Commitment to Sustainability
When the building was renovated by the Leftbank Project in 2009 they made sure to take sustainability into consideration with each decision. The team preserved as much of the original building as possible, while still creating a functional and beautiful event space. The overall design and color palette was derived from materials already found within the building; a perfect mix of brick, steel, concrete, glass, and wood to transform a historic building into an urban, industrial event venue.
During your tour, you will notice a lot of the original features and structures. Here are a few fun ones to keep an eye out for:
The Nest was once a combined office and apartment space when owned by entrepreneur Dean Child. Near the ceiling, you will see smoke marks on the brick from his wood-burning stove. (This use is why there are also stairs that lead to nowhere!)
Running along the top of the Greatroom ceiling is a steel beam with a large hook at the end. This was used to move items of all sorts outside throughout much of the building’s history.
In the Clubroom you will see a beautiful teal color in random-like patterns on the floor and walls. This is actually leftover paint from its use as a painting school!
Salvaged from the initial interior, Douglas fir wood can be found via floorboards, cabinets, trim, and stair treads.
Additions to the building include eco-harvested Southern Oregon trees used for Madrone flooring, non-toxic finishes for most surfaces, concrete counters crafted on-site by a local artisan, dimmable fluorescent lights, and upgraded bathroom features (high-efficiency toilets, automated lights and faucets, and jet towel dryers).
For the 10 years the Leftbank Project ran the venue, they always took the environment and local sustainability into account. One of the ways they did this was by creating an exclusive list of caterers, each of whom was vetted to ensure that their business and sustainability practices aligned with the venues. As of January 2020, Elephants Delicatessen also has the honor of being the new parent company for Leftbank Annex in addition to being one of the exclusive caterers.
As a certified B Corporation, Elephants Delicatessen is committed to environmental stewardship through waste, resource, and emissions reductions, and helps alleviate food insecurity in the greater Portland area company-wide.
Here are a few fun facts about what we do as a B-Corp (and learn more here)!
The B-Corp Impact Assessment asks questions about how day-to-day operations create a positive impact for workers, the community, and the environment. In 2019, Elephants’ score was 96 with the industry average being 55!
Being family-owned and operated, our first commitment is to our employees, customers, and community. We partner with many organizations to donate food and support local non-profits by participating in fundraising efforts.
At our facilities and onsite at events, we are sure to recycle, compost, and carefully sort all of our waste. This goes for food scraps, common recyclables (paper, glass, etc), and non-standard items needing special disposal (batteries, oil, bubble wrap, and more).
As a woman-owned company, we are proud to say 57% of our senior managers and 50% of our executive team are also women! 30% of our executive team are people of color as well as 37% of our employees company-wide.
By increasing renewable energy use, purchasing energy-efficient equipment, supporting the renewable wind power movement, and more we reduced/offset our carbon footprint by 25% in 2019!