Our Sustainability Mission

We believe wellness extends beyond the healthcare industry to the planet we all share. Since our founding, Edifecs has embraced a green approach to our operations and made conservation a pillar of our culture. Our sustainability initiatives have earned us several awards including the SEAL Business Sustainability Award for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Best in Biz: Most Environmentally Responsible Company in 2016, Seattle Business Magazine’s Community Impact Award for Sustainability in Business Operations, and a spot on Washington’s 50 Top Green Companies.

Download our white paper to learn more about the steps we’re taking to create a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly Edifecs.

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Our Carbon Emission Initiatives

Our Electric Car & Bike Initiative

Edifecs has offered free EV charging to all associates for the last 10 years. In 2021, to encourage our associates to make the switch to electric vehicles, and to accommodate those who already have, we added two more free EV charging stations, increasing our total to eight. Several of our associates have switched to electric vehicles and we expect this number to grow. Edifecs also offers premium parking to EV drivers providing an incentive for associates to purchase their own electric vehicles.

Edifecs has utilized an all-electric corporate fleet of vehicles since 2012. We offer these vehicles free to our associates for business use. This fleet is here to provide our associates with a sustainable transportation option for offsite meetings and events. We also offer these EVs to all visiting associates to use instead of renting gas-powered vehicles at the airport. By opting for an all-electric fleet of corporate vehicles, rather than gas-powered, we save approximately 9.71 MtCO2 each year, based on our monthly OnStar usage reports.

Edifecs takes a lot of pride in providing alternative modes of transportation to our associates. All of our offices feature bicycle storage facilities and showers, making it convenient for associates who prefer to bike to work. At our Bellevue HQ we offer bicycles and e-bikes for associates to use to get around the office park or to get some fresh air and exercise. We have even had an associate kayak to work!

Our Public Transit Initiative

When evaluating office locations, we take into consideration public transit proximity so that we can lessen our impact of greenhouse gas emissions. We are proud that all our offices are accessible without the need of a vehicle. Our U.S. office locations are all accessible via MARTA in Atlanta, BART in San Francisco and the Sound Transit Station which is planning to introduce the new light rail in 2024 at our Bellevue HQ. For visiting associates, we have partnered with neighboring hotels that are within walking distance of our offices, allowing multiple environmentally friendly commuting options.

Our Energy Performance Initiative

We started our LED lighting conversion project in 2021 with the goal of switching over all of the lighting in our headquarters from fluorescent bulbs to the more sustainable LEDs. In 2023, we completed this project, replacing about 1,600 bulbs in total. The average fluorescent bulb produces about 0.163 MtCO2 per year, while the average LED bulb produces about 0.061 MtCO2 per year. Given that we switched out about 1,600 bulbs, we estimate that we save about 164 MtCO2 per year. Following the success at our headquarters, we extended this project to our India office, switching out 549 fluorescent bulbs with LEDs, estimating a savings of 92 MtCO2 per year.

Our Initiative to Encourage Sustainability

At Edifecs, we work hard to make sustainability easy, convenient, and accessible for our associates. We encourage and incentivize our associates to make the sustainable choice by providing quick and easy alternatives. We also prioritize transparency and choose to post all of our sustainability initiatives and practices on our internal, associate-facing site, offering a guidebook for our associates to practice more sustainable living at home.

Our
Sustainability
Initiatives

Our Sustainable Materials Initiative

We started The Edifecs Sustainable Materials Initiative in 2014, when we had the opportunity to renovate and build out our new corporate headquarters, allowing us to weave our sustainable values into the physical framework of our building. This led us to select sustainable materials to be used throughout the entire building, from the floors to the ceiling. Our focus with this initiative is on using sustainably-made products and mindful construction methods to build a greener workplace. We wanted to reflect and celebrate our beautiful, natural surroundings within our office. In 2021, we continued this vision by renovating the last remaining section of the building that was still in original condition. We’ve renovated the final 15,000 sq. ft. area, mirroring the sustainable building materials used in the rest of the building.

Our Landfill & Waste Reduction Initiative

Edifecs prioritizes the reduction of landfill waste by promoting recycling and composting. We implemented a centralized three-bin system for recycling, composting, and landfill at all of our global offices. This program led to:

  • The removal of trash bins from 350 work stations
  • A 75% reduction of our annual landfill waste in Bellevue and a
    30% reduction in India.
  • In Bellevue, we estimate that we divert approximately 54 tons
    of compost from landfills each year, an annual savings of
    about 156 MtCO2.

Our Plastics Reduction Initiative

As part of our effort to reduce single-use plastics, we do not stock any plastic water bottles in our kitchens. Instead, we have multiple water dispensers, which offer a higher water quality than your standard bottled water. Our headquarters even features a reverse-osmosis water dispenser. Our office kitchen houses beautiful communal tables crafted from a decayed oak tree.

Our Print-Free Initiative

The Edifecs Print Free Initiative focuses on reducing paper usage as much as possible. With the integration of our print-release software and the introduction of our hybrid work model, we have made a significant reduction in our paper use.

With our print release software, a job does not release until the associate physically walks up to the printer and approves the job. The process is streamlined by an easy sign-in with the swipe of an employee badge or network credentials.

Our Tree-Saving Initiative

Following the implementation of our hybrid work model in 2022, we halved our total number of printers and decreased our printing by about 100,000 sheets of paper per year. We also default all print jobs to be double-sided and have encouraged all teams to use keep process electronic using technology like DocuSign® to avoid unnecessary printing. Before, we were printing around 135,000 sheets of paper per year and now we are averaging around 35,000 sheets per year. One tree makes approximately 10,000 sheets of paper. By this estimation, we are saving about 10 trees every year, or about 0.5 MtC02.