation, stewardship, or mitigating the impacts of climate change. Each of our regions selected two organizations. This year’s recipients include: Depave and the Watershed Alliance of SW Washington in the Portland/Vancouver region; EarthCorps and Washington’s National Park Fund in the Redmond/Everett region; and The Greenway Foundation and Wildlands Restoration Volunteers in the Denver/Louisville region.
Earth Month may be over, but Otak will continue on its path to increase sustainable practices, elevate environmental awareness, and modify our operations to reduce our own carbon footprint.