Dalim Software, makers of efficient, scalable software solutions for the creation, production, and management of print and cross-media content, reports that it has taken a bigger step toward corporate social responsibility with research and implementation of a sustainability policy. In doing so, it has announced a number of new and ongoing initiatives and the engagement of a person responsible for building and monitoring the policy.

Dalim Software has been thinking about sustainability for quite a while. In 2014, it decided to power all its operations by hydroelectricity from Switzerland. From this first step, Dalim Software began electrifying its car pool, switching to electrified two-wheel transportation for daily commuting and eliminating plastic waste. Through these measures, the company has been able to eliminate the emission of approximately 375,000 kg of CO2 every year. And, the company is working on much more.

While it would seem that a software company has very little opportunity to affect sustainability, Dalim Software understands that digitizing everything has an environmental impact. For example, while email messages spend energy when printed, saved messages also consume energy, resulting in the emission of some amount – however minute – of carbon dioxide (CO2). While miniscule on its own, it increases substantially by the number of messages that people typically keep in storage.

Data management and storage has a major environmental impact. Every day, PDF files are created from various applications, for multiple purposes. They start filling cloud storage, use precious mobile data volume, or jam internet connections. Dalim Software wants to explore the environmental impact of reducing PDF files, for example, from 10MB to 2MB. It is one of the reasons Dalim Software created PDFLight, a free application that provides high-end PDF file optimization.

Dalim Software’s mid-term goal is to assess the carbon footprint of its software, both manufacturing and usage. In the longer term, the company hopes to reduce this footprint by implementing manufacturing rules – and even advising its customers how to conserve as much energy as possible using their software.

In addition, Dalim Software has appointed Jonas Klein to oversee the company’s corporate social responsibility. Klein has held banking roles as a financial advisor for Landesbank and has founded a sustainable fashion label, Sanfins. He received his degree in German and French management from DHBW Karlsruhe.

“While Dalim Software has been very conscious of its corporate environmental footprint – and the footprint of our products – this responsibility is so vital that we have tasked Jonas Klein to develop a specific, actionable plan. Nobody had been previously assigned this task,” notes Carol Werlé, Dalim Software CEO. “Dalim Software is now supervising everything we do related to our sustainability program, and is building a roadmap to plan and structure our activities.”

“As a start, we are focusing on the 17 UN sustainable development goals as a guide to assure a holistic approach,” adds Klein. “While we do not create a product that people can physically touch, there is still a measurable impact in many different categories. We hope to conduct the science that can measure the impact of these and offer solutions as time progresses.”