Alpine Bank Green Team celebrates two decades of education, outreach and action in support of conservation
An award-winning state leader in environmental stewardship, Alpine Bank celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Green Team in tandem with the 50th anniversary of the organization this year. The bank’s measurable success of its Green Team includes resource- and energy-saving programs, green philanthropy, community initiatives and an environmental management system (EMS) that has earned the highest global accreditation, known as ISO 14001 certification, year after year.
The Green Team began in 2003, was formalized in 2005 and now executes on dozens of programs that seek to reduce or eliminate the bank’s carbon footprint. Alpine Bank is positioned as a community leader for modeling sustainability, with programs that range from greening branch operations to environmentally friendly banking products and services, internal training to external outreach, new bank construction to community shredding and recycling events.
“We place a high value on our natural environment in Colorado, and the responsible use of its resources as essential for our health and lifestyle,” says Glen Jammaron, Alpine Bank president. “By placing our focus and attention on ways in which we can reduce, recycle and renew in our day-to-day business, we’ve created an organization with nearly 900 individuals who embody these principles. This grassroots effort has amounted to some substantive numbers with respect to energy, resource and water savings — both within the bank and in our communities.”
The highlights of the work of the team over 20 years are both high tech and high touch, and consistently tie back to Alpine’s intrinsic spirit of generosity:
- Since the ENVIRONMENT Loyalty Debit Card launched in 2004, Alpine Bank has donated more than $3.3 million to Colorado nonprofits that work toward environmental sustainability.
- Alpine’s partnership with the nonprofit PCs for People resulted in a donation that repurposed more than 400 computers, obsolete by bank standards, into the hands and homes of students who needed them during the pandemic year of 2020. Distance learning exacerbated the “digital divide” for thousands of Colorado families; Alpine seeks to close the gap with its continued support of PCs for People.
- Since 2009, every kilowatt-hour of Alpine Banks’ electricity has come from renewable sources. The bank even distributes energy back to the grid thanks to the solar photovoltaic panels on its branches in Rifle, Silt, Glenwood Springs and Boulder. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Alpine Bank in its Green Power Partnership as a 100% Green Power User.
- In 2016 Alpine Bank purchased solar panels in a community solar garden in Summit County, then donated ownership of the panels to help subsidize the energy bills of families in need. The resulting clean-energy partnership between a for-profit business and a nonprofit was the first of its kind and earned the bank the 24-Karat Gold Award from the Colorado Environmental Leadership Program, the Grand National Service Award from the Independent Community Bankers Association, and the Community and Economic Development Award from the American Bankers Association.
In Alpine Bank’s 2022 external audit in support of its ISO 14001 status, several practices were noted as exemplary. They include:
- Engagement with community environmental organizations,
- Promoting environmental awareness both within and outside the organization,
- Providing leadership for other businesses, and
- Championing for the environment through voluntary programs like the grassroots PurpleAir air quality monitoring project, which mobilizes citizen scientists in its data collection.
Learn more about Alpine Bank’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship here.
Pictured above: Alpine Bank’s Green Team founders, members and guests celebrate 20 years on Feb. 23, 2023, at the bank’s headquarters in Glenwood Springs, Colo. and commemorate the $3.3 million in ENVIRONMENT Loyalty Debit Card donations that have supported community environmental nonprofits since the card was introduced in 2004.
Front to back, L to R: Kathye Martini, Clare Fuller – Alpine Bank, Alan Sandberg – Alpine Bank, Debbie Lundin – Alpine Bank, Glen Jammaron – Alpine Bank, David Miller – Alpine Bank Green Team Co-Chair, Pete Yang – Alpine Bank Green Team Co-Chair, Alisa Mosher – Alpine Bank, Corina Jones – Alpine Bank, Andreia Poston – Alpine Bank, John Evans, Justin McCormick – Alpine Bank, Dave Scruby – Alpine Bank, Ginette Puidokas – Holy Cross Energy and Mike Steiner – Holy Cross Energy
About This Author
Pete Yang
Pete Yang is a senior vice president for Alpine Bank and the co-chair of Alpine's "Green Team." He's based in Aspen, where he handles commercial and consumer loans, with a particular focus on resort financing. He has a keen interest in protecting Colorado's unmatched mountain environment.
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