Let's Get Planting

Hello, green folk of Earth, my name is Shiv Raghavendra. I’ve been at Appian for three years as a Senior Marketing Analyst, and I love talking about marketing technology and being green!

I have always tried to be green with anything that I do. Pre-pandemic, I used to bike to work, except on really cold days. Sorry, I was born in Chennai, India and I love the heat (not global warming!). I’m vegetarian, and love planting vegetables at the Appian community garden at our HQ. You’ll find me at AppianGreen events and always happy to share about how we can be more environmentally friendly as a company, and in our everyday lives. 

The mission of AppianGreen is to reduce our carbon footprint and come up with innovative ways to make Appian and the Earth a cleaner, greener place by encouraging sustainable practices with education, awareness, and community outreach. I like to describe it as a bunch of fun people trying to make Appian and the world around us a better place. 

There are many ways we aim to do this, including:

• Company-wide events — one of my favorites being the vegetarian potlucks where we eat vegetables from our community garden!
• The community garden of course, a small plot of land by the kitchen at HQ. 
• Working with the Corporate team on how Appian as a company can reduce our carbon footprint and invest in green tech. 
• Partnering with other Affinity Groups, like AppianWellness for Bike to Work Month. 
• Educational sessions on different environmental topics led by AppianGreen team members. For this year’s Earth Week, we’ll be learning about topics like microplastics and water conservation. 
• Maintaining the Horseshoe Trail at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton, Va, which we adopted in the fall of 2020.

Participating in events like these and learning about the community garden sparked my interest in taking on a leadership role within the group. I wanted to participate directly in the work we’re doing across the company and in the community. 

Celebrating Earth Week should always include learning new things about the environment and a call to action. Here’s something you may not know about water: planting native species can significantly support the overall health of our bodies of water. 

As everyone knows, water is the elixir of life! However, with the advent of industrialization, our rivers and water sources are being polluted on a daily basis. According to the CDC, an estimated 2.2 billion people need access to safe drinking water with 884 million people without any water services.

While most Western nations have access to sources of safe and potable drinking water, contaminants like copper, arsenic, and microplastics, are found in the tap water of every single state in the nation according to this study by NDRC.

So what can we do to save our water? According to BlueThumb, plants are part of the answer. Here are three ways planting native species can help clean  our bodies of water and benefit the environment:

1. Long-rooted native plants retain and infiltrate more water, decrease soil compaction, and filter out pollutants.
2. Native plants require fewer inputs (less mowing and watering, no fertilizer or pesticides), leading to lower costs.
3. Native plants provide habitat for pollinators and songbirds, protecting biodiversity.

There are some great local organizations that do this today, including two in the DMV area: Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners and Arlington Stream Monitoring.

There are many local resources for our remote community and Appian offices around the world. We encourage employees to reach out to AppianGreen team members to help look for similar organizations in their areas!

As spring is approaching, get out your gardening supplies and help the environment by planting! I’m excited that we will be starting up our community garden again this year at Appian Headquarters.  We will be both helping the environment and growing great ingredients for our next vegetarian potluck. 

I hope you learned something new about planting native species and that your learning continues not only during Earth Week but throughout the entire year! 

Take a few minutes to calculate your carbon footprint and think about some simple ways you can be more environmentally friendly today. It could be to try going a few days on a plant-based diet, or setting up a compost at your house or workplace. 

For more tips, learn from another AppianGreen board member Kevin about 5 Ways to Go Green.