FMYI | For My Innovation

Is today Earth Day? Yes.
Was yesterday earth day? Yes.
How about tomorrow? Yes.

At FMYI, we believe that every day is Earth Day. As Justin Yuen returned from Fortune Brainstorm: GREEN 2010 this past week, it reminded us of the importance for ongoing discussion and engagement around sustainability. We are excited to celebrate the 40th annual Earth Day; we can only truly make a difference if we work towards a solution every day.

When we talk about our sustainability initiatives and company core beliefs, people sometimes give us a confused look. I am sure many wonder why an online collaboration software company is so committed to sustainability. To help others understand the heart and soul of FMYI, we released A New Day earlier this year. In the video we call for change agents to stop working, start innovating and keep empowering. We believe in a new way of working that is characterized by innovation, empowerment and sustainability. Like the first Earth Day, this new way of working requires just one thing – vision. Forty years ago, Earth Day was just one day. In the past several years it has evolved into Earth Week. Now, with sustainability being incorporate by more and more of us into our daily lives every day is Earth Day.

The Planet
We are committed to the triple bottom line business strategy of people, planet and profit. We believe innovation is the key to our efficiency and that doing things differently and sustainably increases effectiveness and decrease long-term impact on the planet. We have not inherited the planet from our parents; we are renting it for our children. We want to leave it a better place for them.

As we celebrate this 40th Earth Day, here are some the ways we take action every day to be a more sustainable business and do our part to grow a vibrant green economy. 

Educating Ourselves
Every member of our team continues to be empowered by Natural Step Network training and Northwest Earth Institute discussion courses. Through these activities we continue the discussion and engage each other around sustainability and how we can continue to deliver on FMYI’s commitment to the planet.

Energy Use
We recently achieved the City of Portland’s Climate Champions designation. Carbon offsets for the energy used by our servers and your computer provided by The CO2Stats Project. We’re also a member of the Climate Savers Computing initiative.

Transportation
Employees are encouraged to commute using public transportation or by bike. We offer discounts on car sharing through Zipcar, access to bikes, flexible telecommuting options, and provide monthly TriMet mass transit passes for eligible employees through the Lloyd TMA.  As a member of the Zipcar for Business program we were recently selected as a Finalist in Zipcar’s first annual Portland “Wheels of Change” awards for our dedication to improving the sustainability of our business practices and reducing our carbon footprint.

Sustainable Innovation
With sustainability in our DNA (along with innovation and Human Energy, of course), we are excited to have been selected as a 2010 Sustainable Business Oregon Innovation Award winner. Presented by the Portland Business Journal and Sustainable Business Oregon, we look forward to receiving the award at the banquet on May 27th.

Even though we have made great strides in our sustainability efforts, we know this is not a race, but rather a march forward. We hope you will join us to make a difference on Earth Day 2010 by finding events in your community and continue making every day Earth Day. 

Keep empowering,
-Graeme