The Bottom Line: Lean and Green. Cricket Wireless Sets an Example for a Fast-Growing Sector
We had the opportunity last month to visit the San Diego corporate headquarters of Cricket Wireless (a subsidiary of Leap Wireless) to learn about the company’s sustainability strategy.
(Read on to learn how goats fit into Cricket Wireless' sustainability strategy.)
For a company operating in the fast-growing and fiercely competitive low-cost wireless space, operating lean is not a choice, but a necessity. That means improving its environmental footprint can translate into cost savings that yield genuine competitive advantage.
For any company, advancing its social and environmental responsibility is a continual work in progress. That said, we were impressed with what we saw at Cricket: an integrated strategy with defined targets that engages management, employees, customers and suppliers alike in minimizing the environmental footprint of its products and services, while considering the well-being of the communities in which it operates. (There is some real ingenuity too, for example using goats rather than lawnmowers to trim grass on some cell tower sites.)
As an over-arching measure, Cricket monitored its total carbon emissions and reported findings to The Climate Registry in 2008 and is currently measuring 2009 emissions. Using these benchmarks, it is now working to define paths to future targets, ones that will span most if not all of its business functions. Cricket’s internal “Green Committee” engages employees in identifying opportunities for improvement across all business functions, while its community involvement programs focus on renovating underserved neighborhoods in which Cricket operates. Customers too play their part, through participation in the company’s handset recycling program.
We’ve highlighted other examples from Cricket’s multi-pronged sustainability strategy. Through many of the measures described, Cricket has or will shortly achieve considerable cost savings.
- The company finished construction in 2009 on
two new LEED Gold certified corporate offices in San
Diego and Denver.
The San Diego corporate office uses 44 percent less energy than the national
average for comparable buildings.
- In
2009, Cricket redesigned its packaging to minimize use of plastic, reducing
overall package volume by 44 percent. The reduction in
individual package size allows Cricket to reduce space required for
transportation and therefore results in lower energy costs in transportation. Customers are encouraged to use paperless billing, and more than
90 percent do.
- To
encourage use of mass transit and carpooling, Cricket provides employees at its
Denver corporate offices free light rail passes, and preferred parking for
carpoolers or hybrid vehicle drivers at both its San Diego and Denver
locations. As an added measure to reduce the company’s
overall carbon footprint, some Cricket employees are able to telecommute one day per
week, while visual
teleconferencing reduces employee travel by an estimated 700 trips per year.
- In
2010, Cricket upgraded its fleet management devices and software to identify
the most fuel-efficient routes for its service cars and trucks and reduce
wasteful engine idling. Its new procurement standards for fleet vehicles
also stipulate that all vehicles meet or surpass a 20+ MPG requirement. This
change resulted in a reduction of 60,000 gallons of gasoline consumed and a
reduction of 1,200,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
- By
investigating power saving opportunities through trials of new cell tower equipment,
Cricket found new equipment could achieve an average 47 percent reduction in
electricity usage compared to current equipment. The new equipment will be
implemented at more than 2,500 cell sites over the next two years.
- In
place of gasoline-powered mowers, goats (yes, goats) are being used in Oregon to
trim grass and brush on some cell tower sites. This program will be expanded
based upon availability of goats.
More from our ongoing series, The Bottom Line
Profiles of San Diego Companies Achieving Bottom-Line Benefits Through Innovative Sustainability Practices
National City’s Chamber of Commerce Launches Green Business Program
Sustainability as Competitive Strategy for San Diego’s Hitachi Data Systems
The Bottom Line: For Two San Diego Companies, Water Conservation is Big Business
Lean and Green. Cricket Wireless Sets an Example for a Fast-Growing Sector
Green Envy -- Qualcomm's Corporate Sustainability Program