Life at quantilope: the Sustainability Committee

Read more about our Sustainability Committee. Meet Can, one of quantilope’s Product Managers, and learn about his involvement in the sustainability committee.

At quantilope, we are empowered to participate in initiatives that support our holistic work experience– one way we do this is by working in culture committees. We currently have 4 committees: Sustainability, Mental Health, quantilope Cares (giving back), and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). These groups allow cross-functional team members from our various office locations to work together on topics they are passionate about and create meaningful impact.

How does sustainability fit into your job?

I am a product manager at quantilope, and my team and I work on adding new market research methods to our app and automating market research processes. You won’t find sustainability in my job description, but sustainable development is a topic so close to my heart, so I find myself often reflecting on what I can do personally to ensure that our planet and its life can continue to exist. Through discussions with other colleagues about this problem, we decided to kick off the quantilope sustainability committee.

Can you tell us a bit more about what committees are?

At quantilope, we get the chance to work on many exciting projects. But sometimes, there are other topics that are really important to us that don’t fit into our normal job - like in my case, making sure that our planet is still livable for future generations. With committees, we get the chance to spend some of our working time focusing on problems that are not part of our normal job. Along with sustainability, we have other committees working on issues like mental health, and diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI).

Who can join the sustainability committee?

Everyone is welcome. Sometimes we have colleagues joining us within their first month, some others join us after a few years. We have colleagues from all departments and from all locations.

Why is sustainability so important to you?

One of my personal core values is fairness. Climate change causes issues all around the world. The lifestyle in our western societies is responsible for climate change, but it’s other societies and the generations following ours that are the most affected. Holding on to our way of living just because change is hard to do, is neither right nor fair. Therefore I believe that we must take as many actions as we can today to eliminate our impact on climate change. It is a question of fairness and while I know that I won’t solve this issue, I will do my part – on and off the job.

What were your favorite projects in the sustainability committee?

We had many interesting and impactful projects. One project I really loved was getting all emissions caused by business travels from our German team automatically offset by supporting certified projects reducing carbon emissions globally. It was one of my favorite projects since it was so easy to implement but is yet so effective. Thanks to our travel provider, TravelPerk, it was as easy as turning on a toggle.

Another recent project was an internal educational project we ran. Using the Footprint Calculator from the Global Footprint Network, we asked our colleagues to calculate their footprint and share their learnings with us through an internal survey. In an internal workshop session, we could then share their thoughts, their biggest consumption categories, and ideas on how to improve our footprint. One thing we often forget when trying to solve an issue is the influence we have on our peers. We can make all the efforts to change our behaviors, but it is important that we know that we are not alone in this and that we support others in knowing how to create a positive impact. This project was a beautiful reminder for me of this.

If there is one thing we should all start doing now, what would it be?

Lead by example. Most of us are aware of our actions that damage our climate, we know we shouldn’t book this plane, buy this steak, or take the car. But we see this mountain of change ahead of us, and we know that even if we bring up this effort, we alone won’t stop global warming. But you are not alone. Others are having the same thoughts and are facing the same challenges. So, talk about your little wins, share your thoughts, and show the steps you have taken with pride. Show everyone that they are not alone and that we are making a team effort where every action counts.