Reading time 5 min

Ibn Renders

A while ago we introduced you to Bernd , our colleague who does a lot for people, planet and animals. But he is not the only ACA member trying to do his part. In this blogpost, our team member Jannik, who has been part of the ACA family for 10 years now, will share his story. He tells us where his passion for diving comes from, why overfishing is throwing the ecosystem of our oceans out of balance and most importantly, how we can all help keep the oceans, and therefore our planet, healthy. 10 years at ACA. Jannik has already experienced a big piece of ACA history. He explains: “My first project was Riscpro at our client IDEWE. After a few months this project came to an end and I made the switch to something completely different: Atlassian consultancy. After a year of installing and configuring JIRA, Confluence and Stash, setting up workflows, … I wanted to get back to some more teamwork.” He went looking for this in our (now old) offices in Oevel and shortly afterwards in Olen as a software developer. In the meantime, you can find him working in our office in Hasselt as well as our new place in Leuven. His passion: diving and our oceans But what we mainly want to talk about in this blog post is his other passion: diving and our oceans. “Passion is the right word though! In 2016 I did an eight-week backpacking trip through Thailand and down the east coast of Australia. The idea was to get my diving license in Koh Tao , a tiny island in Thailand with more than 50 diving schools. This island is known as the diving mecca for learning to dive, but at the same time it is also nicknamed “Murder Island”, although I didn't know this at the time. After this experience, I could use my diving license in Australia to dive the Great Barrier Reef. And so it happened.” Suddenly everything came together and Jannik rediscovered himself. What followed were a lot of trips to beautiful international waters. When we ask about his favorite location, he finds it difficult to choose : “It is like asking “what is your favorite food?”. My answer is usually “I want to discover everything!” However, there is one location that stands out the most. That was Wolf Rock on the east coast of Australia . This was my first experience with sharks. I was impressed, at the very least, to see more than ten 6-foot sharks in front of and around me in a single image. This is where I learned that the Hollywood Jaws image is hugely wrong. Sharks are no killing machines!” Unfortunately, he also learned what is going less well with our oceans : “On the one hand, you have the problem of overfishing and shark finning, two things that cause the ecosystem of our oceans to go out of balance. On the other hand, there is the plastic problem.” Shark finning sounds like a specific problem. Something that harms one species. But nothing could be further from the truth and this has a much greater influence, Jannik emphasizes: “Sharks are the predators of the ocean, take the predators away and you get an oversupply of certain animal species, which destroys the entire balance. You also see this upland, the impact of predators that help regulate the ecosystem. One of the problems, introduced in part by the media, is that few people care about sharks. They remain killing machines for most.” He would therefore like to emphasize the importance of informing predators. “Few people know this, but our oceans are responsible for 70% of our oxygen, produced by algae and plankton . They are the real lungs of our planet. If you kill this ecosystem, it's a big problem unless we learn to live without oxygen." And then of course you also have the better-known problem: all of our plastic . Jannik tells us that plastic ends up in the oceans via the rivers. A consequence of this is called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch , an accumulation of plastic no less than three times larger than France! “Organizations like The Ocean Cleanup have formed to tackle this specific problem, both through systems to clean up the GPG patch and systems to clean up the rivers so that the plastic is cleaned up before it ends up in the ocean. Apart from the disastrous impact this has on animal life (you can find enough not-so-pleasant images about this), it also comes back to us in the form of microplastics, causing us to consume it without realizing it.” When we ask how he tries to help with this problem, Jannik remains critical of himself. “Not enough is the first thing that comes to mind... I find it difficult to address these topics while I travel so much myself which has its own impact. But I do what I can, and I think everyone should decide for themselves what they can do . Due to the problem of overfishing our oceans, I decided last year to stop eating fish. Shame as I really like sushi. However, I am convinced that there is no such thing as “sustainable fish” (a topic in its own right) and I choose to abstain from this. In connection with the problem of plastic, I try to avoid plastic whenever I can. For example, you can easily avoid straws, even if this is only peanuts compared to the real problem. But it is mainly the mindset that triggers the straws. In any case, people are becoming more and more aware of it. Recycle, recycle, recycle . I recycle as much as I can, to the point that I tear the plastic off my bread bag to throw it in the PMD. The question is then whether this is sufficient and whether it is really recycled, which is why avoiding it is simply the best solution. Furthermore, according to Jannik, we should especially inform ourselves: "I can recommend everyone to watch Sea Spiracy on Netflix , as a result of this documentary I was convinced that I will no longer eat fish." You should also definitely visit interesting organizations such as Sea Shepherd (a non-profit that protects life in the oceans) and The Ocean Cleanup (a Dutch organization that wants to clean up our oceans). You can find Jannik in Indonesia this November, where he will also complete his 100th dive during his seven-day diving trip. In addition, there are many other plans on his agenda: “I still want to do so many things! Snorkel with Orcas in the Lofoten Islands, dive in Mozambique in the hope of encountering several great white sharks in their wild setting. But I also want to go to Antarctica at some point in my life.” Thank you for sharing your story with us and have fun diving in Indonesia!

Reading time 4 min

Shari Paret

For ACA, it’s important to take our responsibility as a company and to handle our planet in a sustainable way. As an organization, there are a few things we can do to help reduce the ecological footprint. One of these things is green mobility by means of an electric fleet. Belgium is currently in the middle of the transition from an ICE fleet to an EV fleet. The Belgian government recently took the decision to only continue tax benefits for emission-free company cars by 2026. As a result, many organizations will have to go through a transition to an electric fleet in a short period of time. This means that fleets will evolve from a majority of internal combustion engine (ICE) fossil fuel vehicles to a fleet with only electric vehicles (EV). At ACA, we’re glad we’ve started this project a long time ago already and will achieve this goal by 2025! We see our place in the world as one in which we inspire and accelerate sustainable growth worldwide by empowering people through innovation, technology and knowledge. A completely electric fleet, too, helps in achieving this goal and keeping our environmental impact as limited as possible. We already started doing this 10 years ago by introducing our employees to electric vehicles. Since then, all our colleagues have been able to book an electric car for a week or during the weekend. Today, so many years later, this initiative helped us to electrify our fleet very quickly. After all, many colleagues had already been convinced to go fully electric thanks to their positive experiences in these past years. An ambitious goal and motivated colleagues We’re extremely proud that this big transition is going very smoothly for us. It took a considerable amount of time for a wide range of electric cars to appear on the market. Nevertheless, in 2021, we have enough options available from which most employees will find a car that fits their needs. We know this because our employees are still completely free to choose between an ICE or an EV, but 36 of the 43 cars ordered this year are already fully electric. It appears that more and more people, clearly including our own colleagues, are thinking of an electric vehicle. We – and the planet – are very happy about that! A number of these electric cars have already been delivered. In the course of the second half of 2021, when the other deliveries will have been made, our Co2 emissions per kilometer will have been reduced by more than 40% compared to 2019!* We’re ecstatic and very proud about this result! Proper change management and attractive options are key People often oppose change, but by handling this project properly, the transition to an electric fleet is going very smoothly. In our organization, we always communicate and inform in a transparent way about anything and everything. Naturally, that includes the transition to a green fleet. In addition, we make any necessary facilities available to our employees, such as the charging infrastructure at our offices, a charging solution for at home and one for on-the-go. Our fleet experts are also always there to help our employees with questions and provide all the necessary information. As a result, our employees (and freelancers) follow our ambitious goal of having an emission-free company fleet by 2025. We’ve come a long way in less than two years thanks to great teamwork. We therefore believe that the ICE lease contracts in the coming years will be replaced by a green mobility choice. #letsgogreentogether We’re glad we already started this project years ago, as it prepared us for the transformation to a fully electric fleet. New and increasingly appealing models appear on the market every year, making the switch to an EV easier. In addition to the Tesla Model 3, employees and freelancers at ACA are currently driving the Kia e-Niro, Volkswagen ID.3 and Mercedes EQC. Later this year the BMW iX3, Audi e-tron (Sportback) 55, Volkswagen ID.4 and Ford Mustang Mach E will follow. Technology keeps moving forward, which means that the range of the battery constantly increases. Furthermore, the charging infrastructure along Belgian roads is increasing rapidly. Thanks to these advances, we’ve noticed that the majority of our employees no longer suffer from range anxiety and other concerns that come with an EV. Other green initiatives at ACA Group We don’t want to just help our planet by offering electric company cars. We foresee other initiatives that help to limit the ecological footprint. This includes offering a bicycle lease, public transport, teleworking, workplaces close to home and energy-saving systems in our offices. As time moves on, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for other initiatives that help reduce our carbon footprint. * We started our project towards a green fleet in 2019. We took delivery of the first EVs at the end of that year.