Sustainability

Operating with Consideration for
Environmental Protection

Just as we do in our client work, we carefully consider environmental impacts in our operational decisions. We pursue operating strategies that help reduce our carbon emissions, waste, and water and resource consumption. Our downtown office locations provide transit service and bicycle opportunities for many staff. We have a companywide Green Team that meets monthly to evaluate our operations and make recommendations for improving our environmental sustainability. As we grow, we will maintain our commitment to being a steward of our communities and environment as a fundamental principle of Ascent.

Our Impact
8.55 MTCO₂e

per employee in 2019

How We Reduce Our Impact

Perks for Staff

Subsidized transit passes
Bike repair allowances
Flexible schedules/telecommuting

Green Offices

Compost collection
Transit-oriented locations
EV charging stations

Green Team

Operational initiatives
Knowledge sharing
Sustainability traditions

Average Impact
8.86 MTCO₂e

per employee*

*Based on California average for professional services industry via CoolClimate Network, excluding procurement emissions

SUSTAINABILITY TRADITIONS
May Is Bike Month

Every May, Ascentians participate in the “May Is Bike Month Challenge,” hosted by the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates and Love to Ride. While we all ride on the same team, Ascent also provides special prizes for our staff in the categories of total bike trips taken, total bike miles ridden, and total badges earned on the Love to Ride website. In 2022, Ascentians rode a total of 2,900 miles in the month of May!

Earth Day Tradition

To celebrate Earth Day, the Ascent Green Team organizes a week-long information-sharing campaign that culminates in a companywide trivia event. The Green Team sends out daily emails, each with a specific environmentally related topic, as well as calls to action for Ascentians to take outside of work to participate in the celebration of Earth Day. The winning team of Earth Day trivia determines which environmental nonprofit is the lucky recipient of a donation made by Ascent. In 2022, the winning team (named Carbon-Aided Sequestor) selected GRID Alternatives for Ascent’s Earth Day donation. GRID Alternatives provides low-cost solar power and jobs to underserved communities in the US and abroad.

Greening the Holidays

Each year, the Green Team releases a holiday guide called Greening the Holidays, which includes gift ideas to reduce waste, buy local, and support eco-friendly companies. The guide also includes ideas for sustainable gift wrapping, alternatives to holiday cards, and sustainable ways to find the right tree.

PERSONAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS

Nanette Hansel
Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition

Nanette has been a Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition (LTBC) board member and treasurer for nearly 10 years! She manages LTBC’s finances, grant funding, membership dues, and donations. She’s also the board’s mail person and a regular volunteer at LTBC-sponsored bike valets and bike path cleanup events, and she serves as captain of the Spooner rest stop for the Tour de Tahoe and America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride events.

Molly Nagle
Desert Ministries Garden

Molly is a volunteer with Desert Ministries Garden in southern Utah, where she supports the organization through building a community garden that will provide fresh produce to at-risk children and their families. The organization upcycles materials to provide the infrastructure needed for the garden beds, such as garage doors, aluminum framing from shipping containers, and donated bricks and gravel.

Hannah Kornfeld
Clean Energy Leadership Institute

Hannah has held a variety of leadership positions with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI). CELI’s mission is to build a multiracial, diverse, and inclusive community of changemakers working across sectors and disciplines to lead an equitable, decarbonized, and resilient energy ecosystem. Hannah has volunteered with CELI for many years in various capacities including leading the selections process of new cohorts of fellows, serving as a fellowship coordinator, and being the Bay Area director.

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