“This is my religion…My goal is to get other businesses to be green,” were the dedicated words spoken by Vice President Mike Abt, who has spearheaded the earth-friendly changes at Abt Electronics. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has released a comprehensive plan to help the counties and communities of the Chicagoland area to sustain resources and prosperity through mid-century and beyond.
A special “Portraits” section on CMAP’s website, profiles Mike and his efforts going back almost 20 years, when he began convincing his family and friends to take little steps to recycle. He has continued to apply his unbreakable environmental habits even to the workplace.
Some of the waste reducing practices involved are the elimination of paper catalogs. Most business is done through our web marketing. A recycling center located just south of the main store opened 2 years ago and saves 3.5 million pounds of cardboard and paper from going to the local dump, over 240,000 pounds of Styrofoam from going to the landfill, and over 13 million pounds of appliances and electronics from ending up in a landfill each year.
“The best part about a family business is that if anyone thinks of an idea, we can implement it right away,” Mike says. His own personal ideas have even led to the availability of numerous bicycles for employees to use whenever they want to leave the work grounds for lunch or even exercise.
Day after day, Mike continuously feels better in his efforts and strives to find new ways for the company to lessen their carbon footprint, which he believes will help leave this world beautiful and healthy for generations to come.
-Nick E.
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