Krakow’s Commitment to a Sustainable Office and Community

by Akamai on November 1, 2019

Written by Courtney Hadden, Corporate Sustainability, and

Karolina Galeziowska, Krakow Sustainability Team Lead

As an essential part of the Internet for over 20 years, Akamai believes it is our responsibility to help create digital experiences that are fast, intelligent and secure, while caring for our larger environment. That is why we’re making sustainable business decisions that benefit our customers and employees in the places we work, operate, and live.

Krakow is Poland’s historic capital and is one of the country’s most important economic centers. Over 1.2 million live within the urban area of which 740,000 live in the City of Krakow. The city is one of a kind – with history and tradition intermingling with modernization and culture. While the city’s known for its beautifully preserved city center, Krakow’s air quality has long been an issue and sustainability has often been on the forefront of its resident’s minds.

Over the last two years, Akamai’s office in Krakow has been working to build a more sustainable office and community. We’re proud to share some of their recent efforts and achievements:

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2018

Krakow employees joined Krakowski Alarm Smogowy in the first edition of “Business vs Smog” to promote the clean air movement. (16) Akamai volunteers conducted educational sessions and workshops about smog in various educational institutions around Krakow, especially in local schools.

2019

May – Akamai Eco Day

In May, Akamai Krakow held its first Eco Day. The day was full of interesting sustainability workshops, lectures, and community events:

The team planted air-purifying plants (peace lilies) during an interactive workshop with a special focus on which plants were confirmed by NASA to be truly air-purifying.
There was an informative Zero Waste lecture by the representative from the Zero Waste organization.
Their lunch break was spent on Plac Imbramowski (the Imbramowski market) and had the opportunity to hand out over 300 eco tote bags to the local community.
The day finished with a lesson on how to upcycle old T-Shirts into shopping bags

May – Lesson on Waste Segregation

In May, our Facilities team placed additional garbage containers in every kitchen on each floor in Krakow’s office to segregate waste even more efficiently and support the environmental movement. We then held a 1-hour Lunch & Learn to educate employees on the new waste segregation rules in Krakow.

September – Kayak River Clean-Up

In September for Akamai’s global Danny Lewin Community Care Days, members of the Krakow office spent their day collecting trash to clean up the Dłubnia River in kayaks. The theme for this community event was “Less plastic, fantastic!”

Event in numbers:

More than 40 volunteers from the Akamai Krakow office participated in the event.
We split into 3 groups: we cleaned the river banks, grabbed floating trash from the kayaks, and dug out underwater waste by using professional waders.
In total, we collected 72 bags (80l each) of trash and a dozen of bigger objects which couldn’t fit into the bags (for example, a TV set or a toilet bowl).