“Veritext Cares” About Being Green

“Veritext Cares” is all about fostering social responsibility as part of the company’s culture.  In our last newsletter we listed all the ways in which we are putting actions into our words, including fundraising for Project Steno and future court reporters, and providing meals to families fighting hunger through our “Feeding America” campaign.  Most recently, Veritext stepped up its environmental game by adding “The Green Team” to its “Veritext Cares” initiative by hosting a Summer Camp class on environmental responsibility, and changing the way the company’s carbon footprint is managed by implementing a “Use It Up Summer” mantra designed to eliminate all single-use plastics company-wide.

The Green Team seeks to inspire its staff members by sending out weekly staff emails with important green activities that we all can participate in, like bringing our reusable shopping bags to the grocery store or picking up trash at the beach on a weekend.  Then, to hold us accountable and adding a bit of fun to it all, participants send in selfies while doing the activity.

Our Summer Camp class on environmental responsibility was designed to get Veritext staff thinking about waste; as in how much trash we are creating on a day-to-day basis, where that trash goes, and then how Veritext is changing its behavior based on this information.  Most importantly and quite monumentally, Veritext decided to eliminate ALL single-use plastics company-wide with the “Use It Up Summer” mantra where, by the end of summer 2019, we are done using and providing plastic water bottles, utensils, straws, stirrers, plates, bowls and cups.  We are requesting that staff bring their own reusable items to work in lieu of using disposable ones that inevitably clog our landfills for hundreds of years, if not a millennium.  In our offices we are replacing these items with more sustainable options like refridgerated filtered water systems, Brita filtered water products, and biodegradable recyclable serving-ware.  At the end of the day, being on track to use and throw out 480,000 single-use water bottles company-wide didn’t fall into a very caring category, so Veritext is clearly changing the way it does things.

These initiatives have created a long string of communications between staff members who are questioning where this toxic stuff goes when we are done with it, and why on earth we have created and supported this environment of mass consumerism around buying a thing once and then throwing it out. Like, where is “out” when you throw things away?  Veritext believes that engaging in this communication will grow our collective consciousness, and the result will be a step in the right direction for generations to come.

Veritext and The Green Team are proud to be creating awareness around the culture of waste and wish to encourage everyone to become better stewards of our beautiful planet.  “Veritext Cares” and we are leading the way to a healthier and greener planet!  We hope that you stay tuned and join us on this green journey.