Comcast’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Susan Jin Davis, made her first trip to the Oregon/SW Washington region to give the keynote address at the region’s Sustainability Summit. Following her presentation, two of our office buildings were recognized by Washington County for our sustainability initiatives.
Davis came to the region to both motivate employees to share the company’s commitment to our sustainability goals and to highlight the strides we’ve already made.
“With such diverse lines of business – broadband, entertainment, technology and communications – it’s a big challenge to be more environmentally responsible and reduce our carbon emissions,” said Davis. She noted that sustainability is part of the DNA of the Oregon/SW Washington region, and that other regions are not as environmentally-minded, so they have further to go in their sustainability journey.
Davis outlined what she terms “highly aspirational” sustainability goals for all of ComcastNBCUniversal including Sky and Spectacor. Our sustainability goals are to use 100 percent renewable energy, and to be a zero-emissions, zero-waste company. Additionally, there was a goal of 500,000 hours of environmentally friendly volunteer hours by 2020, which we achieved a year early. Said Davis, “When we unleash our employees, we overachieve.”
One of these unleashed employees is Geeta Pandey, a finance and accounting representative and leader of the Green Team, a regional employee committee. Pandey said, “Sustainability is no longer an option, but a necessity; it is a new challenge with opportunity for all.”
Another employee thinking seriously about how to make the company more environmentally friendly is West Portland technician Zach Martin. He wants to find a way to deal with all the plastic that comes with the equipment he installs every day. “I’d love to see us come up with some sort of bagging and baling system to remove the plastic from our waste stream.”
After Davis’ comments, Jennifer Stefanick, the green business coordinator for Washington County, presented the Green Team with Gold Level Green Business Awards for the Nimbus office and the Tigard Business Center, both located in Washington County. This award requires attainment of a minimum of 40 criteria in a variety of different subject areas from recycling to energy and water use.
