A year with new and unknown challenges and marked by unusual circumstances comes to an end. Lots will say "Thank goodness!" and often see only the difficulties which we had to manage in this special year.
But isn't it the case that we can also take positive things from this year?
We at Merus want to give you a little insight into the difficulties and challenges we had to deal with this year and how we want to start confidently to 2021.
Never lose sight of the goal
When I came the first time to the office of the Merus GmbH in January this year, nobody knew what 2020 would come up with and how chaotical everthing would be - not only in our company.
Since August, I have officially been "the new one" at Merus and it was clear to all of us that the start would be different than in the "normal" working world.
I had actually expected that I could start right away with the entire team and that the induction would also take place with this team. But Corona did not make it quite so easy for me or us.
The situation in the office took some getting used to. We had to think about who would when and in what way stay in the home office and who could be in the office. How the cooperation should work and how we split up the tasks that several people actually work on.
In short, we had to restructure a lot of things.
And along the way, we couldn't ignore the everyday things and goals.
But we at Merus still try to take something good out of everything.
For example, we have not lost our focus during the crisis. We have our sights firmly set on continuing to put the company on a climate-neutral path.
So we keep trying to find new ways to reduce our CO2 emissions and compensate for the rest that remains.
But even that still presents a small hurdle today.
Merus on a special travel without travelling
Our journey to do business and act sustainably had a few stops this year.
Even if our business trips to customers, traders and partners did not really take place due to Corona, we still had a different kind of journey ahead of us.
I don't want to list every single station here, because there is a separate article on almost every action or project.
However, I would like to show you the most important points and the most relevant topics that we have dealt with this year:
- Packaging adaptation - We have adapted our packaging to make it even more resource-efficient and sustainable.
- WIN Charta - We have signed the WIN Charta and are currently working on our target concept. This means that we are now one of the companies that operate in accordance with the sustainability strategy of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
- "Schools for Future - Your ecological footprint counts" - In cooperation with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, we want to encourage the younger generations to think differently when it comes to climate change. You can read more about this in a separate blog post.
Starting the new year with optimism
In 2020, everyone had their hurdles and difficulties to overcome and, as at every end of the year, some hope that the next year will bring better things.
But we at Merus want to take advantage of this year's positive results and start the new year strengthened and optimistic. After all, the conclusion we can draw is that our Merus Ring is gaining recognition and maintaining its status despite times of crisis, thanks to the work of the team and thanks to its already existing sustainable impact.
For the next year, we plan to continue trying to find our way to becoming a climate-neutral company. For this, we have projects coming up, which you will also read about here.
There are also other events and projects coming up, such as our 25th anniversary or the further expansion of our video series.
We would now like to thank everyone for the support we have received from many quarters this year and wish them a merry Christmas and a happy and, above all, healthy New Year.