We believe that 2021 will see a strong resurgence of environmental awareness.  We hope that reading this will inspire you to get personally involved. NOW is the time to start remediating all that has been done to our planet and the people on it.

We, as a firm, are working very hard to do just that!  We want to lead by example and demonstrate some steps we have taken in the last year which we are particularly proud of. Taking the first step is important, but we want to come back and report on our continued efforts.  If we can do it so can you! There are no secrets here!

In our office and at my home, you will find evidence of our commitment to Sustainability. If you haven’t seen my first post, click here to learn about my new Prius Plug-In Hybrid. I’m thrilled to report that between 12/21/19 and 12/21/20 I have only used ⅔ of a tank of gas!  The Pandemic helped, but so did the fact that I am only 10 miles from my office! What’s even more amazing is the fact that this car actually cost almost the same as the regular Prius I had at the time I bought this one!

Another step I took at home in 2020 is the solar panels I installed on my roof. This is an excellent example of using Other People’s Money (the best kind of money) to enhance financial wellness, as my utility company installed them, they guarantee them and will repair them as needed for the next twenty years. They also stay with the house if I choose to sell it. I put no money down to get them installed, and for the use of my roof, I get “credits” against my electric usage. This is an easy step that anyone can take!  

You will find the same focus in our office.  We have LED Lights throughout (in fact, we just replaced the last legacy fluorescent bulb when it failed), we chose to locate our office next to the town’s recycling center, use reusable personal items, and our electricity is generated by Wind Power through a firm called Arcadia Power, who lets us track our usage and compare ourselves to typical consumers in our area. In addition, through our use of Docusign for all of our paperwork, we have reduced our waste significantly. Here’s a quick look at what we DIDN’T use in 2020 across our organization just by using Docusign for all of our paperwork:

To quote an old saying, “you can tell about them by the company they keep”. Let’s look at this list! A good starting point is our membership in the Principles for Responsible Investment and support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  We Also belong to US SIF, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, as well  supporting the Ceres Charitable Foundation and Environment America.  Lastly we are an award winning Certified B Corp whose mandate is to make our business a BENEFIT to consumers World Wide. (click here to see our scores and how they have changed over time). 

One of our main goals for 2021 is to continue to work with more organizations working to advance solutions to environmental and social issues. In this regard, we would like to take our clients and friends along with us, figuratively if not in person!  Let us be your leader, all you need to do is follow our progress on our blog and take inspiration from our Impact Reports.

Here’s to a year of global recovery!!