Mobility Making a Sustainable Difference: Graebel Partners Lead the Way

Reducing our impact on the environment is a major element of Graebel’s global sustainability commitment. It’s a priority across the Mobility industry – not only with us but with our supply chain partners as well.

In October, we hosted more than 150 supplier partners from over 40 countries at our annual Graebel Alliance Meeting in Denver. One of the highlights of this conference is announcing the winner of our Annual Environmental Leadership Award. This year we had a record number of submissions and it was very inspiring to learn about how our partners are making their communities cleaner, fairer and more sustainable.

This year’s award winner was AGS Mobilitas, an international moving and storage company providing service on four continents with over 4,000 employees. We were impressed with the company’s sustainability initiatives in their local markets in Africa, Europe and Asia as well their efforts on a global scale. AGS has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact since 2009, aligning their company’s programs with the ten Compact principles related to labor, environment and anti-corruption. AGS also maintains a unique partnership with Planete Urgence, funding one tree for every AGS move. Its Paris location has a Gold-level Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rating from the independent Ecovadis rating organization. Several of its facilities use solar heating as well as eco-grazing for landscape management. AGS also has moved away from its classic white packing materials to more eco-friendly, unbleached corrugated materials.

As we reviewed all the award submissions, we uncovered similar inspiring stories from other companies.

For example, our destination service provider partner in South Africa, Relocation Africa, shared its seven-point CSR plan that includes practical water conservation at its facilities, rooftop gardening and solar heating. Their programs demonstrate how medium and small companies can make an impact within their communities, taking many simple steps to create a big impact.

Our partner in Argentina, Lift Van International, shared how they empowered one of their employees to develop the company’s “Giving is your best move” program, helping relocating families donate unwanted clothing. The program helps the disadvantaged and reduces the volume of shipments, saving energy and reducing emissions.

Mudanzas Mundiales in Costa Rica, told us about their partnership with local and national government recycling programs, such as the “Ecolones” initiative, which allows companies to exchange their waste materials for discounts in cinemas, restaurants, shops, etc.

In the U.S., our Washington D.C. partner, Paxton International, supports the Move for Hunger program in which relocating families can donate food to lighten their load. Paxton went the extra mile and supported Move for Hunger’s D.C. “Rock and Roll Marathon,” collecting 20,000 pounds of donated food after the race.

These are just a few wonderful examples of our partners’ sustainability efforts. We’re proud to be affiliated with these companies and we’ll do our best to share their ideas and best practices throughout the industry.

Our nearly 900 Graebel employees around the globe join them in this commitment to make our world better, cleaner and more sustainable.

Here’s to the World Ahead®