1. What is Carbon Kaizen?
On Friday, April 18th, Bevi encouraged employees to take some time to step away from their daily work and participate in our Annual Carbon Kaizen and Volunteer Day. We kicked off with a morning session for Kaizen projects, consisting of mini-projects focused on incremental improvements to Bevi’s climate impact (kaizen is a term originating in Japanese manufacturing that translates to continuous improvement).
The kaizen philosophy focuses on small, incremental improvements, with an emphasis on reducing waste, building efficient processes, and incorporating ideas from all parts of an organization. The goal was to identify incremental and actionable improvements that can lead to further improvements (i.e, continuous improvement).
2. How is this event tied to Bevi’s mission and values?
Our mission at Bevi is to make the beverage industry more sustainable by eliminating single-use bottles. 600 billion plastic bottles and containers are produced each year, and 8 million tons end up in our oceans, which not only harm our environment but also our health. The work we do every day is inspired and driven by our mission, but dedicating a day during Earth Month to spend time focusing on our own climate impact and volunteering at a local non-profit is a reminder of why we do what we do.
3. Can you highlight some of the sustainability-related projects that were worked on?
Weekend Energy Saver – A “mega team” consisting of members from Software, Product, UX/UI, Business Intelligence, and Sustaining Engineering made enhancements to Bevi’s energy saver mode. Previously, Bevi’s energy save mode went into effect on Bevi Standup 2.0 machines on evenings only. The work the team did during the Carbon Kaizen enhanced the energy saver mode to now use consumption data and machine usage trends to intelligently send machines into energy saving mode on full weekend days and other times of inactivity, consuming 30% less power vs the standard operating mode.
Water Saving System – Our hardware and test team developed a working prototype of a cart that could be used to reuse water during testing in our lab, potentially reducing water use by 80%. This cart included UV sanitizing stations, several pumps and holds for water, and an interface to interact with the devices under test. This cart was ready for use by the end of the Carbon Kaizen and could be used in many test applications, savings thousands of gallons of fresh water.
Other projects included launching a pallet reuse process, systems for repurposed packaging materials, a program to support customers as they move away from single-use cups, and suggestions to monitor our own office energy trends and habits.
4. For the volunteer portion of this day, what organizations were supported?
Bevi spent the afternoon at Eastie Farm in East Boston. We helped prepare garden beds and Spring cleanup, pitching in to support their mission of providing a space for community members to learn about gardening, rainwater conservation, food waste management, and other eco-conscious practices, while bringing fresh food to neighbors of all backgrounds.
5. Quotes from Bevi employees:
“Our annual Carbon Kaizen and Volunteer Day was a huge success. It’s really impressive what people can do when they work as a team for a few focused hours. By the end of the one day carbon kaizen most teams did not just identify a problem area with conceptual solutions, but had actual working prototypes or new processes with measurable carbon emission results that were ready to cut in that day. We’ll start hosting this event two times a year moving forward, once in the Spring around Earth day and again in the Fall, which is exciting.”
- Cory Goodenough, Senior NPI Engineer, Bevi Green Team Leader
“Our annual Carbon Kaizen is a reflection of our culture at Bevi—where continuous improvement, collaboration, and sustainability come together. It’s energizing to see teams across the company step back from their day-to-day, think creatively, and take action on ideas that move our mission forward. Events like this deepen our sense of purpose and reinforce the impact we can have—together.”
- Allison Churilla, VP of People
“It was a fun day and it was really valuable to take time to collaborate with our peers to focus on our mission in ways that we don’t get to in our day-to-day.”
- Emily Law, UX Researcher