What I didn’t know is how much this pledge would affect us personally. What I didn’t expect was the impact of seeing these humble people living without electricity, and the joy of knowing we could bring light to their village. What I didn’t expect is the feeling of gratitude I would have for the people we had come to help.

One of my most memorable moments was our final day in Ghana, after we had completed our projects. The local people, in conjunction with our dedicated partner World Joy, put together a dedication ceremony to thank our group for our efforts. I remember sitting on the steps of the health clinic we had just worked on, surrounded by the Ghanaian children as dancers showcased their culture and their passion while the local elders and leaders observed proudly. I clearly remember thinking this was the definition of a community, and being very grateful to their community for allowing us to share a few days with them. To see a video journey of our complete adventure in Ghana, click HERE.

With an estimated one in every five people living without access to reliable electricity across the globe, this journey was, for me, the perfect match for our mission. I truly believe that companies like ours have an enormous responsibility to show others what it means to be global citizens and to demonstrate what people with passion can accomplish.

I am grateful to each of the Associates who joined us on this journey. I am grateful to our partners who made the projects a reality and continue to ensure they are maintained. I am grateful to the Ghanaians for accepting our effort to make a small change for the better in their lives. Mostly, I am grateful to each and every one of our Associates and customers who every day make simple choices that allow us to embark on impactful journeys like this one.

My name is Michael Fallquist, and I am Generation V.

April began with a series of Earth Month presentations in Viridian corporate headquarters in Norwalk, CT. Staffers were informed of the upcoming events and encouraged to attend and participate where they could, and they also signed pledge cards indicating how they would attempt to green their lifestyles. The company also sponsored a “Home Energy Reduction” contest for employees, with cash prizes for those who lowered their home energy use the most from March to April.

There were 17 events held in April, as corporate assisted local sustainability leaders in organizing events in their communities. In all, nearly 250 volunteers turned out for the various cleanups, including Viridian Founder and CEO Michael Fallquist, Chief Financial Officer Roop Bhullar, SVP of Sustainability Cami Boehme, SVP of Viridian Network Meredith Berkich, VP of Field Development Bob Ulrich, and VP of Operations Mike Chester.

The scores of volunteers donated more than 700 hours of their time to the various efforts, and those hours paid off handsomely, with more than 245 trees planted and more than 800 individual plants finding new homes.

In addition, the groups collected some 24,000 pounds of trash; at one town-wide event in Kingston, NY, volunteers scooped up more than nine tons of debris. Viridian also participated in several invasive-species removal efforts, and aided in a number of weeding and mulching projects within our markets. 

“We couldn’t have done this without the strong support of Viridian Corporate,” said Associate Sustainability Council member Chris Schipper of Maryland. “We had 51 volunteers, with more than 23 from Viridian alone, and we removed more than 3,000 pounds of trash from the Hudson Branch tributary of the Patapsco Valley Heritage Greenway.”

Viridian Associates and volunteers in Maryland also planted 65 trees at Francis Scott Key elementary school in Baltimore to prepare for the upcoming 200th anniversary of the writing of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Similar cleanup and planting efforts took place in all Viridian marketplaces on the East Coast and in Illinois.

"Being a part of something much larger than myself was really amazing,” said Pennsylvania’s David Ritter, also a member of the Associate Sustainability Council. “I mean, I know how hard I worked, personally, but to see all the trees planted, and all the trash and debris picked up, and all the invasive species yanked out, would have taken me years to do all that by myself. It really helped me feel grateful and proud to be a part of Generation V."
The following is a list of events held and what was accomplished:

SATURDAY, APRIL 7:

• Hudson Branch Cleanup, Ellicott City, MD. Volunteers joined the Friends of Patapsco Valley Heritage Greenway helping remove 3,000 pounds of trash from the stream.
  

SATURDAY, APRIL 14:

• Forest Park Zoo Cleanup and Landscaping, Springfield, MA. Viridian Associates assisted in preparing the zoo for spring visitors, planting and mulching the grounds.
• Wildwood Park Cleanup, Harrisburg, PA. Viridian Associates and volunteers assisted in a park-wide cleanup and the planting of 35 trees.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20:

• Duke Farms Cleanup and Planting, Hillsborough, NJ. Volunteers helped with restoration and other projects, planting about 700 plants of five different varieties. Viridian Associates also brought nonperishable goods for a community food drive.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21:

• Carson Beach Cleanup, Boston, MA. Volunteers organized to assist in a park-wide cleanup as part of Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Park Serve Day 2012. Nearly 80 bags of debris were collected in three hours.
• Spring Beach Sweep, Margate, NJ. Viridian joined Clean Ocean Action on Margate Beach at one of the 71 New Jersey beach sweeps on that day.
• Heller Nature Center Cleanup, Highland Park, IL. Viridian volunteers assisted in the removal of invasive buckthorn brush and trees to clear land for native species.
• Whittier School Community Garden Cleanup, Chicago, IL. This was Viridian's second visit to help spruce up the school’s garden for spring. Volunteers assisted in various gardening activities, such as weeding and pruning.
• Kingston Clean Sweep, Kingston, NY. Nearly 400 volunteers participated in this annual event, including representatives from Viridian as well as members of the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston, Business Alliance Council, City of Kingston Planning Department, and Forsyth Nature Center, among others. Many individual citizens also took part. Some nine tons of debris were picked up in total.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25:

• Save the Sound, Cove Island, Stamford, CT. The Viridian corporate team and staffers gathered for our third annual beach cleanup, picking up more than two dozen bags of debris from the park and shoreline.
• Arbor Day Tree Planting, Englewood, NJ. Viridian Associates joined Bergen County Habitat for Humanity, a member of Viridian’s Residual Fundraising Program, in planting 25 trees in a community garden.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28:

• Sycamore Island Riverside Redd Up, Verona, PA. Viridian volunteers, along with members of the Allegheny Land Trust Friends of the Riverfront and Allegheny CleanWays, traveled by boat out to Sycamore Island to clean up winter debris. Trash collected far exceeded expectations, overflowing the three-cubic-yard dumpster.
• Mount Laurel Tree Planting, Mount Laurel, NJ. Volunteers assisted in planting more than 125 trees at Blue Hills Farm, the Nature Conservancy, Laurel Acres Park and the Trotter’s Crossing soccer fields.
• New Paltz Clean Sweep, New Paltz, NY. Viridian joined the New Paltz community for the annual effort, focusing on cleanup and mulching projects.
• Arbor Day Mad River Cleanup, Winsted, CT. Viridian joined the Friends of Main Street, the Highland Lake Watershed and other community groups in celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day. Viridian also donated a red maple tree to Hinsdale Elementary School, and helped with cleanup efforts along the Mad River to remove invasive species.
• Community Tree Planting, Baltimore, MD. Viridian joined the Parks & People Foundation for the CSX Trees for Tracks tree-planting effort. Nearly 30 Viridian volunteers came out to Francis Scott Key Elementary School and Latrobe Park to plant trees. Viridian participated in planting 61 very large trees (some 12 feet tall). Read the city's blogpost about the event.
  
• Work for Wildlife Day Cleanup, Norfolk, MA. Viridian Associates joined Mass Audubon (The Massachusetts Audubon Society) for the statewide Work for Wildlife volunteer day. Volunteers assisted with sprucing up Stony Brook's butterfly garden, and winter debris was collected and composted.

All of our efforts could not have been accomplished without the help of the following:

• Parks and People Foundation and CSX (MD)
• Friends of Patapsco Valley Heritage Greenway (MD)
• Allegheny Land Trust, Friends of the Riverfront, and Allegheny CleanWays (PA)
• Wildwood Park (PA)
• New Jersey Tree Foundation (NJ)
• Clean Ocean Action (NJ)
• Save the Sound (CT)
• Friends of Whittier (IL)
• Heller Nature Center and REI (IL)
• The Massachusetts Audubon Society (MA)

New Tools Added for Sustainability Efforts

As part of our Earth Month campaign, Viridian’s marketing team has produced a number of new tools for Associates to use when presenting the company’s sustainability message.

The tools, which were rolled out at various Earth Month activities, include:

• The new sustainability brochure
• A full color Sustainability Tips poster
• Twelve varieties of new Viridian buttons with a sustainability message
• A handout “Produce” card, listing produce lowest in pesticides and those items that you’re better off buying organically
• An updated welcome letter for new customers, containing a sustainability brochure and a Viridian decal that reads “Powered by Green Energy.”

Associate Event Coordinators

Our successful Earth Month endeavors could not have happened without the help of all our dedicated Associates who coordinated events. Our special thanks go to:

• Donna French (Director and Associate Sustainability Council Member - MA)
• Sabrina Allard (Director and Associate Sustainability Council Member - CT)
• Lauren Leifer (Director and Associate Sustainability Council Member - IL)
• David Ritter (Executive Associate and Associate Sustainability Council Member - PA)
• Chris Schipper (Executive Associate and Associate Sustainability Council Member - MD)
• Amy Andrews Payleitner (Director - IL)
• Gail McGuinness (Director - NJ)
• Joanne Marzullo (Director- CT)
• Michael Fick (Executive Associate -NY)
• Debbie Imber (Executive Associate -NJ)
• John Mocarski (Executive Associate -NY)
• Gary Urbatis (Executive Associate - PA)
• Ken Olson (Senior Associate- MA)
• Irene Vitullo (Senior Associate- IL)
• Rock Bastianelli (Associate - MA)
• Danielle Langlois (Associate -NJ)