StartDock Quarterly Impact Update

Humankind faces issues like climate change, discrimination and inequality, so as a business you can’t shut your eyes to these challenges and keep pushing on ‘growth only’. “To me it sounds unfair that large oil and gas companies use plenty of mother nature’s resources and are a driving force for climate change, but still their shareholders fill their pockets with money year after year. Something about our capitalistic system doesn’t make sense there, if we look at the challenges we face with planet Earth. Why would you be financially rewarded for causing climate change if you can also use your business as a force for good, like B Corps do?” - Thom Wernke, Co-founder & CEO StartDockIn our quarterly update, we aim to provide an in-depth look at our initiatives on the five aspects of our process of becoming a B Corp (https://bcorporation.eu/):

• Customers (our impact on Dockers)
• Workers (our impact on colleagues)
• Environment (our impact on the environment)
• Community (our impact on the local world around StartDock and our locations)
• Governance (policies and by-laws that make us commit to ‘doing good’)

We will share our progress towards these goals, including our energy and water usage, waste reduction, and community outreach efforts. We will use this update to reflect on our achievements, challenges, and areas where we can do better. By sharing our progress and goals, we hope to inspire others to join us on this journey toward a more sustainable future. Whether you're a Docker, supplier, investor, or an individual looking to make a difference, we invite you to follow along.

Looking Back: Q1 2023

In the first quarter of this year, we made significant strides toward our impact goals. To sum up:

Handing in the B Impact Assessment

One of our major accomplishments was completing and handing in the B Impact Assessment at B Lab (the mother organization of B Corp), which we started at the beginning of last year. We are proud to announce that we achieved a score of 87.4 points, which is a testament to our commitment to impact. While we fell just short of our goal of 90 points, we are already implementing changes to further improve our score in the next quarter (Q2 2023). Would you want to know more about our assessment? Check out our scorecard underneath the text! Want to know more about becoming a Bcorp? Visit our partner and Docker Move to Impact (https://movetoimpact.com/become-a-b-corp/)!

CO2 dashboard and actions

Another achievement we are proud of, is making live information on energy and water usage available to all Dockers. This empowers our community members to make more informed decisions about their energy and water usage, and encourages them to be more mindful of their impact on the environment.We have also set reduction targets for the year 2023. By setting these targets, we are making a commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and promoting sustainable practices in our operations. To reach these goals, we have installed the first water-saving methods at our Keizersgracht location. And we are planning on doing a whole lot more…

Changing the by-laws of StartDock

We’ve officially committed ourselves to the standards of B Lab, by changing our by-laws via the notary office.

A more sustainable, ecological and responsible purchasing policy

Some changes we’ve made:

• From Albert Heijn soap we’ve made a step towards the sustainable soap of our Docker Baya Baya
• Every month we order soup for lunch that is produced by lonely elderly people via Oma’s Soep (https://omassoep.nl/en/)
• Tea purchasing for all our locations is now done via Senza Tea (https://www.senzatea.nl/?gclid=CjwKCAjw3POhBhBQEiwAqTCuBnL001Y9FNhmt0skW-hgA3AG83iwlJWd6LRBJySMXbeqd_F8XL3RfBoCnjwQAvD_BwE), who work with a transparent supply chain and reduce 94% of waste in comparison to regular tea bags
• Coffee purchasing for all our locations is now done either local or with a healthy and fair supply chain
• Milk, Oatmilk and soymilk are purchased biologically

We improved the separation of waste streams

Since the start of 2023 all locations now separately collect coffee grounds, paper and waste. Three out of five locations also separately collect plastic and organic waste. We’re working towards a fully separated waste collection, together with Seenons (https://seenons.com/en/).

We wrote a lot of policies and documents

Before 2023 StartDock only had ‘house rules’, which was actually the only document that looked like a ‘policy document’. We do not particularly like bureaucracy, so writing and controlling on policies is not our biggest hobby. In 2023 we found a way to write the necessary company policies for inclusion, discrimination and equality, but to also keep them airy and not to bureaucratic. These are the policies and codes we wrote and now commit to:Diversity policy, Breastfeeding policy, Whistleblower policy, Recycling policy, Environmental purchasing policy, Health and safety policy, Local purchasing policy, Code of Ethics, Code of conduct, Supplier code of conduct

What’s Next: Q2 2023

As we move forward into the second quarter of the year, we are excited to continue our sustainability journey and work towards achieving our goals. Here are some of our goals for the next quarter:

• Test a form of gamification focused on sustainable behavior in one location: We believe that gamification can be an effective way to encourage and reward sustainable behaviors among our community. In the next quarter, we plan to test a form of gamification at one of our locations to see how it is received and whether it helps to promote sustainable practices.
• Installation of smart/automatic lighting in common areas at all StartDock locations: We recognize that lighting is a significant contributor to our energy usage. To reduce our carbon footprint and energy costs, we plan to install smart/automatic lighting in common areas across all of our locations. This will not only save energy but also improve the user experience for our members.
• Installation of water-conserving taps at all StartDock locations: Water is a precious resource and is becoming more and more scarce. We want to ensure that we are using it as efficiently as possible. In the next quarter, we plan to install water-conserving taps at all of our locations to reduce our water usage and promote sustainable practices.
• Installation of water conservation method for restrooms for at least one location: In addition to installing water-conserving taps, we also plan to implement a water conservation method for restrooms at one of our locations. Did you know that flushing a toilet can cost up to 10 liters of water?

We are committed to achieving these goals and making a positive impact on the environment and our community. We invite our members and stakeholders to join us on this journey and share their feedback and ideas for improvement. Together, we can create a more sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.If you have any input or feedback on our goals and achievements, please reach out via impact@startdock.nl (mailto:impact@startdock.nl)! We are looking forward to giving you more updates over the upcoming months and of course in the next Quarterly Impact Update!