Earth Day is Sunday, April 22, 2018
Pinnacle Services is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. So…what does that mean? LEED is an internationally recognized certification that measures the performance of a building or community against metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, emissions reduction, and indoor air quality, among others.
When we renovated the building, over 95% of the Pinnacle building’s structure and more than 55% of its non-structural interiors were reused in the new design. Of the new materials used, more than a quarter were regional products including the floors that are reclaimed wood flooring from Duluth buildings of the same era. Other environmentally friendly building components include daylight and motion sensors to reduce electricity costs, low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, wood and agrifibers to improve air quality and water fixtures that use 36% less water than standard fixtures. In addition, over 76% of the construction waste was diverted from landfills.
Pinnacle’s Core Purpose is: To support the wellbeing of others and build stronger communities. That purpose extends to being good stewards of our planet.
Reduce. This is often cited as the most important step in “going green”. Reducing the (seemingly endless) consumption of products and moving closer to conservation has real impact. How many pens, half used post it pads and notepads do you think are lingering around our offices? Using less and reuse is the topic of a recent, popular Ted Talk To eliminate waste, we need to rediscover thrift found here: https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_dent_to_eliminate_waste_we_need_to_rediscover_thrift/up-next
Pinnacle is committed to employing efforts to reduce wherever we can. This is evidenced by the reuse of office furniture, supplies and equipment; and the dishes which stock our kitchens have largely been purchased from Good Will or similar thrift shops or left over from catered events. We will further reduce our consumption by eliminating the ongoing purchase of plastic flatware and cups for daily use. According to a recent National Geographic article ( Here ), “…by midcentury, the oceans will have more plastic waste than fish…” we don’t want to be a contributor to that. Please plan accordingly for your lunch and snack needs.
Reuse. Reusable shopping bags are growing in popularity. These can be easily stuffed into a purse or backseat of a car for quick and easy access. Some stores also provide a discount to customers who bring their own bags. Some other reusables: lunch bags, thrift store furniture (Pinterest project, anyone?), shoe boxes as drawer dividers, baking sheets become magnet boards, remove ink from plastic containers (like sour cream or butter) with acetone and never by Tupperware again.
Recycle. Pinnacle provides recycling bins throughout our offices. Our recycling is picked up by Walter’s Recycling and Refuse. Items that can be recycled include: magazines, mixed paper, shredded paper, newspaper, aluminum cans, paper and plastic products #1-, box board, glass bottles and jars, eye glasses, ink cartridges, textiles, cardboard. Walter’s also accepts bicycles which are collected and then donated to a program called Bikes4Kids. For more information about how to recycle with Walter’s go to their website: https://waltersrecycling.com/recycling-center-services/
