Sustainability Challenge 2022

Are you ready for a challenge? Register now!

We want to be CO2 neutral by 2025. In order to achieve our goals, we carry out various energy-saving initiatives at our DEKRA offices. For example, we are lowering the heating from 21 to 19 degrees. However, a sustainable organization only succeeds with sustainable employees. So, we need your help! During the DEKRA Sustainability Challenge 2022, you and your colleagues will take on simple sustainability challenges.

During the Sustainability Challenge you will explore new sustainable habits by:

adopting 6 sustainable habits in the office;
completing at least 1 personal challenge each week.

Every week you choose your own personal challenge to try for a week. Think of 'turning off your computer when you go home', 'taking a shower for a maximum of 5 minutes a day' or 'reading a book instead of watching TV'. Each week you have 10 different challenges to choose from. Are some of the challenges already a habit for you? That's great! Pick another new habit for a week. You choose how you challenge yourself.

Apply these 6 sustainable habits in the office

1. Do not set heating buttons higher than position 2 (out of 5).

2. Turn off lights when you leave a room.

3. Turn off your screens when you go home.

4. Lower the brightness of your screens.

5. Keep meetings that would involve traveling through videocall.

6. Print consciously by printing:

double sided;
without color;
only if digital administration is not an option.

Choose your personal sustainability challenges

What should you know about the challenges?

The Sustainability Challenge lasts 4 weeks, each week focuses on 1 important theme: water, nutrition, lifestyle or energy. Click on the different themes below to view the weekly challenges per theme.
Choose at least 1 challenge per week/theme. The more challenges you choose, the more impact we make together!
Only choose challenges that encourage you to adjust your usual habits. For example, are you already a vegetarian? Then the challenge of not eating meat for a week is not suitable for you. Choose a new habit.
Challenge yourself, but realize that even the smallest changes make a big difference.

Look at the challenges per theme

Week 44 | 31 October – 6 November

Choose at least 1 of the challenges below:

Shower for a maximum of 5 minutes.
Wash clothes shortly and at 30 degrees.
Collect rainwater for your indoor plants.
Lower the water temperature during your showers.
Install a water-saving shower head.
Lower the temperature of your boiler to a maximum of 60 degrees.
Set the heating at home to 18 degrees or lower.
Use your bath towel at least 3 times before throwing it in the laundry bin.
Use cleaning vinegar instead of fabric softener.
Reduce your standard number of showers.

Week 45 | 7 –13 November

Choose at least 1 of the challenges below:

Do not waste food: eat the leftovers or put them in the freezer.
Buy leftover food from stores:
- Via the TooGoodToGo app (read here how it works).
- By reserving leftovers in the morning in the AH app (read here how it works).
- By buying products from the supermarket with a discount sticker.
Stop eating meat for a week.
Stop eating fish for a week.
Stop eating eggs or animal milk products for a week.
Choose your groceries based on sustainability labels, for example organic, better life, fair trade, asc or mcs. (check out most of the well-known labels here).
Do not buy drinks in bottles or cans, but only drink tap water from a reusable bottle.
Buy local, seasonal vegetables and fruits.
Try a new vegetarian meat alternative.
Buy fruits and vegetables without plastic packaging.

Week 46 | 14-20 November

Choose at least 1 of the challenges below:

Carpool with colleagues or cycle to work.
Buy ecological laundry tissues instead of liquid detergent. (view examples on bol.com).
Buy a block of shampoo or a block of soap instead of liquid products.
Clean up litter around your home.
Listen to an episode of The Sustainable Podcast (open The Sustainable Podcast in Spotify).
For trips, use public transport instead of the car.
Use a drying rack instead of the dryer.
Buy this week second-hand items, clothes and gifts whenever you can.
Tell your colleagues, friends and family about your challenge.
Repair a broken item of clothing.

Week 48 | 21-27 November

Choose at least 1 of the challenges below:

Turn on the eco mode on your TV.
Play board games or read a book instead of watching TV.
Dirty filters use up more energy, so clean the filters of your:
- oven;
- dishwasher;
- extractor hood;
- washing machine.
Watch a documentary about sustainability and climate change.
Turn off the heating an hour before going to sleep or lower the temperature to 15 degrees.
Replace an old appliance with a new, more energy efficient version.
Stop preheating your oven.
Replace old bulbs with LED lighting.
Cook with small pans, on the small burners or eat meals that fit in a single pan.
Descale your water boiler and make sure to only heat the amount of water that you use up.

Are you also excited about making a difference with your colleagues?

Good to know

Registrations close on November 1st.
After the challenge we will be curious about your experiences. At the end of November, we will send you a feedback form.
Afterwards you can pick up a well-deserved sustainable gift at the office where you're based.
Do you have any questions? Mail them to marketing.nl@dekra.com .