Question for the bike mags.

[Andy_B]

So I work for a quote on quote "Green Company" that prides it's self on it's small carbon foot print. Which is really not that small. And it's kinda of bassackwards, they reward small groups of people for recycling, a monetary reward... So there is a few of us that ride to work on a regular basis and they will not even give us the time of day in the rewards department. Those of us that do ride would like to force their hand and get them to pony-up the cashola. We are kind of thinking, that for every day we ride, we get 1 hour of pay added to our checks.

The shortest rider commutes 8 miles each way, mine is the longest at 22 miles each way.

So, I come to you for insight and some help in creating the proposal.

So... Lets here it.

[Conundrum]

No ideas to help but I agree with you. If recyclers get rewards, commuters should too.

[gforce]

Appeal to their sense of logic. If it lowers the carbon footprint how can anybody argue with the facts? Seems fair if they want to walk that walk.

[Crinkle]

some how bring to light, the old pot calling the kettle black conundrum that your company is living.

[Andy_B]

Oh. I have. They see no light. Thats why I'm here.

The HR director sees my dual hid set-up burning up his window every morning as I make my last turn.

[Sad Santos]

our local hospitals in Boise do/did a 250-500$ per year for riding 60% of the time. Haven't worked there in a few years. They look at it as promoting health which lowers insurance usage and reduces the parking headache. Kinda along the lines of quiting smoking programs.

[Wasatch_Expat]

If carbon footprint is the issue, then just figure out how much carbon you are saving by bike commuting versus how much carbon is saved by recycling. Then take the monetary reward given to the recyclers and divide that by the net CO2 emission reductions that result from their recycling, and you have a dollar amount that the company considers a unit of CO2 not emitted is worth. Then multiply that dollar amount by your CO2 savings from bike commuting and tell them that's what you want.

What you ask for will certainly be a higher amount than what is given for recycling, but you want to start the negotiations in your favor. If you can show them that what you do offers more "environmental value" than the recycling and convince them that you deserve a monetary reward at least as significant, then you're golden.

[schuss]

If carbon footprint is the issue, then just figure out how much carbon you are saving by bike commuting versus how much carbon is saved by recycling. Then take the monetary reward given to the recyclers and divide that by the net CO2 emission reductions that result from their recycling, and you have a dollar amount that the company considers a unit of CO2 not emitted is worth. Then multiply that dollar amount by your CO2 savings from bike commuting and tell them that's what you want.

What you ask for will certainly be a higher amount than what is given for recycling, but you want to start the negotiations in your favor. If you can show them that what you do offers more "environmental value" than the recycling and convince them that you deserve a monetary reward at least as significant, then you're golden.

Not to mention you free up parking spaces for the lazy people.

[DisArray]

Unless you are being paid the minimum wage, one hour of pay seems a bit much don't you think? You should get a plaque or something.

[Wasatch_Expat]

Unless you are being paid the minimum wage, one hour of pay seems a bit much don't you think? You should get a plaque or something.

You could be like Dwight K. Schrute and get "employee of the month 13 of the last 12 months. That's right, 13 of the last 12. I received two plaques in the month of February in lieu of a pay raise."

[edmoloco]

I work for a Jr. College in the city. Parking is really bad. As a full time bike commuter I pay $10 a quarter (three months) and get 12 days of parking for the quarter. For our efforts we get $40 in bonus voucher. Good at REI, Shell gas, brown bear car wash.
So I pay $10 for parking, which is what it cost for one day at the pay lot, and I get $40 worth of bike parts at REI every 3 months. Not an extra hour of pay but better than nothing.

[Huckwheat]

Data speaks.

Find out "carbon footprint wise" what an average amount of recycling saves. Then find out what driving X miles costs (calculate based on what you all do). Then give a graph to show what you are doing for the environment relative to those getting the cashola.

Also, think of extra curricular shit which you cyclists are doing to promote alternative transpo in your area. Bike Clubs, Bike on Earth Day, yada yada. Something they can get good press for.......if you arent doing it yet, you can get onboard with Bike to work day, and get your work to be a sponsor or something. Get them some press and maybe that will change the tune.

Edit - Wasatch totally beat me to it........you also can play up that healthy employees take up less healthcare dollars (my work has a "fitness incentive bonus" $800 to be used yearly on fitness stuff......ultimately, it isnt altruism it is to reduce healthcare expense).

[khakis]

You bike commute 22 miles each way!? FKNA!
Just goes to show what a masturbatory form of conservation recycling is. It's easy, it's material and easy to quantify, and it feels good.

No real advice for dealing with your company, except that if it's anything bigger than a tiny-sized company (i.e. you don't regularly, personally communicate with the company's owner) they will do whatever they want. Go grassroots and start a sustainability committee. Circulate a survey of everybody in the company's commute distance and method and quantify the carbon emitted. Most sustainability/conservation measures by a company don't pay unless the company wants to put a bunch of resources into a sustainability report, and then it only might pay. Company's gotta be pretty dedicated to enact such measures otherwise, and you can't really teach or entice dedication, it's gotta already be there.

[Andy_B]

Unless you are being paid the minimum wage, one hour of pay seems a bit much don't you think? You should get a plaque or something.


No I make much more than minny wage.

My point was plain and simple. If they pay people (x% of their ys) to recycle in order to be a green company and have a smaller carbon foot print. Then I should be able to to get the compensation for reducing emissions.

Oh. And the company pays for their recycled stuff to get recycled pick up and processing. They lose money every day on this venture. And Dammit. I want to help that cause.

[sethschmautz]

Andy,

I own a company with 3 partners and we have about 20 employees. We all happen to be pretty active, so if somebody came and said that they wanted to do what you're proposing, we'd probably be pretty happy to help out (probably not at a rate of 1 extra hour of pay per day, though). If somebody else came and said that they wanted a monetary reward for putting their paper in a paper bin instead of a trash bin and that we would have to pay to have it hauled to the recycling center, we'd probably tell them no (which shows you where our loyalties lie). However, if said employee were to come to us showing us how recycling can save the company money or how similar companies in the our locale were doing this, we'd probably be forced to listen.

If it were me, I'd show them a monetary savings and try to find examples of local companies that are offering what you want. Corporate health care is a killer! If your company is paying part or all of your health insurance, this is an area that you can get them on your side. Call the company that your insurance is provided by and ask if there are any programs like the one described by Sad Santos where health care rates can be lowered by adhering to exercise plans. USFS has a national plan, and there are many other companies small and large that do this. And you did say that your company "prides" itself on it's footprint. Focus your arguments also on how other companies are already doing this or, if they aren't, how this would set your company apart from others in the area.

Good luck!

[Conundrum]

Here's a snippet from my CEO in a conversation we had yesterday. To qualify, he is considered an expert in his field and I work for a fairly big company.

"Behind payroll, health benefits are the second largest line item cost for companies today. The leading controllable cause of health issues is obesity. Up until a few years ago, it was smoking, drinking, and obesity in that order. Obesity is now winning. In 1990, there was not one state in the US that had more than 15% of it's population considered obese. Today, there is not one state that has less than 20%. By being in the obese category, a person is actually aging themselves 20 years in terms of health conditions they will encounter."

There are many more stats that support this.

I think you could approach it from not only a green standpoint, but a cost, employee wellness, productivity, and parking stance.

[Andy_B]

Thank you all for the ideas, keep them coming.

-I'll call the HR lady tomorrow and have her check on the Insurance befits of the program.
- I can get a cost on what are cardboard smasher lease cost us per moth. And how much each bundle cost us to have picked up and processed.
- I can check to see how much we pay to recycle paper, plastic, metal and foam.
- I can figure out many barrels of oil we can save each year per person by not driving.
- I can get a list of the toxins that we use every day in the office.



Any info on how to figure out a carbon foot print?

My fear now, is that if it is a work spancered program that they are liable if one of us get pinched by a car.

I guess we could open this up to walkers/runners too.

[Crinkle]

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

[Andy_B]

Update-

It's in the hands of the higher ups now...

We shall see.

[tromano]

devils advocate: Isn't commuting done on employees time not on company time? How can the company claim the have a lesser foot print if employees decided to save on their own time?

I am guessing the top level people will ask these same questions.

[Andy_B]

devils advocate: Isn't commuting done on employees time not on company time? How can the company claim the have a lesser foot print if employees decided to save on their own time?

I am guessing the top level people will ask these same questions.


It can be done on company time, I ride to meetings if they are close by and I ride to our 3 other offices which are all with in a few miles as well.

They pay employees to bring in there recyclables, they can buy my carbon savings. Apples to Apples as I see it.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

I guess this is late but my company pays us 5 bucks a day to ride our bikes to work for all the good reasons stated above. Granted most people here live less then 10 miles from our office and we have ample bike lanes. If I commuted farther in a less bike-friendly city I might push for better compensation.

As the person in charge of a recent carbon reduction project I can say that encouraging people to bike to work and stay healthy may actually save them money in reduced healthcare costs. Paying people for recycling is purely a marketing ploy. Not to mention that biking to work reduces carbon output more than recyling.