Green :: Lights Off!

Remember when your parents used to constantly remind you to turn off the lights around the house? Part II in my "Green" post-series discusses "Lights Off," an ongoing contest here at Hallmark.

Recently, a team of 18 volunteer Hallmarkers wandered the office complex between 6:30 and 7:30PM, checking over 5400 (!) cubicles for lights left on. Why? Electricity is 75% of our carbon footprint and lighting counts for most of it.

A summary of their findings was displayed outside the cafe shortly after their endeavor: Of the over 5400 cubicles counted, 472, or 8.7% had lights on (the summary was broken down by floor number and section, so you could see just how good-or not so good-your area fared). 91.3% with lights off is pretty good, actually, but there's obviously room for improvement.

So, each area now has an opportunity to practice improvement! Each quarter, a volunteer team will count lights left on. To the areas 1) that show the greatest percent of improvement and 2) that have the greatest percentage of lights off, goes a celebratory bagel breakfast!