Coworking Space WeWork Phases Out Meat From All Events
Coworking giant WeWork has decided to eradicate meat from company spending in order to reduce environmental impact. An e-mail sent to employees last week detailed the new policy, which forbids employees from expensing meals that include meat and also removes meat from the menu of WeWork events.
“New research indicates that avoiding meat is one of the biggest things an individual can do to reduce their personal environmental impact,” said co-founder Miguel McKelvey in a recent memo outlining the new policy, “even more than switching to a hybrid car.”
A recent research review from the University of Oxford found that transitioning to a plant-based diet was the best way for people to reduce their carbon footprint. WeWork estimates the new policy will save 445.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions by 2023.
The memo announced that the policy would be in effect at the company’s upcoming internal summer retreat and would extend to travel expenses, WeWork events, and internal food kiosks.
The memo included a note that people requiring “a medical or religious accommodation” could contact the company’s Global Policy Team to find a solution. The policy also still allows WeWork employees to bring their own meat to work.
This decision to phase out meat follows other recent environmentally-based initiatives for the company, including reducing plastic usage by transitioning to bioplastic cups and asking people to bring their own reusable water bottle to work.
The policy does not extend to fish or eggs, an oversight that a recent Slate article dubbed “incoherent.”
“Eggs cause just as much environmental damage as chickens do, and much less than lamb does,” reads the article. “It’s hard to see much environmental logic in a policy that’s fine with factory-farmed salmon but that forbids people from eating pigeon.”
WeWork has about 6,000 employees worldwide in 76 cities.
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