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Transportation
Telecommuting
Our office provides employees the option to regularly perform their assigned duties at an alternate worksite. This policy is intended to reduce employee commute trips, increase productivity and retain a valuable workforce.
In an effort to make this option more accessible to our staff, our office has made a significant effort to transition workstations away from desktop PCs, and towards laptops and tablets.
In an effort to make this option more accessible to our staff, our office has made a significant effort to transition workstations away from desktop PCs, and towards laptops and tablets.
AGO Mobility Devices vs Desktop PC Assignments Since 2015
(% assigned to staff)
(% assigned to staff)
80%
20%
65%
35%
30%
70%
25%
75%
15%
85%
15%
85%
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
= Desktop PCs
= Mobile devices, including laptops & tablets
To date, approximately 85% of AGO employees have been assigned a laptop or tablet device.
At the conclusion of 2016, approximately 52% of AGO employees had a telework agreement, authorizing them to work offsite, with 9% of all staff teleworking at least one day every two weeks. By the end of 2019, these numbers had increased significantly. 64% of AGO employees now have telework agreements, with 22% of all staff working offsite at least one day every two weeks.
Flex-scheduling
Our office also provides AGO employees the opportunity to request a flexible work schedule. A flexible work schedule is any schedule other than 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday that is not sporadic in nature.
This policy aims to reduce peak travel and total travel to work. By reducing our staff's need to commute, our office is able to reduce its carbon footprint. It also aims to help our office retain valuable employees by providing them with the ability to adapt and meet other demands in their lives.
This policy aims to reduce peak travel and total travel to work. By reducing our staff's need to commute, our office is able to reduce its carbon footprint. It also aims to help our office retain valuable employees by providing them with the ability to adapt and meet other demands in their lives.
At the end of 2016, 52% of AGO employees worked hours outside of the 8:00 am to 5:00 pm schedule, with nearly 18% of all staff working a compressed schedule, taking one or more days off every two weeks by working additional hours spread out across that period. By the end of 2019, those numbers had increased to 63% of employees working outside of a normal schedule, with 23% of all staff working a compressed schedule.
ORCA Cards
Employees stationed in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties are eligible for an ORCA card at no cost to them. This is provided at the State level through the Department of Transportation.
To date, our office has issued nearly 500 ORCA cards to our staff working in our King, Pierce, and Snohomish County offices. This includes approximately 94% of our Seattle staff, 66% of our Tacoma staff, and 52% of our Everett staff.
These cards provide our employees with the ability to make use of mass transit, and reduces single-occupancy vehicle trips to our offices.
To date, our office has issued nearly 500 ORCA cards to our staff working in our King, Pierce, and Snohomish County offices. This includes approximately 94% of our Seattle staff, 66% of our Tacoma staff, and 52% of our Everett staff.
These cards provide our employees with the ability to make use of mass transit, and reduces single-occupancy vehicle trips to our offices.
Purchasing & Procurement
PCB-free Products
Polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, are a family of human-made organic chemicals that are used in many industrial and commercial products, primarily for their fire resistance, chemical stability, and electrical insulating properties. PCBs are also found in products as an unintentional by-product of manufacturing processes. PCBs are persistent, bio accumulative, and toxic, and they cycle between the air, soil, and water. PCBs have also been shown to cause cancer and affect the human immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.
The United States Toxic Substances Control Act (1979) prohibited the commercial production of PCBs. However, in 2014, the Washington State legislature found that the United States Environmental Protection Agency rules implementing the ban exempts certain products containing PCBs. As a result, the continued manufacture, processing, distribution, and use of products containing PCBs remains permitted.
The United States Toxic Substances Control Act (1979) prohibited the commercial production of PCBs. However, in 2014, the Washington State legislature found that the United States Environmental Protection Agency rules implementing the ban exempts certain products containing PCBs. As a result, the continued manufacture, processing, distribution, and use of products containing PCBs remains permitted.
Decades after they were banned, PCBs continue to adversely impact Seattle's Duwamish River.
In response to this finding, the state legislature passed RCW 39.26.280, allowing for the establishment of purchasing and procurement policies that provide a preference for products and products in packaging that do not contain PCBs.
In accordance with Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Policy No. POL-DES-280-00, our office designs procurements to minimize adverse impacts to human health and the environment by providing preferences to products and product packaging with relatively lower levels of PCBs.
In accordance with Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Policy No. POL-DES-280-00, our office designs procurements to minimize adverse impacts to human health and the environment by providing preferences to products and product packaging with relatively lower levels of PCBs.
100% Recycled Paper
Our office is subject to RCW 43.19A.022, which requires that, "All state agencies shall purchase one hundred percent recycled content white cut sheet bond paper used in office printers and copiers."
This law has been in effect since 2011.
This law has been in effect since 2011.
RCW 43.19A.022 also encourages state agencies to prioritize purchasing from companies producing paper in facilities that generate energy from a renewable energy source.
While there are exceptions for colored paper and other types of paper, per the RCW, our office always looks to purchase paper with the highest percentage of recycled content possible.
Waste Reduction
Paper Usage & Print Volume
In addition to purchasing recycled paper, our office has also made efforts to reduce the overall amount of paper we use to conduct our business. By reducing our office's demand for paper, we can reduce the consumption of trees, water, and the output of CO2 that results from its production.
In fiscal year 2015, our office purchased 17.4 million sheets of recycled paper. In fiscal year 2019, we reduced that amount to 14.7 million sheets, or a 15.5% decrease.
In fiscal year 2015, our office purchased 17.4 million sheets of recycled paper. In fiscal year 2019, we reduced that amount to 14.7 million sheets, or a 15.5% decrease.
Part of this decrease is fueled by a transition from printing documents, to scanning them into digital files. In 2018, our office averaged 1.6 million print jobs, and 250 thousand scans per month, or approximately 6.4 prints per scan each month. In 2019, that monthly average dropped to approximately 5.7 prints per scan, an 11% decrease.
Another way we measure this is by calculating the total number of document print jobs that have been deleted or expired before printing. In 2018, our office tracked an estimated 875 thousand deleted and expired pages, representing an annual savings of nearly $5,000.
Another way we measure this is by calculating the total number of document print jobs that have been deleted or expired before printing. In 2018, our office tracked an estimated 875 thousand deleted and expired pages, representing an annual savings of nearly $5,000.