Eastern Bank Green Team sponsors vehicle expo

LYNN – A team of Eastern Bank employees charged with providing their coworkers with eco-friendly alternatives welcomed an array of “green machines” at their Market Street offices Wednesday.The Green Team sponsored the vehicle expo, called “Eco-Drive & Pedal Power,” which featured eco-friendly transportation such as bikes, scooters and hybrid cars from North Shore businesses.The display included commuter bicycles from North Shore Cycle on Western Avenue, scooters and mopeds from Tomoss on Highland Avenue in Salem and several hybrid cars from local Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, KIA and Volkswagen dealers.The Green Team, made up of volunteers, was created by the bank about two years ago to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices by sharing innovative methods, implementing policy recommendations and encouraging bank employees, customers and the community to adopt green practices into their lives.The “green machines” expo is the third event the Green Team has held in an effort to make their company and individuals more aware of their impact on the environment. The past two events were a conservation fair and a lecture on composting and organic gardening.A lot of what the Green Team tackles is what team member Cas Corblewski has called “common sense stuff,” like using the right grocery bags or putting in fluorescent light bulbs.”People are too busy in their lives to think about it,” he said.Corblewski said the challenge the Green Team faces is that they are only a handful of employees in the company’s 82 branches.”We want to make it national,” said Corblewski, adding he and his team are reaching out to other branches by e-mail and video conferencing, using technology to fuel the green initiative. He said the team is hoping to partner with other communities on the North Shore and the Cape to make their goals a reality.In the meantime, the Green Team has helped drive several environmentally friendly changes at Eastern Bank, including offering e-statements to customers and installing energy-efficient lighting through its operations center at 195 Market St. The bank is also considering installing solar panels.