Energy
In 2018-19, we started to better understand our energy consumption by capturing and validating our current Energy Star ratings at each facility. When complete, this will allow us to measure and improve our efficiency and to work toward achieving Energy Star certification.
The lighting at our facilities is a great opportunity to reduce energy use. Whenever we replace lighting, we use LEDs and other energy-efficient solutions. In 2018-19, we retrofitted lighting fixtures at our Phoenix, Arizona, and Lake Park, Utah facilities with LEDs and installed a lumen management system—an energy-saving output that reduces over-lighting—at our Phoenix location. In 2020, we will be replacing the lighting at our New Albany, Ohio, location with LEDs. A multiyear project to renovate one of our buildings at Riverwoods, Illinois, included converting all lighting to LEDs and recycling old carpet through our carpet manufacturer.
Data Centers
The energy footprint of data centers is an increasing area of focus for technology-driven organizations such as Discover. We leverage sustainability best practices when procuring new data center hardware and have initiatives in place to migrate from on-premise to cloud-based solutions, which can reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.1
Commuting
To reduce the energy footprint associated with our employees traveling to and from work, we organize and promote a range of commuting options. In 2018-19, more than 20 percent of our employee population participated in programs that included:
- Carpools—Discover encourages Riverwoods, Illinois, employees to carpool through a program organized by Pace RideShare. By utilizing the ride-matching database, riders can reduce traffic congestion, conserve energy, and improve air quality by sharing rides with others who travel the same distance and route to work.
- Commuter Benefits Plan—Employees can use pre-tax dollars to purchase transportation passes, tickets, or vouchers; pay a parking facility; or to fund an account that can be used for reimbursement of certain work-related transportation and parking expenses. Employees participating in this program also receive a $60 monthly subsidy. In 2018-19, nearly 50 percent of employees at our Riverwoods and Field locations used the benefit for mass transit.
- Shuttles—Discover is a member of the Lake County Transportation Management Association in Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois. The association provides a shuttle bus to help move employees between the office and public transportation options. It serves three routes and provides more than 3,500 trips each month.
- Telecommuting—Our Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) guidelines, revised in 2019, offer employees the option to telecommute with manager approval. These guidelines encourage leaders to trust employees to be productive and effective, regardless of work location and by focusing on results over physical presence.
- Vanpools—Public vanpools operate around a number of our facilities. To encourage participation, Discover offers a Guaranteed Ride Home Program for eligible employees to help allay their concerns about feeling stranded without their personal vehicles.
Water
The majority of our water use comes from our facilities’ landscaping and plumbing. This is a particularly sensitive issue at our locations in water-stressed areas, such as Phoenix, Arizona. Water reduction efforts in 2018-19 included:
- Using native landscaping that thrives in local climates—for example, deserts—as well as xeriscaping, a landscaping technique that minimizes the need for supplemental irrigation. We are also installing new predictive irrigation controls and a monitoring system to reduce sprinkler use at our Riverwoods facility.
- Installing low-flow faucets and flushometers at all new sinks, toilets, and urinals, most recently at our Phoenix, and Lake Park, Utah, facilities.
Waste/Recycling
Waste reduction is our largest opportunity to reduce our environmental footprint. We create waste from administrative offices, as well as through business transactions from customer statements and payments processing. Whether it’s paper waste from these activities or grass clippings from the grounds of our corporate campus, we follow a reduce, reuse, or recycle philosophy.
All of our locations operate a single-stream recycling program to make it easy for everyone to recycle a larger number of waste items. The Green at Discover ERG encourages their colleagues to recycle, and our facilities make recycling receptacles easy to identify and accessible.
In 2018-19, initiatives to reduce waste or recycle included:
- Converting over 2 million sheets of copy paper waste annually from our Processing Center to usable paper for local schools.
- Increasing the availability and number of digital payments in our network to more than 550,000 active users monthly. Since 2017, our active user volume has increased 149 percent.
- Increasing use of paperless statements to 17.1 million accounts, which is a 30 percent boost from 2017.
- Instituting a “plate it” program at our Riverwoods, Illinois, location, encouraging employees to use reusable plates instead of to-go containers.
- Offering discounts at cafeterias to employees who use reusable cups or mugs.
- Promoting grass-cycling, composting, and other methods to reduce waste in our landscaping. At our Riverwoods, Illinois, headquarters, this means instead of being bagged and sent to waste, the grass is recycled or repurposed for mulch.
sheets of copy paper waste were converted for usable paper at local schools.
of employees at the Riverwoods location use the mass transit benefit.
Biodiversity
The landscaping around our facilities provides a habitat for many different species, and it’s important that we protect their ecosystems. In 2018-19, we remediated the ponds at our Riverwoods headquarters to remove sediment, which allows more water to create a better habitat for fish, frogs, and swans. We also invested in a butterfly garden to revitalize the habitat. On a global level, we use copy paper that meets Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Forestry Standards, meaning it is sourced with the protection of forest habitats in mind.
Environmental sustainability is a mindset that we encourage all employees to adopt, because it aligns with our values, particularly “Doing the Right Thing.” That’s why we introduced an Employee Resource Group (ERG) that gives employees who are interested in the environment the chance to share their expertise and passion with others.
Called “Green at Discover,” or as we refer to it, “The Green Team,” the ERG participates in discussions with managers and project leaders about environmental initiatives. Some of the early projects they’ve worked on include reducing the amount of color printing we do and purchasing cups that are made using renewable and biodegradable resources, rather than those made from petroleum-based materials.
The Green Team is also integral to our spreading the word about environmental sustainability to other employees. The Team regularly hosts awareness events, such as a recycling event in 2019 at our Riverwoods Headquarters and an event showcasing the benefits of boxed water, carried out in partnership with our third-party foodservice provider, on Earth Day 2019.