CENTRAL POINT, OR; Announced earlier this week, Dogs for Better Lives (DBL) has just been recognized by Oregon Business as a 100 Best Green Workplaces In Oregon for 2021. This is the
first time that DBL has been recognized by the magazine, in the Green Workplace category. Though for the last five years, DBL has been recognized by Oregon Business as a top 100 Best Nonprofits To Work For In Oregon.
This is an employee-driven process with all staff invited to provide anonymous feedback through a survey which is directly submitted to Oregon Business magazine. Employees are surveyed about their experiences working for their nonprofit, opportunities to grow professionally, training and support services, benefits offered, and asked about how environmentally proactive their organization is.
“We’re honored and humbled to be acknowledged in this way,” stated CEO Bryan Williams. “We would not be on this list if it wasn’t for such great, value-driven employees who are very mission driven and deeply care about the environment we work in, helping to make a positive difference in the lives of others.”
306-pannel solar array installed in April 2020, annually generating 75% of campus energy needs.
Employees rated their satisfaction with and the importance they attach to 11 statements related to workplace sustainable practices, such as green mission and goals, recycling and waste reduction, support for public transit, energy and water conservation, and buying local. Employers were also independently scored on 15 questions about their sustainability practices.
“When the staff at DBL created our organizational values, there was an overwhelming consensus to include focusing on the environment as one of our values, stated Green Team member Emily Minah. “By focusing on being an environmentally friendly organization, we will not only protect our world for generations to come but also better steward the resources given to us.”
Value 6: It is the organization’s duty to do our best to lessen our impact on the environment and the strain we put on finite resources.
From this came the creation of our Green Team, staff from all departments working together to help make this value a reality for our staff and our campus. It is an honor to be a part of an organization that recognizes the importance of doing our part to help preserve and protect our planet.
To track our progress towards drawing green energy from the solar array on our Southern Oregon campus, visit https://dogsforbetterlives.org/sustainability/
In 2018 DBL created a Green Team internally that annually audits current practices and makes recommendations to adjust and/or move towards more greener practices. Moving processes from paper to digital online, advancing to fully online cloud-based software, reducing internal printing, and upgrading to LED lighting across DBL’s Southern Oregon campus, are just a few examples of how the organization has moved in the last few years to a more sustainable organization.
Maybe the biggest move DBL has made in recent years, in truly implementing long-term sustainability practices, was receiving a $175,000 grant from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program participants, to install a 97.9 kW solar array on its Southern Oregon campus.
Starting in April 2020, the solar array (306 panels) began to generate an estimated 159 MWh per year, covering approximately 75% of DBL’s annual energy needs. Energy savings annually are anticipated to be approximately $28,761 to the national nonprofit.
To learn more about DBL’s sustainability practices and goal towards further reducing it’s own pawprint, visit here.
UPDATE (5/30/21) Earlier this week DBL learned that we officially placed 35th of 100 green companies in Oregon.
[Read news release as PDF here]
