Sumo Logic celebrates Earth Day 2022 with Planeteer-led Earth Week

Sumo Logic is excited to join in celebrating the 52nd Earth Day!

Earth Day is a global event for environmental awareness,sustainability and honoring the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmentalist movement. We believe it’s essential now more than ever to move toward greener practices as a business and as people.

Sumo Logic campuses worldwide will join the festivities through our very own Earth Week–a week-long celebration filled with activities for Sumos, spearheaded by the Planeteers. The Planeteers–currently forty-Sumo strong and growing fast!—is Sumo Logic’s Sustainability Employee Resource Group (ERG).

ERGs are employee-led organizations where Sumos with shared experiences, advocacies, and interests connect and build community. Alongside the Planeteers, we also have the Black, Q&A (Queers and Allies, LGBTQ+), and FIERCE (Females Inspire Educate & Reinforce Cultural Excellence) Women ERGs.

Sumo Logic and the Planeteers

With a name inspired by the 90s TV show Captain Planet’s troop of planet-loving teens, the Planeteers is composed of Sumos with a passion for the environment. They lead and promote initiatives in educating, motivating, and involving other Sumos in becoming better stewards of the planet, alongside identifying and supporting programs that help make Sumo Logic–and its campuses–greener and more environmentally-friendly.

The Planeteers’ vision is for Sumo Logic to be a forward-thinking leader in the way businesses take part in building a greener future. The Planeteers envision a Sumo Logic that leads by example for other organizations and fosters a company culture where everyone is mindful of their actions’ impact on the environment.

Earth Week at Sumo Logic

This year’s Earth Week will be the kickoff event for The Planeteers.

The week-long celebration is filled with fun, engaging activities for the environment. Sumos worldwide can learn about what they can do to be more environmentally friendly in their daily lives, socialize with other planet-loving Sumos, and move the needle toward a greener Sumo Logic.

On April 21st, a day before the global celebration of Earth Day, we will have our very own Earth Day at Sumo Logic. Sumos from all over–from the Redwood City, CA, Denver, CO, and Austin, TX locations in the USA to our Warsaw and Krakow offices in Poland and Noida, India–get to take part in various events for the environment. For example, many Sumo locations will hold their own Campus Freecycles, where Sumos can give away, pick up, and exchange books, plants, and other items that can use a new home.

There’s something for everyone, from topical discussions on Sustainable and Ethical Fashion and How To Go Zero Waste and Live More Sustainably to the Earth Day Lunch and Happy Hour catered by local, sustainable businesses. Even Little Sumos join in with the Little Sumos Earth Day Art project.

Artwork by little Sumo Lauren P., age seven

Artwork by little Sumo Fiona P., age six

As the centerpiece of the all-day celebration on the 21st, the Planeteers have invited Steve Smith, one of America’s most experienced astronauts–who’s been on four space voyages and seven spacewalks! In View from Above: An Astronaut’s Perspective on Saving the Planet, Steve will talk about his incredible experiences like riding a rocket into space, what it was like to live where there’s no gravity, and how seeing the Earth from outer space shaped his views on saving the planet!

Earth Day at Sumo Logic Guest Speaker Steve Smith

Planeteer Spotlight

Get to know Alexa Phelps and Natalia King, two founding members of the Planeteers!

Alexa Phelps: Facilities Manager for Austin and Raleigh campuses

As the Head of Facilities for the Austin and Raleigh locations, Alexa plays a key role in promoting greener choices at Sumo. She is passionate about switching to options that only require minimal adjustments to daily living but significantly reduce harm to the environment.

“If we want to be a forward-thinking company and a leader, then I think it’s really important that we are a leader in all aspects. And being environmentally friendly, being very conscious of what we’re doing and how we’re impacting the world around us applies to every aspect of Sumo and not just our business practices.”

Applying that passion to her work at Sumo, she’s part of the focus to make Sumo’s Raleigh location the pilot office for greener, more sustainable practices. There was an intentional effort to make the Raleigh office more environmentally sustainable using timed and motion sensor lights to reduce power waste and to go green with recyclable and compostable flatware and green cleaning products. Other Sumo campuses are currently making the transition as well–and in the interim, using up what they already have, to not waste anything as they shift to greener products and practices.

Alexa’s Earth Week Tips

• Make green conversions at home.

  • Switching from a gas to a battery-charged electric mower has allowed their household to schedule lawn mowing even on Ozone Action Days in Texas, giving them flexibility while being good stewards of the earth.

• Be conscious of the impact of purchasing choices.

  • Alexa’s sister chose a hybrid for her first car after considering how much gas she would consume as a young person who drives a lot.

• Get acquainted with local recycling and composting programs.

  • After moving to Austin, Alexa learned that plastic bags jam the local recycling sorters and should be kept separate from all other recycling.

Natalia King: DevSecOps Manager, Austin

As a young kid in Russia, Natalia recalls family picnics where her mom would pick up trash as the first order of business. Her mom didn’t talk badly about those who littered but emphasized that it’s pleasant to have a picnic in a clean environment. This left a lasting impression on Natalia, who’s passionate about trash pickup as part of her comprehensive efforts toward being a better planet caretaker.

At Sumo Logic, Natalia joined the Planeteers with the desire to participate and put together events at the Austin campus–activities as simple as trash pickups where people can easily join in the community effort and socialize with other Sumos in a setting outside work. Natalia believes in the power of making activities accessible and fun while becoming more educated about what we can do now, ourselves.

Natalia’s Earth Week Tips

• Set small goals. Make it fun. Involve others.

  • “You pick up one plastic bottle, and that’s five, seven bottles per week that didn’t end up in a creek, river, or ocean. It seems small, but if you think about it in the long run, it does make a huge difference. More, if two, three of us would do it.”

• Vote with your dollar. Pay for things you believe in.

  • If you have the capacity, it’s best to stop supporting fast fashion and other industries that negatively impact the environment. Go for sustainable, more local choices that will last longer.

• Consume less.

  • Turn away from overconsumption by thinking of ways to repurpose what you already have and consuming less overall.

Celebrate Earth Week with us!

Sumos are joining millions of people worldwide in celebration of Earth Day. Wherever you are, there are thousands of activities–online and in-person–that you can take part in!

• Check out this amazing worldwide map of cleanup drives that folks over at EarthDay.org have put together.

• Tune in to Green Matters’ #EarthStories, a week-long series of inspiring stories from changemakers in the environmental space.

• Look through this list of 52 ways to get involved in saving the environment, and maybe you’ll see something that calls out to you!

We at Sumo Logic are honored to be doing our part as we all move toward a more sustainable future!

Interested in the work the Planeteers are doing? Want to join our team?

Sumo Logic is hiring around the globe! Check out our current openings here https://www.sumologic.com/company/careers/.