The ODS Team Takes On the Climate Challenge

A few months ago, the HR team established a partnership with Les Joyeux Recycleurs, a young company that aims to recycle as much workplace waste as possible.

Les Joyeux Recycleurs supplied us with appealing, colorful bins for paper, cans, glass, and coffee grounds. The “Joyful” team ensures that our waste is recycled and provides us regular reports.

Moreover, lunch boxes are provided for employee use in case we opt to order a to-go lunch. I don’t know about you, but personally, that never would have occurred to me before I joined this team.

The third surprise: ODS adopted its client Spare-it‘s solution (take a look at our Spare-it blogpost), installing the Boston-based startup’s smart scales on our “regular” trash cans (in other words, not the bins from Les Joyeux Recycleurs… Are you still with me?) The data collected by these scales are accessible on a platform (made by ODS, of course!) and can lead to small challenges. It works perfectly, as our team is divided between two open spaces. Which one will manage to produce less waste?

In short, I’m delighted to be joining a company that is moving in the right direction and that, I’m certain, will help me improve my eco-friendly practices. So I’ve decided to venture a bit further and to join Carole (from the Customer Success team) and Fanny (from the Sales team) in organizing an event called “The Climate Collage.” The goal of this three-hour recreational workshop is, using a card game, to raise our teams’ awareness of climate-related issues. This collage activity based on collective intelligence brings multiple teams together to work on a common goal: finding the cause & effect relationships between the various components of climate change. What is the starting point? Human activity.

Carole, who had previously attended a Collage event with friends, led the workshop and guided us through each stage of the game. We all hear about global warming and the associated tragedies, but most of us can’t explain the exact causes behind it. This Collage helped us learn a great deal about the topic in just a few hours and to understand the degree to which human activity has a scientifically proven impact on the planet.

After that workshop, we decided to launch a weekly “Climate Challenge” newsletter dedicated to our colleagues inspired by the project. The latest issue includes professional and personal challenges organized into four major themes: food, everyday waste, consumer goods, and digital.

A few examples of challenges: try cooking a vegetarian meal, learn to make homemade cleaning products, use the previously mentioned Tupperware at the office, reduce consumption of consumer goods, unclog our inboxes, review needs vs. wants, etc.

In January, we’ll check on everyone’s progress and award prizes to those who have been most proactive. We know you’re excited to hear the results, and we’ll be sure to share them on our social media.

We know these challenges aren’t always easy to take on and that leaving one’s comfort zone is tricky. Our goal is not to impose new practices or to make our coworkers feel guilty, but to raise one another’s awareness about the positive or negative effects of our small, everyday choices on the world around us. Why not make the effort to tip the scales toward the positive?

If you’ve read this far into the article, this must be a topic of interest to you! So we have a little challenge for you as well! With the holiday season underway, why not try giving intangible gifts to your loved ones this year? Here are a few ideas:

• A class or workshop: cooking, crafts, cosmetics… Cities are just packed with artisans who would love to share their expertise. Try searching on the Internet and you’ll find an abundance of options.
• An escape room: a group gift that is bound to enhance a spirit of cooperation among your loved ones.
• A cultural outing to a play, exhibition, stand-up comedy, concerts… We are spoiled for choice.

And if you do choose to give material gifts, why not go for:

• An item you’ve handcrafted: We’re sure you have some hidden talents to lend to the task! Here are a few ideas for gifts to make yourself.
• An artisan-made gift: Go bargain-hunting at a pop-up store, a Christmas market, or online at Etsy.
• An item purchased at a second-hand store.

Meanwhile, Happy Holidays to all, and we’ll see you back here in the coming months for more ODS environmental datadventures!