The competing offices all pledged to undertake new initiatives to become greener during the two months of the competition.

A six-member Green Team from the Embassy elaborated an action plan that included more economic use of light and water, more eco-friendly use of paper, more energy savings and more efficient waste collection. During the two months of the campaign, the participating offices achieved a 20% reduction of the Embassy’s paper consumption and switched to recycled local paper. Employees also saved energy by turning off unnecessary lights and they improved office air quality by bringing plants to work.

Two five-member Embassy teams participated in a “Bike to Work” campaign that was launched by the Hungarian Bicycle Club and the Hungarian Ministry of Transport, Telecommunication and Energy. In deciding to participate in the campaign, the Embassy wanted to promote environment-conscious urban traffic in Hungary and to raise awareness for the need to decrease our carbon-dioxide emissions.

All participating institutions were audited after the competition and the results were handed over to an independent jury. The jury announced the result of the competition at an award ceremony on May 18, where the Embassy’s successful participation was acknowledged by the organizers and the project leader of the Embassy Green Team was presented with a certificate of merit."

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest

Photo: Members of the Embassy Bike to Work team (Embassy photo)