In our everyday language, we associate the term sustainability with longevity and environmental protection. Sustainability and sustainable development refers to the responsible use of the finite resources of our earth. So it means sharing something, passing something on, this is sustainable behavior. Because this way less has to be produced and grown. It saves not only raw materials and other resources, but also climate-damaging CO2. We all know, so that our image of the future can become reality: An intact environment, the preservation of biodiversity, little consumption of resources and a high quality of life for people WE are needed.

We all know the 10 things you can do for the environment in your everyday life, such as saving water, turning off the faucet, taking a short shower instead of a bath, ventilating for two to three hours, switching off electrical appliances or avoiding batteries, and more. But we as GVB-geliMED, have asked ourselves the question, what can we do as a company for the environment?

We as a company consume a lot of electricity, whether in sales, in the warehouse or in production, almost everything is run by machines and the computers run all day. That's why we decided to go solar, photovoltaic - we get our electricity from renewable sources.

Switching to photovoltaics reduces CO2 emissions. The Federal Environment Agency has calculated that a photovoltaic system avoids slightly more than 0.6 kilograms of CO2 per kilowatt hour of electricity over its entire lifetime compared to conventional electricity.

We need to change the way we produce and consume goods. Our first step in the right direction - we produce in europe. And we really produce in Europe! For us, "Made in Italy" or even "Made in Germany" doesn't just mean that we repackage or refine the product. No, our production facilities are located in Genoa and Battipaglia and we also source our raw materials from Europe. We try to shorten the production routes, for example to avoid air transport. Which means we do without harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide. We minimize energy and emission-intensive transport routes! Through short transport routes, we avoid long truck trips and thus keep CO2 emissions low.

Not only that, for the sake of the environment, our cartons are used multiple times. We receive goods in them and reuse them again. We use ecological packaging material such as packing paper instead of styrofoam, which is not biodegradable and recycling is only partially possible. Furthermore we are looking for ecological adhesive tape with which we could close our packages and produce our labels. We are trying to gradually replace our plastic packaging with recyclable paper. All this is imagined to be easier than it is nowadays. Just because of regulatory guidelines that have to be met, or the price war that is being waged. We want our prices to remain fair and still do some good. Something like this takes time, but the first steps in the right direction have been taken and the conditions are being created.

Waste separation, the be-all and end-all. Waste separation is enormously important, sensible and does not fail to have an effect.

The better we succeed in separating waste correctly and avoiding misdirected waste, the more material can be recycled. This is because the sorting plants can only work properly if the waste is separated correctly. If more packaging is collected and recycled, less waste remains that has to be disposed of in waste incineration. By separating waste correctly, consumers actively contribute to saving _CO2 . After recycling, the materials are available again for industry and production. They are given a new lease of life and find new uses, for example, as flooring, bottles, car interiors, envelopes, drainpipes or fleece jackets. Therefore, all GVB-geliMED employees are trained and know exactly what belongs in which waste.