Melina, you've just started with us - or to be precise: started again. Welcome back! Would you like to tell us something about yourself?
I'm Melina, 26 years old and I completed my Master's degree in Geography last July. I spent the winter in Vienna and have been back in beautiful Bonn since April. I love traveling, I do a lot of sports and in my free time I deal with various topics related to sustainability, environmental and climate protection and nutrition.
You have also worked as a student trainee for Grüner Strom Label e.V. before. What motivated you to come back?
Exactly, I had already worked for the Green Electricity Label e.V. as a student trainee for almost 1 ½ years. During my stay in Vienna, I then received an offer from the Green Electricity Label e.V. to work as a management consultant and as a consultant for green electricity certification. I was immediately delighted with the offer and the opportunity to develop my skills in new areas and tasks. I really enjoyed working in the great team. As I deal a lot with sustainability issues in my private life and try to make my everyday life and diet as sustainable as possible, I also wanted to actively promote change in this area professionally and make a contribution to a more sustainable and climate-friendly alternative in the energy sector.
What are you most looking forward to in your work at Grüner Strom Label e.V.?
Of course, I'm really looking forward to working with the team. I will also be able to get to know new tasks and subject areas and acquire new knowledge. In Green Electricity Certification, I am responsible for procurement audits and checking funding applications and am involved in the preparation of expert reports. I also deal with preparatory bookkeeping, administrative tasks and personnel issues. I am pleased to support the association and to be able to make an active contribution in the field of renewable energies.
In your opinion, what are the advantages of a working environment that pays attention to sustainability and resource conservation?
This can have many different advantages. On the one hand, of course, our work makes an important contribution to environmental and climate protection. We also ensure that everything we do within the association is as sustainable as possible. This includes, for example, the sustainable procurement of materials and the purchase of organic, fair trade and vegan products. We also pay attention to environmentally friendly travel when traveling on business or on a workation. And for internal events, rooms and locations from social institutions are preferred. In this way, comprehensive attention is paid to sustainability in terms of ecological, social and economic aspects.
Which less common perspective on sustainable living do you find particularly important?
That's a very good question. One thing that comes to mind is that every small action can make a difference. Even if it feels like an action that can't make a difference for everyone personally, if everyone were to do this one thing, it would be a very big and decisive step towards sustainability.
To be more specific here, buy peat-free potting soil! The extraction of peat has an extreme impact on climate change, as peat binds large amounts of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere through its extraction.
Another exciting point is that many of the plastics that we assume will be recycled are very difficult or impossible to recycle due to their composition. Transparent plastics, for example, are much easier to recycle than colored plastics. This means that new production is significantly cheaper than recycling. And finally, of course, there's electricity! We all have to buy electricity, so why not opt for certified green electricity?
