Going Green at Google

Green Employee Programs

Our green employee programs are designed to reduce our corporate carbon footprint, and help our employees stay green too.

Bikes on Campus

At our Mountain View headquarters, shared bicycles are scattered among our buildings for employees to use for short trips around campus, reducing the need for employee car trips during the work day.

Biodiesel Shuttles

Google offers an extensive shuttle service that brings more than 1,500 employees to work from around the Bay Area every day. These shuttles are fueled by B20 biodiesel.

Composting

Waste from our Mountain View, CA cafes is separated and the organic component is composted. As a result, we have reduced waste sent to landfills, reduced greenhouse gases, and recycled nutrients leading to improved soil quality without chemicals. In addition, we have reduced the overall number of disposable items in our micro-kitchens and cafés. Any disposable plateware and cutlery we continue to use in the cafés is now compostable.

GFleet

This Mountain View program is designed to support alternative commuting through a car-sharing program that is free to Google employees. Within this fleet, we have eight plug-in hybrid vehicles which we park under a solar panel carport at the Google headquarters.

Green Design Elements

The buildings at our main campus in Mountain View use sustainable building materials that are environmentally friendly and healthier for employees, such as "cradle-to-cradle" certified products designed to never end up in landfills, fresh air ventilation, daylighting, and PVC- and formaldehyde-free materials whenever possible.