** Traci Scarduzio, Executive Associate and Associate Sustainability Task Force member shares a reflection from an Earth Month 2013 event she coordinated.**

 

“Did you just say bat house? What the heck is a bat house?” This was my initial response when Executive Associate Shelly Black came to me with the idea. Shelly suggested that we install bat houses along a section of the Dutchess Rail Trail that has been plagued with flying insects. I did a little research and it seemed like a great way to naturally reduce the insect population, so we decided to run with the idea. My husband likes to say that volunteerism runs in my veins, and I guess it’s probably true. We have always been very involved with our community and I love organizing volunteer events. I made a few phone calls, sent some emails, and things started to come together.

 

It turns out that decent-size bat houses are fairly expensive, and we wanted to install ten of them. We decided we would build them ourselves. Eastern red cedar trees donated by the Northern Dutchess Gun Club were milled by fellow Executive Associate Brent Feldweg, owner of Forest-All Consulting and Saw Milling. Associates Paul Akins and Eugene Stangl worked with Brent over the next two weekends to build the ten bat houses. Executive Director Brian Nichols was able to get the mounting posts donated from Williams Lumber in Hopewell Junction, NY. The addition of the “V” logo was the perfect finishing touch. I may be a bit biased, but I think the bat houses are absolutely beautiful, and the fact that they were completely built from locally-harvested timber makes them even more special. Brent was quick to point out that all the electricity used by the power tools was supplied by Viridian!

 

On Sunday, April 21 we were joined by SVP of Brand Communication and Strategy Cami Boehme and her family as we installed the bat houses in conjunction with a rail trail cleanup. Forty-nine volunteers converged on the trail and a day filled with hard work and camaraderie was off to a great start. Cleanup teams were staged at two-mile intervals along the eight-mile section of trail from Hopewell Junction to Poughkeepsie, NY. Holes for the installation of the bat houses were dug with enthusiasm. Concrete and water were hauled down the trail and the bat houses started to go up. The final bat houses were put in place as teams started to return with hundreds of pounds of trash, which included discarded electrical wire, old tires, and even a pair of boots covered in moss!

 

The day was an absolute success on so many levels. The ten bat houses occupy a two-mile section of trail that runs beside wetlands and a lake. They will provide a habitat for up to 2,000 bats helping to naturally reduce the flying insect population along the trail. Over 1,400 pounds of unsightly and environmentally unfriendly trash was removed from an eight-mile section of trail. The biggest success of the day for me and many other Associates was the simple reward of giving back. Those who participated left with a sense of pride in what they had accomplished, a stronger bond with their Viridian teammates, and a renewed commitment to sustainability. It was a huge belief-building event for all of us. Associate Janet Stangl said, “It was fun, and nice to get to know other Associates and do something good for the community.” Executive Associate Shelly Black, whose idea inspired the event said, “I felt so good to be helping with our local Rail Trail cleanup alongside my Viridian friends. I can’t wait ‘till the bats move in.”

 

Executive Directors Brian & Rae Ann Nichols said, “It was great to be able to spend the day hanging with our Viridian friends and help out our community at the same time.”

 

Our team leader, Executive Director Anthony Serino summed it up this way; “Two words come to mind; incredibly rewarding”.

 

Check out photos from the event on Viridian's Facebook  

As the council reviewed each section, we were asking ourselves how to educate the field on how to best utilize this report to grow their businesses. Given its broad range of topics and huge amount of information, one could easily get overwhelmed by its magnitude. In an effort to ensure that each of you understand how to spike out the gold nuggets that lie within, council members Donna French and ASC chairwoman Sabrina Allard put together a comprehensive conference call highlighting the report’s Top 5 themes to help you navigate the pages, put sustainability at the forefront of your business and show your prospective clients who and what our company is all about.

In this call, you will get recommendations for specific pages that highlight what sets us apart from our competition and solidifies our title of category creator. The Top 5 themes are:

• Transparency
• Collective impact
• How we support local economies
• Local and global change
• Generation V stories

Take some time to sharpen your sustainability skills and give a listen to the recorded call found here: 760-569-7699 code #: 133835

Here’s to building long-term and very sustainable businesses!

Yours in success,
Associate Sustainability Council (ASC)

** Director and ASC Council Member, Alex Mikhelson, 17 Viridian Associates and other volunteers braved frigid temperatures this past weekend to help clean up a debris-strewn public park that is also a vital watershed. Below, he shares what the experience meant to him.**

There were 18 Viridian volunteers, plus 54 additional community volunteers—from the young (early teens) to the young at heart. All were eager to do something good, and that’s exactly what we did.

As we stood in line filling out last-minute registrations, picking up instructions and getting briefed on what exactly we would be doing for the next few hours, one thought was running through my mind (and probably the minds of many): Did I put on enough layers? The temperature peaked at slightly over 30, winds picked up and clouds rolled in … not your typical “cleanup” weather. But we weren’t there to plant flowers, we were there to gather as much trash as possible in a 140-acre area.

With our rubber gloves on, Viridian shirts across our chests (yet another welcomed layer) and our grabbers in hand, we began our journey. Pamela, the coordinator from Burlington County Clean Communities, showed us birds’ nests collected around the watershed area: Instead of twigs, leaves and sticks, the birds were building their nests with whatever materials they could find, including discarded plastic, garbage and cigarette butts. What’s even worse is that these birds are teaching their young to build their nests using these hazardous non-natural materials.

With the help of Viridian Associate Bonnie Koch, organizer of this sustainability event, we broke into two groups. Each group was given a form on which to track our findings, so we can help with further research on the impact of litter on our environment. With large trash bags in hand, we were on our way.

When we arrived at our site, an area that looked like a deserted, muddy beach but was in fact the watershed, reality started to sink in: We didn’t bring enough bags! We started to pick up a few plastic bottles and glass containers, while yelling out the number of items found to Viridian Associate Margarita Harris, who acted as our “tracker.” This quickly became a strenuous task as we each found 20 to 30 bottles in just minutes and could see hundreds more all around. How, in such a lovely, peaceful spot, a public park where children play, could we be surrounded by all this refuse: plastic bins and containers (some likely chemical and hazardous), old shoes, toys, plastic and glass bottles, bottle caps, pieces of furniture, tires and more?

Our bags got stuffed so quickly that we needed to continually bring them back to the main site and return with fresh ones to fill. Even so, we were still looking at masses of garbage to clean with only an hour or so left to go. It was discouraging to look at, but it was amazing to know that we are truly making a difference and having an impact that’s felt instantly. We realized that without our efforts this garbage would flow into the creek, then the Delaware River and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean where it would pollute our beautiful beaches—beaches we all want to enjoy.

As we were just starting to wrap up, snow started falling, with sleet and hail as well. Mother Nature had held off until we were finished with our good deed! We stopped to look at the extremely large bin overflowing with bags of garbage we had all helped collect, more than 5,020 pounds in all. Next to it stood the dozens of large plastic bins and containers we had gathered, ready to be hauled away. We all sighed, looked at each other and said, “We did that!” With Earth Month coming up, let’s all commit to doing the same, donating our time for something we’ll never regret.

I would like to thank all of the amazing efforts of so many volunteers, organizers and our inspiring Associates, many of whom I now call friends. I am and we are Generation V!

Final tallies:
72 volunteers collected 2.5 tons (5,020 lbs.) of litter and debris from along the shoreline of the Rancocas Creek