GICW Energy Team

This was a fun challenge! Thank you everyone.

This was the toughest challenge for me. Making sure I turned items off when leaving the office.

This challenge was tougher as my schedule was busier than usually making hard to stay on top of my challenges.

Recently, we discovered that four newly installed conference room TVs had not been set to power down after 30 minutes of inactivity—a setting our previous team consistently applied to reduce unnecessary energy use. Unfortunately, this detail was overlooked because the new team member wasn’t aware of the expectation (Lack of training?) To make...

It's amazing how much energy you save with replacing old weather stripping and caulking at home!

With two smart thermostats in a home that has multiple zones (e.g., upstairs and downstairs systems)., you’re saving 1,500–1,800 lbs CO₂ per year (0.75–0.9 tons) According to EPA and ENERGY STAR, a single smart thermostat can save ~8–10% on heating and cooling energy. For the average U.S. home, that’s about 500–900 kWh/year or 50–90 therms of...

I took advantage of the longer days and adjusted my light timers to come on later. It is awesome to see the natural sunlight in the evenings.

With the help of our marketing team, our Production TVs (Dashboards) display different Energy slides in between Sales and Production reports.

Eat what you buy – Wasted food = wasted energy, water, and money. Kill the vampire loads – Unplug stuff that’s not in use (chargers, printers, etc.). Combine errands – Fewer trips = less fuel burned.

In 2024, Northwest and Central Oregon and Southwest Washington donors provided us more than 201 million pounds of household goods. GICW sold, recycled, or salvaged over 82% of all items received, diverting more than 166 million pounds from landfill.