Columbus Office Takes a Step Toward Eco-Friendly Commutes with Employee Benefit Program

The Columbus law office of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP (Calfee) is taking a unique approach to reducing greenhouse gases by compensating employees who carpool, walk, cycle or take alternative transportation to and from work. 

The initiative is called Eco-Bucks and was implemented by Calfee’s Columbus Managing Partner, Doug Morgan.  It encourages firm employees to choose an alternative to driving to work each day.  Employees who bike, run or walk earn $1 each day.  Participants who carpool or use public transportation earn 50 cents per day.

“It may seem like a small step, but it sets our firm apart and sends a message about the environment,” Morgan said.

Five years ago, Morgan traded in his suit and tie for a helmet and cycling shoes and began biking to work.  Most recently he persuaded Calfee to offer Eco-Bucks in the Columbus Office in an effort to further reduce emissions and enhance the health and morale of employees. On the program’s first day, nearly 25 percent of Morgan’s staff of 44 chose alternative transportation.

Although Morgan initiated Eco-Bucks at his office, the program was created by Ken Leinbach, a consultant on Columbus’ Whittier project.  Leinbach created the Eco-Bucks program in 2003 at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee, which credits nearly 90 percent of its staff who use alternate transportation.

Calfee and Roll Brands – a bicycle shop on Polaris Parkway – were among the first in Columbus to use the Eco-Bucks program.  Morgan said that he hopes “to make using alternative transportation a citywide initiative among all Columbus office workers.”