DSM presents Recycling 101

DSM recently presented their popular Recycling 101 presentation at the Keep America Beautiful 2009 National Conference. Download a copy of the presentation (4 MB).

Designing Public Recycling on the National Mall

DSM was recently selected by the Trust for the National Mall to design a sustainable recycling program for this highly visible public space visited by over 20 million people each year. View pictures from our trip to Washington, DC.

DSM's Winter Fun

Winter is right around the corner and many DSM employees are hard at work preparing for the cold weather.

Winter in Vermont can be fun if you make the most of it. The best thing to do is to be prepared for it.

Stacking wood for the wood stove, raking the leaves and tuning the skis are some of the things DSM employees are doing this fall.

Whether it is nordic skiing or telemark skiing, spending time on the snow is a great way to make the most of winter. The employees at DSM strive to balance the rigor of work with the enjoyment of the environment we are working to protect. Stay tuned for winter pictures of the DSM team!

To have a little fun at work, and alter our commuting habits, DSM instituted a carbon free commuter challenge to track our transport to and from work. Being located in a rural area, with no public transport, we recognized that carpools, bicycles and walking are our best options to reduce our emissions without buying a new vehicle fleet right away.

We already had an opportunity when we intentionally moved our office 18 months ago to the village of Windsor, to reduce the commutes of most of the workforce, making the bicycle a more viable option. Still, the commuter challenge created lots of discussion about our related transport miles.

Initially the rules seemed simple, the winner would be the one that traveled the highest number of emission free miles during a 3 month period.

But one colleague had a distinct advantage being located 9.13 miles from the office, netting a quick 18.26 mile round trip each day he pedaled. Yet, the Village resident who walks to work most days (even in winter) nets a 2 mile round trip.

And there were the days that a round trip bicycle commute was logged, even when a second round trip the same day by vehicle (although it was a hybrid) had to be made in the middle of the day for cutting or tedding hay. Worse, most of the hay was being sold to horse farms!

And then there is the parent who commutes by bicycle to work but jumps back into a SUV to drive 28 miles in the opposite direction to pick up kids from a school with no bus. (Isn't there a closer school?)

We tried even harder to leave our cars at home as the 3 months drew to a close, but we realized how big a challenge looms over us all.

Even so, we averaged a total of 35 percent of commuter days carbon free.

This winter is going to be tough!