Internal sustainability ambassadors around the world are dedicated to promoting a sustainable corporate culture. With their efforts, they support implementation of our CR strategy.
The internal Green Pioneers ambassador program was launched in Germany in 2018. Its aim is to promote and expand responsible management and conduct among the workforce. Group Corporate Responsibility (GCR) creates suitable conditions for the Green Pioneers’ work. Community Management, which is part of GCR, organizes regular meetings to share information and experience, offers internal and external expert talks, and helps plan activities. In addition, it also provides up-to-date information about the initiative on the internal social network You and Me UNITED (YAM UNITED). As of the end of 2022, the Green Pioneers groups had about 1 665 members and subscribers on YAM UNITED (1 400 in 2021). This shows a growing interest in the initiative and in Deutsche Telekom’s sustainability activities.
Depending on their location, interests and expertise, the Green Pioneers come together to form subject-related or regional hubs. They act as internal multipliers for change by motivating employees to be involved in numerous resource conservation campaigns, such as an exchange for office supplies, clothing exchange campaigns, tree-planting and waste collection campaigns, and an internal company ride-sharing agency.
There are now 333 Green Pioneers in Germany. Active at 53 locations and in 19 departments, they seek out improvement potential and initiate appropriate measures. The introduction of RECUP returnable cups in our cafeterias, for example, can be traced back to impetus from the Green Pioneers. They were also involved in developing packaging machines that create tailor-made packaging for the technicians’ equipment and the field service and cause hardly any waste.
On the initiative of the Green Pioneers, smart textile containers were installed at our locations in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2022 to collect old company uniforms and worn-out jeans and cotton towels and put them back into circulation in the textile ecosystem. The upcycling containers use Internet of Things (IoT) technology and their contents are collected independently, thanks to fill-level sensors that send a notification to the Deutsche Telekom iCloud when they are ready to be emptied. This saves unnecessary trips and thus reduces carbon emissions and fuel consumption. The cotton textiles collected are sent on to be upcycled, where they are combined with new fibers and turned into new garments. In 2022, we collected and recycled 2 380 kilograms of clothing. This saves numerous liters of water, since less cotton needs to be grown.
With a view to boosting our employees’ motivation and commitment, we seek to offer them additional leeway and options for structuring their working lives. The flexible work arrangements we make available to all employees, such as our “job visits,” are one example of this policy. In addition to their core activities, our employees can also gain cross-departmental experience and apply their knowledge and skills. For example, the Green Pioneers take advantage of these opportunities to work on sustainability activities.
Internal sustainability ambassadors around the world are dedicated to promoting a sustainable corporate culture. With their efforts, they support implementation of our CR strategy.
The internal Green Pioneers ambassador program was launched in Germany in 2018. Its aim is to promote and expand responsible management and conduct among the workforce. Group Corporate Responsibility (GCR) creates suitable conditions for the Green Pioneers’ work. Community Management, which is part of GCR, organizes regular meetings to share information and experience, offers internal and external expert talks, and helps plan activities. In addition, it also provides up-to-date information about the initiative on the internal social network You and Me UNITED (YAM UNITED). As of the end of 2022, the Green Pioneers groups had about 1 665 members and subscribers on YAM UNITED (1 400 in 2021). This shows a growing interest in the initiative and in Deutsche Telekom’s sustainability activities.
Depending on their location, interests and expertise, the Green Pioneers come together to form subject-related or regional hubs. They act as internal multipliers for change by motivating employees to be involved in numerous resource conservation campaigns, such as an exchange for office supplies, clothing exchange campaigns, tree-planting and waste collection campaigns, and an internal company ride-sharing agency.
There are now 333 Green Pioneers in Germany. Active at 53 locations and in 19 departments, they seek out improvement potential and initiate appropriate measures. The introduction of RECUP returnable cups in our cafeterias, for example, can be traced back to impetus from the Green Pioneers. They were also involved in developing packaging machines that create tailor-made packaging for the technicians’ equipment and the field service and cause hardly any waste.
On the initiative of the Green Pioneers, smart textile containers were installed at our locations in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2022 to collect old company uniforms and worn-out jeans and cotton towels and put them back into circulation in the textile ecosystem. The upcycling containers use Internet of Things
(IoT) technology and their contents are collected independently, thanks to fill-level sensors that send a notification to the Deutsche Telekom iCloud when they are ready to be emptied. This saves unnecessary trips and thus reduces carbon emissions and fuel consumption. The cotton textiles collected are sent on to be upcycled, where they are combined with new fibers and turned into new garments. In 2022, we collected and recycled 2 380 kilograms of clothing. This saves numerous liters of water, since less cotton needs to be grown.
With a view to boosting our employees’ motivation and commitment, we seek to offer them additional leeway and options for structuring their working lives. The flexible work arrangements we make available to all employees, such as our “job visits,” are one example of this policy. In addition to their core activities, our employees can also gain cross-departmental experience and apply their knowledge and skills. For example, the Green Pioneers take advantage of these opportunities to work on sustainability activities.