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Hines – One Museum Place

We at Life Solutions are proud to have Hines as a client. Their excellently designed Shanghai office at One Museum Place is both a pleasure to visit and work at. With clean drinking water supplied through our Billi water filtration systems, tenants – whether international corporations, local companies or even fashion design enterprises – are able to enjoy tasty water with their morning tea or coffee, or a chilled glass of water in the afternoon.

In the management office, Echo Wang, Director at Hines, said that our water tastes fresh and is excellent to drink. After initially installing a Billi Quadra 460 on the Level 10 management offices, Hines group were so satisfied that they decided to install another one for their LL2 engineering team office. The engineers like to keep the system unlocked and say that the boiling water is a perfect temperature for tea.

Derek Hrzek, Senior Associate, explained that some tenants have sustainability and health policies and ask detailed questions about plastic bottle free drinking water solutions.

“This filtered drinking water system has been an excellent solution to provide our entire office with hot and cold water on demand. Not only is the water clean and healthy, but it has also allowed us to use more sustainable reusable cups and completely avoid the use of plastic bottles in our office.”

The Chrome design matches well with both their corporate office and their engineering staff pantry. The Billi Quadra is Global Green Tag ‘Gold’ certified – the first water dispenser in the world to be independently assessed using best practice science and to recognized as ‘excellent’ in terms of its environmental performance. This sustainability performance aligns with the HinesGO (Hines’ internal GREEN OFFICE program implemented worldwide for tenants) strategy and encourages its tenants at One Museum Place to demonstrate Corporate Responsibility in terms of staff well-being, health, appliance safety and energy efficiency.

Life Solutions are able to provide Hines tenants in premium office spaces like One Museum Place with the best in drinking water.

Huangshan Team Building Adventure

In June 2019, the Life Solutions team took a weekend trip to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain). Escaping the summer heat of Shanghai, we traveled to Huangshan City for a weekend of site-seeing, teambuilding, hiking, eating, discussing our business, socializing and celebrating our achievements together. Everyone from our housekeeper to senior leaders had a great time together and built positive memories that will last for as long as the ancient mountains themselves.

Formed over 60 million years ago in Anhui province, Huangshan has been ‘held in high esteem in China’s history’ for over 1,500 years

Not only is the mountain range vast with dramatic peaks, Huangshan also has significant cultural and historical value. Legend has it that Yellow Mountain, which used to be called Yishan (Black Mountain) was where an aging Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) went to source a magical elixir from the mountain’s unique herbs, which made him immortal. To honour Huangdi, Yishan was renamed Huangshan, Yellow Mountain

Huangshan also has strong environmental significance and draws thousands of tourists from around China and the world each year for its natural beauty. Environmental protection and sustainable use of life’s resources are at the core of Life Solutions’ mission and so visiting this beautiful, pristine region was an obvious choice for us. In 1982, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China named Huangshan a ‘site of scenic beauty and historic interest.’ Then, in 1990, Huangshan was named as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) world heritage site for its scenery and its role as a habitat for rare and threatened species’ , including both plants and animals found nowhere else in the world

After settling into our hotel, early on the second morning we set out to conquer Yellow Mountain. Carrying backpacks and water bottles and wearing raincoats we got into the gondolas in small groups and were whisked up through the rainy clouds. Half-way up, we got off the lift, regrouped then began climbing thousands of stone stairs, along with crowds of other tourists. Our journey to the top would include several of the 77 peaks that day, admiring beautiful, unique vegetation and birds. As we climbed, we felt the wind pick up strength and the rain began to fall. We held tight to the railings and massive boulders that flanked our path, thousands of feet above the valleys below. As the rain fell from the sky, filling streams, feeding plants and recharging ground water, we could see a part of the age-old water cycle happening before our eyes.

With aching limbs, cold fingers, drenched shoes yet wide smiles, we reached the summit of the majestic Lotus Peak (Lian Hua Peak). As the wind cleared away the rain, we saw a vast sea of clouds reaching out to the horizon. Finally, in the afternoon, after hours of hiking and almost a thousand meters ascended, we, together, had reached the top. We laughed and marveled at the peaks in the distance, the valleys below reminding us of the heights we had climbed together. Getting out of the city, as a team, reinforced why we do what we do at Life Solutions and the importance that a healthy environment with clean water holds in our lives.

EF Education First

As one of the largest global education providers, EF has a strong presence in China and widespread geographical footprint. We are incredibly proud to be EF’s service provider for clean and healthy water in more over 20 cities in the region. Over a number of years, we have fostered a collaborative long term relationship that spreads across many of their campuses, schools and management offices.

Like many of our clients and partners, EF is a socially aware and responsible organization and we are regularly invited to participate in their health, safety and sustainability fairs and events. Here is what EF have to say about why they choose to be a socially and environmentally conscious employer.

hcreates

Regarded by many as the premium water filtration service provider in the region, we are often recommended by designers and project management firms because of our unwavering approach towards product and water quality, as well as our professional service delivery.

As a high-end, boutique interior design firm, hcreates recommends quality solutions on all their projects. We are proud that they are not only a client of ours but also recommend our services and solutions to their clients. hcreates’ management team explains the benefits of using Life Solutions in your own workplace, and why they recommend us.

Why we work together

Make a difference

Paperback Program

We are saving more than just paper

We care about the planet and have always been proud that we advise corporate clients all over China to adopt sustainable solutions in their workplaces. Therefore, it only makes sense for us to incorporate these environmentally-friendly initiatives into our own internal office habits.

What is Paperback?

The Paperback Program aims to provide corporations and businesses in China with the means to recycle paper responsibly and raise awareness in order to reduce paper waste.

According to Green Initiatives Director Ashley Fernandes, the waste paper gets collected, processed with other virgin pulp and then is remade into new industrial grade paper, which is supplied to other paper products manufacturers. What makes this program unique is that the Green Initiatives team has verified the recycling process at Asia Pulp and Paper’s facility in Ningbo, China. Ashley explains, “At Green Initiatives, before we launch any project, we conduct due diligence that the partners we work with are reliable and deliver what they commit to.”

In December 2018, our management team took some time out of their busy schedules to gain a deeper understanding of the Green Initiatives Paperback Program. Founder Nitin Dani gave our team a great presentation about the purpose of the Paperback Program. At Life Solutions, we are excited about the positive impacts that this project can bring about. The facts below are more than convincing!

What we learned.

For each ton of recycled paper, we can save up to:
– 26,500 liters of water
– 4,000 kilowatts of energy
– 1,440 liters of oil
– 17 trees
– 2 cubic meters of landfill

The team was surprised at the amount of natural resources we can save by recycling in our office. We understand that as our company grows in numbers, our consumption of paper is likely to increase. This opportunity to make a positive difference for the planet is the main reason why we decided to partner with Green Initiatives on their Paperback Program.

Join us!

As we are continually looking for ways to save natural resources and improve our company as a whole, we are proud to participate in this important Corporate Responsibility program. Our printing corner is now equipped with classified recycling bins as well as informative posters to increase internal environmental awareness around the office.

If you would like your company to help the environment by reducing waste, you can find out more about this program here: http://greeninitiatives.cn/view-project/paperback

Meat Free Monday

We save 37,500 litres of water every Meat Free Monday!

What Meat Free Monday?

Meat Free Monday is a movement started in 2009 by Paul, Mary, and Stella McCartney.The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the detrimental environmental impact of eating meat, and to encourage people to help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and improve their health by having at least one meat free day each week.

Animal agriculture facts

Global animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually.
Most of the water humans consume is not from homes or day to day use. In fact, only 5% of water consumed in the US is by private homes. However, approximately 55% of water consumed is for animal agriculture. Animal agriculture uses 20%-33% of all fresh water consumption in the world today.
Animal agriculture makes up 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all of the emissions caused by all types of transportation combined.

Moreover, water contamination is also a huge problem caused by livestock. A lot of water from industrial waste goes back into usage without full, correct treatment. That water is then used for agriculture. More damagingly, manure contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which in overabundance of causes water pollution and can cause algae blooms, which can harm or even kill marine life. The cycle then repeats itself.

Agriculture takes up 70% of the earth’s fresh water resources, which is dominated through the rearing of livestock. Based on several studies, producing 1 kg of rice takes approximately 3,500 liters of water while 1 kg of beef requires about 15,000 liters!

What are we doing about it?

There are many more disturbing statistics like the ones above and that is why, at Life Solutions, we have committed to reducing our meat consumption with Meatless Mondays. Every Monday, our in-house cook provides freshly cooked vegetarian and sometimes vegan dishes that are not only delicious but environmentally friendly.

Our cook estimates that she would normally purchase 2.5 kgs of meat when she visits the fresh markets each morning for ingredients to cater for our office of over 20 people. Therefore, according to the above statistics, by removing meat from our lives every Monday – for just one day of the week, we are saving up to 37,500 liters of water, every Monday, every week. Life Solutions saves nearly 2 million liters of water every year!

We care for our planet and our team’s health, so we have taken these steps to reduce our meat consumption, thereby decreasing our water waste as well as our energy and resources consumption. This one of the ways that Life Solutions lives our mission of inspiring China’s transition to clean and healthy drinking water through outstanding customer service and environmentally friendly solutions.

We are happy to give talks about Meat Free Monday and any other social impact initiatives we do. For more information, please contact us below.

Internship Program

We believe that a good internship program is key to the empowerment of young, aspiring professionals.

Benefits of an Internship

Internships have become a very popular option for students to gain opportunities for employment and to hone their skills. At Life Solutions, we see it as a mutually beneficial partnership. Both parties, the intern and us, will grow tremendously together through the duration of the internship.

1. Youth Empowerment and Social Responsibility

At Life Solutions, we recognize how much an internship could help students take their first step into their professional career. By offering an internship program, we are encouraging skills development by teaching and mentoring aspiring professionals to hone their communication, cultural diversity, interpersonal, and business skills. Moreover, we believe that our internship program helps students not only build their resume but creates opportunities for their future. Internships are catalysts for students to position themselves to open doors for future professional opportunities. They are one of the key empowerment sources that boosts confidence for a young, growing, eager-to-learn student just beginning to discover their passion and career focus.

It’s a well-known fact that graduating students with paid or unpaid internships on their résumé have a much better chance at landing a full-time position upon graduation. Internships provide opportunities to building industry contacts, add value to their resumes and on occasion these may develop into permanent positions.

2. Cultural Diversity

Not only do internship programs encourage students to discover their passion, they promote cultural diversity at the work place. At Life Solution, we work with Waterloo Works, a Co-op program offered by the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada). Canada is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world and so we get students from diverse backgrounds. This diversifies our human capital and experience sharing for all members of our team. Not only can Life Solutions learn from their fresh, worldly perspectives, our interns also get to learn about how we do business in China and manage day-to-day operations in the exciting city of Shanghai.

3. Unique Perspectives

One of Life Solution’s core values is to be open to new ideas. Bringing in young interns from different university programs and cultural backgrounds adds value to what we do through the sharing of unique perspectives. Not only is there a cultural gap, there is also a generation gap that allows for fresh ideas that would have otherwise taken more time to curate and identify. Having social media and internet-savvy minds, interns are quick to gather the information they need to learn in order to do tasks. Their fresh young minds and extra sets of hands are helpful to the team as well as giving them unique insights, which can help us to better meet the needs of our of diverse customers.

Want to join the team?

Click here to find out more

Internship Experiences

Colleen Yu (Video)

Tristan Lin (Article)

Mengxi Wu (Video)

Yangtze River Plastic Pick Up

We see it on our social media feeds, we hear about it in documentaries, we may have been taught about it in school: Plastic.

Just one single plastic foam cup takes 50 years to degrade. Plastic bottles, one of the most commonly used plastics, can take up to 450 years to degrade! Here at Life Solutions, we wanted to see how these kinds of numbers come to life in Shanghai and to make a positive difference to improve water quality and ecosystem health.

On August 8th 2018, Life Solutions partnered with Green Initiatives to learn more about our local environment and make a positive difference for marine life and ecosystems.

The team was briefed with facts and statistics before and during the rubbish clean up. The location Green Initiatives chose was Baoshan Wusong Pao Taiwan Wetland Forest National Park. This important National park is a “protected” area located on the last section of the Yangtze delta, facing the northeast shore of Chongming island.

“It is an ecosystem of special interest, adapted to changing conditions of a littoral marshland with fluvial and oceanic influences. Besides a rich variety of flora, supported by rich alluvial sediments and abundant humidity, the salty winds and flooded soils’ variable conditions affect the development of wetland communities. The shoreline is permanently exposed to the influence of tidal oscillation, water currents and the river flow, resulting in a high erosion of nutrients and soil particles that are dynamically balanced with the constant input of rich river sediments.”

Life Solutions and Green Initiatives staff worked all day picking up trash along the Yangtze River. Feeling this was an important educational and socially impactful experience, we felt proud to help protect the river water and the organisms living in the wetland.