Sustainable Eating With Meatless Mondays

Interested in eating more sustainably, but don’t know how? What about going meatless once a week? Of everything we eat, meat is the biggest offender. Raising livestock is a much more intensive endeavor than growing plants. It takes massive amounts of food, water, land, and energy to grow and transport the animals that become your favorite burgers and sausages. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, producing meat contributes more to climate change than the transportation sector. Cows, pigs, and the like produce nearly one-fifth of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. You don’t have to become a vegetarian to reduce your carbon footprint. There’s a movement … [More]

Start A Green Habit to Honor Earth Day 2013

Celebrated each year on April 22, Earth Day is a good time to make a new commitment to do your part for the earth. I know that some people scoff at the idea that a single day can make any kind of difference, but “Earth Day” is a misleading name. It’s not a single day to think about the earth. Rather, Earth Day is your reminder to make a commitment to help the earth throughout the year. That’s how I think of it! If you observe Earth Day 2013, you certainly won’t be alone. According to earthday.org, more than one billion people around the world are expected to … [More]

Best of the Web: Sustainability Infographics

Infographics have the powerful ability to make complex information both compelling and easy to understand. Although Wikipedia reports they’ve actually been around for centuries, in recent years they’ve been popularized on the internet through the power of social sharing. Infographics are a powerful tool to communicate sustainability messages enabling organizations and non-profits to educate, increase awareness, and ultimately change behavior. Given the power of infographics to share sustainability messages, these have become increasingly popular over the past few years. One of the most famous infographics of the past few years is Tracking Carbon Emissions, a piece that is both visually powerful and data rich. Created by Stanford … [More]

The Critical Step in Making the Business Case for Commercial Solar

It can be intimidating to begin the process of convincing the decision-makers at your business that it’s time to add solar power. However, as someone who’s gone through the process, I can tell you that if you’re successful, the end results are well worth it! So, how do you begin? That’s a good question with a long answer. I’ve noticed that several websites, such as Triple Pundit and Green Impact, have recently published summaries of a new white paper that covers five steps to take in order to make your case for solar. The free white paper, created by Alta Energy, is called “Making the Business Case … [More]

Water Saving Tips to Slow the Flow of H2O

This summer was so HOT! I saw rain only two times throughout the summer. This wasn’t the case just in Utah (where I live) but all over the US. Our nation is facing a devastating drought, which is affecting the economy and our everyday lives. It’s up to us to do our part to reduce our consumption of water. I was in the shower the other morning and read the following message on my shampoo bottle: “Did you know that your family could save up to $150 and 3,200 gallons of water per year by turning off the water when you shampoo and condition?” What a simple … [More]

Q&A with a Justin Krum A Solar Power Brainiac

I recently had the opportunity to talk solar with Justin Krum, President and CEO of 1st Light Energy, our partner for solar installations. With 1st Light Energy, Extra Space Storage has completed nearly 100 solar installations at our storage properties in six states. With these solar panels, 1st Light Energy has helped us not only save energy, but also lower our operating costs. And we’re adding even more solar panels as you read this! Justin wants to help others realize that solar energy puts more choices in the hands of homeowners and business owners. Consumers really don’t have to completely rely on utility companies for power! In … [More]

How Solar is Powering Extra Space Storage

Sometimes good enough just isn’t good enough anymore. When I reflect on my job before we started adding solar power to facilities at Extra Space Storage, it was good. Now that I’m part of a nationwide solar power initiative, I feel that the sustainability work by Extra Space Storage is more than good. It’s amazing. But let’s back up just a bit from the amazing phase. Before we started adding solar power to storage facilities in 2010, our investors often asked me what we were doing to take care of the environment. (They still ask me this today, but now I have a better answer!) Our … [More]

Daylight Harvesting – Better for the Environment, Better for You!

Recently the New York Times reported a compelling fact: “Enough sunlight falls every hour to meet the entire world’s energy needs for one year.” That is a lot of essentially free energy that’s being wasted! This presents an opportunity to find ways to use the sun and its energy to decrease our impact on the earth’s natural resources. One way of doing this is using the sun to naturally light our homes and work spaces. Research and studies have proven there are many benefits of daylight. These benefits include: Energy conservation Increased productivity Lifting of spirits Spaces appear larger Improved concentration Quickened learning speed At Extra Space … [More]

Sustainability Report Cards: A+ Idea or a Fail?

I believe that after completing school, some of us still crave the old report card. Or perhaps just those of us who made good grades miss report cards? Sure, you may receive an employee review, sometimes accompanied by a bonus for a job well done. Other times, independent organizations create grades for us. And that brings me to green ratings systems. No one out there has designed a green rating system specifically for giving grades for sustainability of self-storage companies. That may come one day. For now, Extra Space Storage likes to give you our own sustainability updates to let you know how far we’ve traveled down the … [More]

Green Warm Fuzzies and Other Thoughts on Sustainability

Some Background About Me (Brent Hardy) and Extra Space Storage When I started working at Extra Space Storage 11 years ago, we had an impressive 40 facilities and about 200 employees. Now, numbering more than 870 facilities to date, we have more than 2,000 employees across the nation. I’ve seen some transformational growth that has kept me engaged, interested, and frankly extremely busy! My Take on Corporate Sustainability As you might imagine, Extra Space Storage is an aggressive company and we work hard to make a product that works for our customers and our shareholders. My focus on facility management ranges from planning capital expenditures to daily … [More]

Tag Archives: Sustainability