diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index 6091bca9..acd3db74 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -131,3 +131,6 @@ Style/Encoding:
 
 Style/EndlessMethod:
   EnforcedStyle: allow_always
+
+Style/TrailingCommaInHashLiteral:
+  EnforcedStyleForMultiline: consistent_comma
diff --git a/Containerfile b/Containerfile
index 9fcc7ed0..637aebee 100644
--- a/Containerfile
+++ b/Containerfile
@@ -65,13 +65,15 @@ RUN bundle config set without 'development test'     \
  && yarn install --frozen-lockfile
 
 # temporarily set a SECRET_KEY_BASE and copy config files so rake tasks can run
-ENV SECRET_KEY_BASE=secret_for_build
+ARG SECRET_KEY_BASE=secret_for_build
 RUN cp config/justask.yml.example config/justask.yml    \
  && cp config/database.yml.postgres config/database.yml \
  && bundle exec rails locale:generate                   \
  && bundle exec i18n export                             \
  && bundle exec rails assets:precompile                 \
  && rm config/justask.yml config/database.yml
-ENV SECRET_KEY_BASE=
+
+# set some defaults
+ENV RAILS_LOG_TO_STDOUT=true
 
 EXPOSE 3000
diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index 317e27e3..c2434c8c 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ Rails.application.configure do
 
   config.action_mailer.perform_caching = false
 
+  # Use the lowest log level to ensure availability of diagnostic information
+  # when problems arise.
+  config.log_level = ENV.fetch("LOG_LEVEL") { "debug" }.to_sym
+
   # Print deprecation notices to the Rails logger.
   config.active_support.deprecation = :log
 
@@ -73,6 +77,6 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # config.file_watcher = ActiveSupport::EventedFileUpdateChecker
 end
 
-# For better_errors to work inside Docker we need 
+# For better_errors to work inside Docker we need
 # to allow 0.0.0.0 as an IP in development context
 BetterErrors::Middleware.allow_ip! "0.0.0.0/0"
diff --git a/config/environments/production.rb b/config/environments/production.rb
index 5964fe5c..3ae984d5 100644
--- a/config/environments/production.rb
+++ b/config/environments/production.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Rails.application.configure do
 
   # Use the lowest log level to ensure availability of diagnostic information
   # when problems arise.
-  config.log_level = :debug
+  config.log_level = ENV.fetch("LOG_LEVEL") { "info" }.to_sym
 
   # Prepend all log lines with the following tags.
   config.log_tags = [ :request_id ]
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index 30587ef6..036f3f7a 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # ActionMailer::Base.deliveries array.
   config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :test
 
+  # Use the lowest log level to ensure availability of diagnostic information
+  # when problems arise.
+  config.log_level = ENV.fetch("LOG_LEVEL") { "debug" }.to_sym
+
   # Print deprecation notices to the stderr.
   config.active_support.deprecation = :stderr
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/10_config.rb b/config/initializers/10_config.rb
index 2e12b5f4..deba98c4 100644
--- a/config/initializers/10_config.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/10_config.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,23 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
 # Auxiliary config
-APP_CONFIG = YAML.load_file(Rails.root.join('config', 'justask.yml')).with_indifferent_access
+
+APP_CONFIG = {}.with_indifferent_access
+
+# load yml config if it's present
+justask_yml_path = Rails.root.join("config/justask.yml")
+APP_CONFIG.merge!(YAML.load_file(justask_yml_path)) if File.exist?(justask_yml_path)
+
+# load config from ENV where possible
+env_config = {
+  # The site name, shown everywhere
+  site_name: ENV.fetch("SITE_NAME", nil),
+
+  hostname:  ENV.fetch("HOSTNAME", nil),
+}.compact
+APP_CONFIG.merge!(env_config)
 
 # Update rails config for mail
-Rails.application.config.action_mailer.default_url_options = { host: APP_CONFIG['hostname'] }
+Rails.application.config.action_mailer.default_url_options = {
+  host: APP_CONFIG["hostname"],
+}