Progress Earth Team Strives for Sustainability

In battling climate change, Progress believes it’s the small things that will lead to big changes in sustainability for our communities and our world.

Sustainability has become a critical word in today’s global vocabulary. Regions, businesses and people around the world are continually finding new ways to go about their day-to-day activities, without taking a toll on our planet.

Progress’s Earth Team is determined to do the same.

Formed in May 2021, the Progress Earth Team has one overarching goal: To take care of our only home, planet Earth. Together, we’re aiming to raise awareness around what causes harm to our planet and figure out mitigation strategies. We’re striving to live our modern lives a little more sustainably as individuals and be conscious of our footprint as a company, while maintaining continuity of our businesses.

The Why

Bags packed? Strapped yourself to a rocket and heading out to space? Planning to inhabit a different planet or perhaps cross over to a different galaxy?

If not, fear not fellow human—you can continue calling Earth your home. It is an absolutely beautiful planet that we all share—we just need to care for it a little more. We're fortunate to have Earth provide so much of the resources needed to sustain all living forms, and it will continue to do so for ages to come. If we all have a little sustainability in mind as we go about our day, we can do wonders for planet Earth and in turn, guarantee the continuity of our way of modern life.

Simple consciousness and small steps can add up to big benefits for our planet, both in maintaining biodiversity and slowing climate change impacts. We all have a shared responsibility and together we can do good for planet Earth.

So far, the Earth Team has participated in World Cleanup Day and adopted beehives in the Netherlands and Bulgaria. All these activities will help us enhance our communities—and ultimately, our world.

The Who

Some here at Progress have come together to form the Progress Earth Team. Our only qualifications—we're residents of Earth willing to learn and care for our planet.

Please meet the Earth Team—coming together across various corporate geographies:

• Vesko Kantchev | US-Morrisville

• Jim Clark | US-Burlington

• Edwin Bermudez | US-Morrisville

• Nicolette Schreier | US-Burlington

• Maximilian Ehrich | NL-Rotterdam

• Veselin Tsvetanov | BG-Sofia

• Maria Mitova | BG-Sofia

• Jacob Gesin | US-WFH

• Pranay Singh | IN-Bengaluru

• Georgi Karapeev | BG-Sofia

• Rakesh Kumar | IN-Hyderabad

• Desislava Gorcheva | BG-Sofia

• Deepa Kumaraswamy | IN-Bengaluru

• Sam Basu | US-WFH

• Dale Foster | US-Morrisville

• Tina Ryan | AU-Melbourne

• Aashima Parvathi Poudhar | IN-Hyderabad

• Bilyana Ivanova | BG-Sofia

• David Moloney | US-WFH

• Nora Georgieva | BG-Sofia

• Kamen Damyanov | BG-Sofia

• Geetanjali Barthwal | IN-Bengaluru

• Yoana Nikolova | BG-Sofia

The What

Words are easy; actions take effort. When it comes to sustainability awareness and caring for the planet, it might often seem like trying to move mountains one grass at a time. But every bit matters, and small changes often collectively add up to have bigger impacts. Science shows us that we're already feeling the effects of climate change—the time to act is now.

So, what are the goals of the Progress Earth Team? Quite simply, to raise sustainability awareness and take actions that make a difference. We plan to push on our goals on two fronts—corporate and individual.

As a company, we actually run lean in terms of our environmental footprint, but there is room to do much better. For corporate social responsibility, environmental offset programs may look enticing, but lasting change will happen when we tweak small things ourselves to run greener. The good news is, much can be done without any impact to the way we conduct our business, and we can realistically aim for carbon neutrality in the long term.

The Progress Earth Team plans to work with various teams across our company to optimize our workflows and minimize our environmental footprint. Here are some focus areas:

• Measure and reduce overall footprint for carbon and other greenhouse gases.

• Find trusted partners for carbon offset and sequestration programs.

• Measure our energy consumption across geographies.

• Consider possibilities for clean energy production/acquisition.

• Sustainable corporate travel.

• Work closely with Facilities for sustainable practices at our offices.

• Heating and cooling solutions.

• Explore ways to do better with trash and recycling opportunities.

• Measure and optimize how we work with office supplies/swag/materials for business.

• Incentivize individual green choices for transport/energy.

We are #ProgressPROUD for all the sharp minds who work here—together we can make lasting differentiators and benefit our business. We're just getting started and there is much to be done.

The How

Environmental impacts often begin with individuals and how we all live our lives. We're all part of communities, and local grassroot efforts can have big impacts. However, we all get wary when asked to change our ways—instead, perhaps the pitch should be to make small tweaks which allow us to continue with our lives as usual, but with much greener choices.

To this end, the Progress Earth Team wants to encourage folks to learn more and take baby steps towards better choices—sustainability is a mindset. To promote a greener way of thinking (and living), the Earth Team will organize sustainability challenges each month that all Progressers can participate in.

So, come join us on this journey. Sustainable choices can mean better business, a happier you and a more prosperous Earth. Cheers!