Going Quaran-green during COVID

This year has been a roller-coaster, to say the least. There have been ups, there have been downs, but most importantly, there has been change. Change on an unprecedented level. Change is uncomfortable but change is necessary. The concept of quarantine at the beginning of the year was something we’d heard from apocalyptic zombie films and was a period where we felt we should be continually productive or at least doing something apart from raiding the cupboards for more snacks.

 

For some, quarantine was spent learning new skills or taking time for oneself to reconnect with themselves, others or hobbies lost in busy schedules. For others, they became teachers, members of their home gym, or part of the global baking club baking bread, cookies, or other delicious delights. Here at Irdeto, some took the time to give back to planet Earth and took some conscious decisions to engage in some socially responsible activities.

Stephanie from our Ottawa, Canada office has been biking with her family throughout the Summer instead of using the car, to destinations within five kilometers of their home. Naturally, the benefits of swapping out the car for their bikes include physical health benefits like releasing endorphins, less pollution from the exhaust fumes, and the luxury of not sitting in traffic.  Car trips of under a mile add up to about 10 billion miles per year, according to the 2009 U.S. National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS) (EPA.gov).

Stephanie also took part in her children’s community garden, which is something that occurs every year.

‘It is a huge learning opportunity for the kids, and what they grow is divided between the school for healthy lunches, and the rest is donated to our local food shelter. Thanks to efforts throughout the Spring and Summer, we have had a bountiful harvest this Fall. Since returning to school we have been able to harvest and share: carrots, beets, tomatoes, garlic, onion, lettuce, kale (one resilient plant survived the rabbits), herbs (mint, basil, cilantro, dill) , and this past week potatoes (37 of them, if we count the very small ones) that we donated to the Parkdale Food Centre.’

Arjen located in The Hague, Netherlands, has been getting his hands dirty and fingers green.

 

‘In our neighborhood in the city center of The Hague, Netherlands there was an undeveloped, overgrown lot where long ago a cinema used to be. At the start of the first Coronavirus wave, the municipality helped out with some heavy equipment to get us started. With most of the neighbors being at home because of the lockdown and the lovely spring weather the garden got a real boost and developed into an urban oasis where people could ‘safely’ meet and gardening turned out to be a good work-out; both physically and mentally!’

Marcel from our Hoofddorp, Netherlands office has been using natural methods of drying his clothes instead of using electricity and finding ways to reduce his impact on the environment.

 

‘I do my laundry at night so it can be hung as soon as the sun rises. A whole day of wind and sun will usually be more than enough to have it completely dry. My next-door neighbor has a windmill behind his farm, which produces more electricity than his family needs. We pulled an extra cable from his mill to my house, and now my energy meter also turns backwards, albeit slowly. Garbage is collected every other week because of the local waste separation program. But my organic waste bin never stands on the roadside: I have a compost heap in my backyard.’.

On the other side of the world in China, Nadine has been spending time in the mountains to clean up the areas that are littered.

 

‘Beijing is a city surrounded by mountains on three sides.  The beautiful mountains are being eroded by trash – plastic bags, bottles, used tissues…  We decided to make the best use of our spare time to pick up trash in the mountains. We can’t clear all the trash, but at least we can start doing our little bit.’.

Kerstin from our Hoofddorp, Netherlands office has been investigating Micro Plastics. The Beat the Microbead app is the fastest way to learn if your cosmetics and personal care products contain plastic ingredients. This app uses state-of-the-art text recognition technology. Just scan the ingredients of your products and check them for microplastics. Not only that, but you can also get to know microplastic-free brands certified and sign the petition to tell the EU to ban microplastics in cosmetics.

At Irdeto, we’re taking steps to integrate CSR into every decision process. Being socially responsible is something that each of us should take into consideration throughout our day. Some of the steps we’ve recently taken as a company include:

• We are in the process of phasing out single-use plastics in the Hoofddorp, Ottawa, and North-Hollywood offices and lunchrooms by finding more environmentally responsible consumables, including unbleached paper towels and compostable paper plates, removing all of the plastic cups from the water dispensers, and providing alternatives (Dopper, Paper cup), removed plastics spoon, forks, cups in the Hoofddorp restaurant.
• When the energy contract was renewed for our Hoofddorp office, a supplier was selected that produce their electricity from 100% renewable sources, and this strategy is forwarded to all other regional offices.

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our CSR page on our website here: https://irdeto.com/corporate-social-responsibility/.