It is always a consideration whether the further use of an older device does not require less energy or water than the production of a new, energy-efficient device. Therefore, the energy requirement along the entire product life cycle (from production to use to disposal) must be considered. Companies need the competence to weigh up the right time for a new purchase of devices, but also the determination to then purchase the most sustainable and not only cheapest devices.

LED 'light bulbs' are now available for really all lamps, even with pleasantly warm light colors. Also, think about the lights outside - are they LED as well?

We have to use all suitable areas for photovoltaics (PV), as the variants on open spaces restrict nature and agriculture. A trend is PV on stilts (Agri-PV), so that it can still be gardened or cultivated underneath. But that costs building material. Photovoltaics has become amazingly inexpensive today thanks to cheap panels from China. Unfortunately, there is hardly any money to make from the feed into the power grid, currently about 8 cents per kWh in Germany. Therefore, PV should always be combined with its own electricity storage (own step, see below) so that as much electricity as possible is consumed by yourself. This then saves approx. 25 to 35 cents per kWh (depending on your tariff), which we would otherwise have to pay to the electricity provider. In this way, your own PV system, adapted to your own electricity consumption, pays off after just a few years. If you have a car, you should take into account its consumption (even if it is not yet an electric car). Then the savings are much bigger. The banks like to give loans for PV, quite often it is also being subsidized. In addition, there are also providers who take over the costs and virtually rent the roof area and offer discounted electricity in return. Such providers then form so-called virtual power plants with other houses and their batteries. For such a dependency, you should inform yourself well about what is best for you.

Motion detectors make sense in all rooms including outdoor areas, where we potentially let the light burn for too long, for example in the hallway, basement, garage, etc. Of course, it is important that the light does not stay on for too long.

Modern lamps require little electricity, and yet it is worthwhile not to let them burn unnecessarily, for example when we are not in the room for a long time. Corridors, toilet rooms, cellars often have the light burning unnecessarily. In some indoor and outdoor areas, companies also sometimes have the light on too long or too early.

Apart from the fact that every device can have a high power consumption, a refrigerator is not regularly defrosted, the door seal is leaking, the washing machine is driven with too high temperatures and spin numbers, etc., there are still some unnecessary things that consume a lot of electricity: In the company, these can be exaggerated light installations, electric bollards, and much more.

Appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers must specify a value for water consumption when buying new. It is therefore worthwhile to compare water and energy consumption equally and also to research corresponding test reports..

Building materials such as concrete, plaster, steel or even aluminum have a high ecological footprint and mean many greenhouse gases. The foamed insulation materials are also in the criticism. In addition, the negative consequences of conventional paints and adhesives are often unknown, which then lead to toxic exhaust gases in waste incineration plants due to ultimately ineffective filters. Natural building materials and colors are significantly more expensive, although the non-natural materials are often extremely expensive when it comes to disposal. So it is the good feeling, the better smell and the healthier building biology that make us do the right thing here.

Air conditioning systems are also gaining in importance in temperate latitudes. Intelligent construction and ventilation and the use of thermal protection roller blinds can avoid these power guzzlers. In warm regions, a corresponding education of the guests can take place. Often a fan is also useful.

Intelligent ventilation does not mean too late and not too long. It is too late when we get tired when the air is used up, get a headache and the humidity becomes too high. It is too long when the air has already been replaced and is cool, but we also ventilate the materials (walls, furniture) even longer. Heat ultimately means that things or air vibrate. When the air is exchanged, but the objects and walls are still vibrating, the fresh air is quickly heated. Even if the walls get cold, mold can form on them and we need expensive heating energy to make everything vibrate again. By the way, CO2 measuring devices help to ventilate in time and not for too long. However, these should not be a useless gadget, but perhaps used for practice one after the other in the rooms and gladly lent. A nice game is the competition, how good the sense of the people in the room is to ventilate in time and not too long. Companies in particular have the potential to keep the doors in the entrance area not too far and not too long open.

The area we need for rooms and outdoor places means the area that is sealed, the building material that is needed, and most often the room that needs to be heated. If we use the rooms here, possibly sublet them or share them with others (e.g. co-working spaces), we take big steps towards sustainability. Especially in the course of home office, the shrinking of company space is not a step backwards, but a progress.

Car sharing can be organized with your own fleet - also across areas and, if necessary, also for private use after working hours or on weekends.

There are almost hostile prejudices against electric cars: child labor, coal power, risk of explosion, farmers are expropriated, fear of range, loss of value, etc. It is true: Like every car, electric cars are also a waste of raw materials and energy. But if car, then the electric car is the best solution, because gasoline and diesel perform even worse in all areas. Many studies or Statements by laymen make a mistake: The controversial lithium must not only be counted with its footprint from mining, but this must be reduced by the many times that lithium is recycled again and again in the decades. In addition, what few know: Gasoline contains almost as much electrical energy on 100km for production and transport as it is needed in an electric car for the journey. E-cars would not have to be so expensive and batteries not so big - charging options are more important. Electricity at public charging stations is currently surprisingly expensive, although it would clearly be more important to add the costs of the climate disaster and air pollution to the price of gasoline and diesel. http://www.imodeler.info/ro? key=Col-EWhyCbIR_KGGP7mXbLw Hydrogen and synthetic fuels in cars are nonsense. There are so-called memes fuelled by individual interests (keyword "Lex Porsche" https://www.cleanthinking.de/lex-porsche-lindner-wissing-e-fuels/), 'ego trolls', which are picked up by 'Troll-Lemmingen', who simply like to be against something and do not want to change. With both fuels, green electricity is first generated and then with loss of efficiency to hydrogen or e-fuel. For e-fuels, carbon is also missing - already today, few airlines that have started with it have a problem buying carbon on the market. Consideo has also gained important insights about hydrogen: https://www.imodeler.de/a/ConsideoPaper-BEM-Dt.pdf In companies, of course, electric cars are also associated with additional expenses. However, if the electricity itself is produced, the self-consumption of electricity can be maximized and the costs are even lower in the end.

If you do not have a garage or courtyard entrance with your own socket, you are dependent on charging options in public space and at the workplace. However, the charging options, which were initially underutilized, must first be there, but then people switch to electric cars with a time delay. Providing guests and employees with enough charging stations here is a real competitive advantage.

A premium SUV can weigh well over 2.5 tons and consumes more than twice as economical vehicles. Van, buses are similar - but sometimes have an authorization, for example as then actually used 7-seaters or for regular transports. For rare transports, there should be rental cars nearby or trailers. There is a global trend towards SUVs. These unconsciously give us the feeling of robustness, of getting through. They reinforce the so-called attribution or distinction need. We think we are the great car.

Flying is a great experience for most people like experiencing distant places. Flying short distances should rightly lead to 'flight shame' - some countries are planning to ban domestic flights completely. The problem with flying is, on the one hand, that we travel a lot of kilometers, even if the energy requirement per kilometer and person is not so high. On the other hand, greenhouse gases are transported directly to the heights where they harm us. So we should only use the plane for rare long-distance trips and then rather stay longer in the places. Many, on the other hand, fly several times a year, partly within Europe - some even to sustainability conferences or just to spontaneously escape the harsh weather in Germany. Unfortunately, flying is even subsidized and is often cheaper than train or car.

What has recently been a successful model in some countries and cities is still a problem in Germany: to give cyclists priority over car traffic. The willingness to ride a bike, even in bad weather, is higher than ever. E-cargo bicycles make it possible to at least do without the second car. A company can do a lot from the bicycle shelter with charging possibility via the company bicycle.

Especially older e-bikes have to be charged more often and in many families the bikes are simply not in order because no one has tools or even a functioning pump. The employer could also set up a repair station here.

Consistently separating waste, including green waste, glass and paper, is not as self-evident as can be assumed. Many make little effort here and don't really know what belongs in which bin. The residual waste bin also costs the public sector a lot of money, while the recyclable and green waste bin are free of charge. But also special waste, such as batteries, incandescent lamps, electrical appliances, etc. must be disposed of properly.

Non-recycled paper is often cheaper, but means cutting of forests, contamination of water during production and a high energy requirement. Recycled paper for toilet paper, writing paper, packaging, envelopes, wrapping paper, etc. should be a matter of course today. But we have to pay attention to it and choose it. Recycled paper is also snow-white, but it should then not be bleached with chlorine but oxygen.

Saving paper helps to protect forests - recycling paper also ultimately means more demand for fresh pulp from trees. We don't even need to print many things in the first place, but can save them on devices that we already have. For internal processes but also for dialogue with customers, digital forms should continue to prevail.

Garbage collection as an event also for the clubs with subsequent meeting, possibly sponsored by the local economy, helps to get nature clean and to raise awareness. Companies can sponsor or participate as a team.

Surface sealing is a problem not only in growing civilizations, but also in Germany. We live on too much living space, are still building new streets and courtyard driveways and our terraces are also getting bigger and bigger. To specifically dispense with area, to build in height, water-permeable paving, green roofs (own point) and, weighing up all the advantages and disadvantages, to expand one's own house to the height in order to enable more people to live on the same sealed area, are valuable steps. By the way, an English lawn is ecologically not very valuable, for example, compared to a flower or clover meadow or a vegetable garden. Companies can systematically look at which areas do not have to be sealed and perhaps can be provided with flower meadows.

In many places, moors, streams, etc. have been lost with the settlement and intensification of agriculture. Renaturalizing this often means an enormous gain for biodiversity, climate and also flood protection.

Insect hotels or just old, higher tree stumps and dead wood on the ground, nesting boxes and, if useful, bat boxes are great ways to maximize biodiversity in your own environment. School classes can also participate here.

It is hard to believe that the future of our diet depends on the use of pesticides and their influence on insects that have to pollinate our plants. Many pollinators are threatened with extinction and in addition to the purchase of organic, we can offer these insects flowers on our areas. In fact, some plants are neither bee-nor bird-friendly. On the other hand, fruit trees and most vegetables are already great opportunities to promote bees, bumblebees, etc. At the flower meadows there are one- and multi-year-olds.

Green roofs, at least for garages and shelters, are a good attempt to do something against the surface sealing and the extinction of species. If the areas are oriented towards the sun - to the east, west or south - it can of course also be occupied with PV modules. For flat roofs, the PV modules can be set up and then still grow a little under them. There are also bifacial solar modules that allow light to pass through or also generate energy with the scattered light from the back (although of course a green area does not illuminate the backs as much as a bright tin roof).

This is about living and working in the region, about strengthening the community. The birdhouse from a social workshop or the PV system from the electrician on site (if he has further training). The award criteria of the municipalities must of course be legally secure. If the work is good, a discreet advertising sign can also draw attention to the craft business in return.

Many people who earn above average can only do this because others earn below average. The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger. Consumers complain about cheap wages, but the price increase by 50 cents is rarely accepted. What we deserve is not, as liberals or neoliberals like to think, just a question of diligence. It is the product (!) Out of diligence, skill and the right framework conditions. Anyone who knows many talented and hard-working people who are simply not lucky develops empathy and is willing to pay more, even if it is through tips. Companies can set an example in the case of remuneration, in particular for less well-paid activities within the scope of their possibilities.

Volunteering, whether at the fire brigade, in the sports club or the help in the neighborhood, is enormously important for togetherness and society. Companies can help here to honor volunteering and accompany it through donations.

We experience what happens all over the world when the successful depend on large parts of society: radical currents get influx, the climate catastrophe is denied, hatred against foreigners but also against their own politicians is stoked. Some "ego trolls" who want to punch through their interests are deliberately playing with such a breeding ground when, for example, conservative parties speak of ideology with the progressive parties or an automobile boss is against vaccination in order not to have to close his works, or others complain against wind power and e-mobility and pro-nuclear power without any expertise. Dissatisfied citizens take this up as 'troll lemmings', feel they belong to the common enemy images and complain on social media against everything that means change towards future viability. It is the fight for so-called memes and no longer, as in the past, solely for sovereignty of interpretation, especially since the experts agree on most questions. As uncomfortable as it is, we should therefore stand against it in social media and not wave off in frustration. In our environment, we can also get together with others and talk about politics or the design of togetherness - even if many do not want to talk about politics privately at all, because they have an opinion, but not the feeling that they can support it themselves. For example, there is the Open Society Day and regionally certainly many other initiatives. Politicians can motivate, join a party, go to public council meetings, and participate in demonstrations. Having been to Fridays for Future once is an experience! Companies can show attitude! Ideology is not the opinion of the other, but what is not scientifically proven robustly (i.e. more than a single study). https://www.know-why.net/model/Ch6pG92HeaVbtguDEvK11Iw

Support of clubs, squares and halls for the gathering of citizens

Cultural promotion can take place in all facets - from young people who make music to exhibitions to the care of traditional festivals.

Educational trails, information boards, exhibitions, excursions, etc., if necessary also together with schools and nature conservation organizations.

This is about workwear or, for example, in the tourism sector clothing with advertising. Even large, conventional clothing stores sometimes take back old clothes and promise to produce new yarns from them. Often the problem is the quality of short-lived clothing, which is then difficult to recycle and yet ends up in the waste incineration plant or on the dump in developing countries.

Unfortunately, many devices can no longer be repaired at all, for example if the control unit breaks down from the washing machine and costs more than a new washing machine. And yet there are workshops that also repair mobile phones, washing machines, lawn mowers, etc. - and even if it is as expensive as a new device, it is the good feeling of having done something for a better world again.

Transparency in the supply chain should not only strive for the larger companies committed to doing so. This also includes the knowledge of the working conditions under which people work. Child labor and slavery are still common and inhuman working conditions and hunger wages are often at the beginning of the supply chain in the mines and factories abroad. Here, a company can exert pressure and remunerate better accordingly.

To minimize material requirements, on the one hand, the product itself can be lightweight, for example according to the principles of bionics. On the other hand, during production, an optimization of the blanks, the throwing away or complex melting of material can be prevented. This also includes the optimization of quality, which avoids incorrect productions.

Recycling materials are sometimes more expensive - but in the future we will be dependent on the so-called anthropogenic warehouse. However, companies can already advertise with it today. Design for Recycling means that your own products are also as easy to recycle as possible.

Even organic products often come in small disposable packaging. Here, every producer should look at what is possible in terms of deposit systems (also for transport), recycled cardboard and simply less packaging.

Not just the EU is looking at ESG criteria - Ecological, Social and Governance (ESG) in companies. The governance covers not just diversity, equality and inclusion (DIE), but also risk management, transparency, and a lot more. We make DIE a part of BoB - the rest is rather a topic of a company's strategy for more sucess. Sometimes companies only have the opportunity to address one of the DEI's topics. If you do address all three you get three points!

Part of the governance criteria are the possibilities of employees to be part of the company and its decisions, to co-own parts of the company and to have transparent strategies.