Sustainability week or a sustainable year after all? - Let's make IT green

European Sustainability Week takes place every year from September 20-26, kicking off this year with World Cleanup Day. Faced with climate change, sustainable choices are an incredibly important issue. Sustainability Week activities allow everyone an opportunity to contribute by making a small difference. As a mid-sized company, our responsibility is to support sustainable development around the world. Regional projects are particularly important to us.

 

Our sustainable engagement

The general refurbishment of network technology is an important, yet small, contribution to protecting our natural resources and the climate. Therefore, sustainability is not only part of our green IT company philosophy, but also concerns us as part of the region in which we work and live. That's why we donate every year to regional associations that are committed to sustainable projects, environmental protection or species conservation. We were able to support Otto pflanzt in 2024 and gain Notnagel as a cooperation partner. However, we also rolled up our sleeves and joined in with World Cleanup Day.

 

Otto pflanzt!

Otto pflanzt! has already planted over 30,000 trees in and around Magdeburg. The goal of the association is to plant one tree for each resident of Magdeburg. However, with a current population of just under 240,000, a few more trees are needed. So we wanted to support the association on its mission and donated €500. 50 of these trees will be planted in our city. We met up with Patrick and Felix at Oebisfelderstraße for the handover, as this is where the first “Otto trees” and the roots of the association were planted. We were able to support a regional and sustainable initiative to plant more oxygen donors, CO2 and pollutant binders, as well as habitats for animals and insects 🌱

 

one women and two man on a meadow      Otto pflanzt! sign on a meadow

 

Notnagel

This year, we were able to gain Notnagel as a cooperation partner. The Schönebeck-based company specializes in the refurbishment of Euro pallets. As we produce refurbishments ourselves, we can identify particularly well with this company philosophy. We need a lot of pallets for international shipping. This enables us to give Euro pallets a second or third life, save valuable resources such as wood and metal and reduce costs at the same time.

 

pallets on a truck

 

World Cleanup Day - Cleaning Award

World Cleanup Day take place every year in September. In 2023, 190 countries and 19 million people took part in the global campaign. Otto pflanzt! took this as an opportunity to organize the Cleaning Award for the third time. School classes from IG Willy Brandt and Thomas Müntzer Community School diligently collected garbage at two local spaces, Schellheimerplatz and Moritzplatz. Yet such a large event also needs many helping hands, so the association asked us for support after our donation in June. As we always like to support regional and sustainable initiatives, we rounded up a few volunteers and took part as supervisors for the children. Armed with pickers, gloves and garbage bags, the pupils collected an impressive 36,000 cigarette butts, 3100 bottle caps and 1 ton of waste  and made Magdeburg at least a little cleaner.

 

three women helping with food and drinks            people at the cleaning award

 

Green IT - Our mission

Climate change and its effects have concerned us all for a long time. Sustainability has not only become more important for private individuals, but also for companies. We have therefore decided to contribute with our Green IT concept and specialize in the reuse and refurbishment of used IT hardware. During refurbishment, the used devices are checked for quality and repaired in our in-house workshop and then returned to the market. This saves valuable resources such as metals, rare soils and minerals, as well as water. It also reduces the production of electronic waste and carbon emissions. The extraction of resources for new goods also produces pollution and toxic waste. This not only has an impact on the environment, but the people who work in the mines also suffer under the mining conditions. In addition to promoting more sustainable mining methods and fair working conditions, refurbishments offer a real sustainable alternative to new goods. Therefore, we already refurbish a large proportion of the goods we offer and want to promote sustainable and resource-saving alternatives in the IT industry.

 

How you can make a contribution

 

The three pillars of sustainability

The “three-pillar model” offers a simple introduction to the topic of sustainability in companies. The pillars represent ecology, economy and social issues. In the “ideal case of sustainability”, all three aspects are addressed equally and simultaneously. However, the model also provides a good overview for approaching the topic and discovering possible starting options for your own company.

Ecological sustainability refers to a responsible approach to the environment and natural resources such as water, energy and raw materials. For example, correct ventilation and heating patterns, proper waste separation or carpooling can already make a difference here. Refurbishments are also a good option for saving valuable raw materials such as metals or soil. There are numerous alternatives here, from work cell phones to laptops and IT hardware.

Economic sustainability requires sustainable business practices. Even a sustainable company needs to generate profits in order to continue to guarantee fair payments, high-quality raw materials and sustainable developments. The aforementioned refurbishments not only conserve valuable resources, they also offer high-quality products at affordable prices.

Social sustainability, in turn, relates to the treatment of people and their working conditions. Everyone is entitled to social justice, security, fair wages and the free development of their personality. Many of these rights are violated, for example, in the conventional procurement of metals and rare earths. The purchase of refurbishments does not further promote these working conditions. However, social interests also belong to this aspect. Another way to promote sustainable developments here is to support sustainable associations. In addition to the campaigns we have already presented, we supported projects such as “I plant a tree”, “Bienotopia” and “My tree for Magdeburg” in the past. There are certainly great sustainable projects for your region and requirements that are worth supporting.

 

Conclusion

We are pleased to support sustainable initiatives again this year and would like to continue to take responsibility for sustainable, regional commitment and constantly develop our efforts. Acting more sustainably as a company can start on a small scale and relates to various aspects. But where do you start?

 

3 sustainable tips for companies

  1. Save resources in your everyday working life: ventilate and heat properly to save energy, ensure correct waste separation and disposal or encourage carpooling!

  2. Rely on refurbishments instead of new goods: refurbishments are not only resource-saving, but also more cost-effective and still offer as-new quality!

  3. Support sustainable projects: Whether it's a bee meadow, planting trees or saving food. There are many organizations that are committed to the environment and are happy to receive support!