Ashley Hoover, director of sustainability at Aspire Bakeries, develops strategies to improve the overall approach to social responsibility. She is supported by Drew Harper, manager of corporate social responsibility & sustainability, who develops innovative technical solutions to reduce waste and expenses. As the internal and external communications expert, Kathy Lenkov supervises all forms of strategic business communications.
Together, the three are leading The Green Champions Team in their individual roles to promote energy and water efficiency at Aspire Bakeries. They are creating awareness around waste management and carbon emissions through their on-site projects that take corrective measures to minimize carbon footprint and provide environmentally friendly options.
In an interview with Agri Business Review APAC, Hoover, Harper and Lenkov shared their valuable insights into adopting eco-friendly approaches in the workplace to preserve the environment.
Promoting Sustainability
Our Green Champions team at Aspire Bakeries has a distinct goal to reduce carbon emissions and promote energy efficiency.
A defining moment occurred when we replaced traditional light bulbs with LEDs. It reduced energy costs and improved light quality, generating profits for the bakeries. With a focus on overall optimization of the systems, Drew Harper planned ways to attain the highest level of power conservation. We started with the LEDs and are now making progress in different stages of energy efficiency, diving deep into durable methods to improve the manufacturing facility.
Our goal is to make progress in the sustainability journey. We are initiating the projects with the help of our seasoned leaders, who support and motivate the team members to improve our programs and implement ideas for a successful outcome.
We undertook the compressed air project by understanding the requirements of the manufacturing process. Recognizing the needs will speed up the commencement of work. Through collaboration with manufacturers, we find a sustainable way of providing the same functions. Certain air dryers use compressed air, which requires a lot of electricity. To counter that, we are implementing systems that use waste heat to supply power, efficiently recycling energy for reduced consumption.
Reaching Heights Through Harmony
Representatives at every bakery are a part of the sustainability initiative. Employees embrace the importance of sustainability and contribute to making changes for a greener future.
Multiple people are working toward the initiative including the C-suite members, corporate sustainability team and other members that bring in effective strategies. Working cross-functionally with other bakeries can help with inventive approaches to drive the initiatives effectively.
Local and state funding has made a huge impact in the commencement of these initiatives with cost-restrictive projects. They provided zero-percent interest on-bill financing loans and enabled us to move forward with the developments.
Our goal is to make progress in the sustainability journey. We are initiating the projects with the help of our seasoned leaders, who support and motivate the team members to improve our programs and implement ideas for a successful outcome.
Teamwork For a Greener Future
Our advice would be to commence your sustainability journey during the establishment of the company. Setting achievable goals instead of a far-fetched milestone will result in economic outcomes. With the right stakeholders taking charge of projects, the team will measure and track the tasks proficiently to ensure early execution and minimize the possibility of rework.
Building a cross-functional relationship is the key to a good team. To accomplish meaningful projects, it is essential to emphasize the importance of sustainability and ways through which every individual can play a part in creating progress. These initiatives thrive under good leadership, motivating the team with the ability to execute projects better.
