Committed at every level

Inessa, how did you become an Environmental Management Officer at adesso?

Inessa Azizova: I started as a working student at adesso in the Information Security (ISM) department during my computer science studies at TU Dortmund University. There, the sustainability report came up in 2018 and I was supposed to help revise it and make it meaningful. Sure, I had signalled interest in the topic and in compiling the figures. My career aspirations to deal with standards and management systems also harmonised with this. It was an ideal fit that the position of Environmental Management Officer then had to be filled.

At first glance, my studies have only a limited connection with sustainability, but my computer science knowledge helps me a lot with a systematic approach and with our ISO certification. In addition, my tasks as an environmental management officer have to do with modelling methods, among other things - and that is one of my strengths.

How are you personally involved in the issue of sustainability?

Inessa: My awareness of the topic has increased again through the job. I pay much more attention to appropriate labels, recyclable and low-plastic packaging, sustainable delivery and regional products. I also use more apps on the topic than before. For example, the Planet Hero app, to good to go, Repacked or Dreckspetze, an app for reporting wild waste disposal in Dortmund.

Instead of flowers, I prefer to grow tomatoes and strawberries on my balcony, which makes me a bit less dependent on the supermarket and saves on packaging and transport. I grew up on a farm in Kazakhstan, where my family was able to grow its own food for the most part. In Dortmund, I've been trying to pick up where I left off a few years ago. And when I have my own garden someday, I definitely want to expand the cultivation.

What has been your biggest "aha" moment so far when it comes to sustainability?

Inessa: I find it shocking how many kilometres the adessi fly within a year - especially within Germany, because for these distances there are much lower CO2 mobility options without much time difference. Next to energy consumption, travel is the greatest burden we place on the environment. Reducing this is one of our primary sustainability goals.

On the other hand, I think it's great how many adessi are committed to the topic of sustainability and always start new campaigns. The Stuttgart office, for example, started the collection campaign "Mobile phones for the environment", which is now standard at many other locations. Or in Bonn, office materials such as adhesive tape etc. were replaced by a more environmentally friendly alternative, for example the Eco range from Tesa. My goal and wish is that such initiatives are controlled centrally in the future and thus directly transferred to the entire Group. Because together we can of course achieve much more.