The BITS sustainability model, defined.

Image Credits:
Windmills within BITS corporate sustainability montage
"Sustain-Ability" within BITS sustainable business montage (light bulb plant growers)
"Amazing Earth" within BITS sustainable business montage
Art Credit: Don Forrester

Core tasks:

• Constant re-evaluation of our business methods.
• Reducing first-use materials.
• Researching source materials.
• Controlling our waste output.
• Reusing resources whenever possible
• Taking advantage of our municipal recycling facilities.

What this means in real-world terms:

• We recycle. ALL office trash, with minimal exception, is separated by paper/glass/metal/plastic and we make sure it goes to a service that recycles properly.
• We reuse. Office scraps become packing material. Boxes are saved and used for various projects. Most important of all -- pay attention if you're a Smart Strip owner -- we have a takeback program for our products, offering free shipping; repairing the products if possible and reselling at cost or at a slight loss.
• We never just throw away Smart Strip parts, or any of our product parts. We reuse them, store them or destroy them in an environmentally responsible manner.
• All office lights are CFLs or LEDs. Even our shop torches. We have a few incandescents for product development testing purposes only.
• Overall paper usage is at least 70% post-consumer waste.
• All ink is soy-based. Both in-office and in the printers we hire.
• Our energy use is, of course, heavily managed. Computers and lights turned off, central air is on a timer and there are Smart Strips everywhere. Yes, we definitely use our own products.
• We vet our material sources. If they're from another country such as China, we go there firsthand and make certain the workers are treated fairly. While it's not necessarily sustainable, it matters to us.

What we've got planned for the future:

• Geothermal energy - simply running water through an underground pipe can conserve up to 40% of our warehouse energy usage in our estimates. Bruce Barton has already done studies on his home (digging some DEEP holes to do it) and is prepared to build the system for our warehouse.
• Solar panels - we don't have those yet. We plan to eventually; Bruce is looking into it.
• We're open to suggestions. Have one?