Xerox has been rewarding their employees for green projects for 16 years, and
this year's annual Earth Awards recognized projects that saved the company more than $7.3 million, eliminated 1.3 million pounds of waste, and reduced energy use by 500,000 KWH.
Granted, Xerox is a big company, but any company can do a little "research and copy" and take advantage of Xerox's experience. More than 50 award submissions came from facilities around the world; some of the winning projects included:
- Reused or recycled packaging associated with incoming parts including 800,000 foam sheets, 200,000 pieces of tag board, 60,000 plastic bags, 57,000 corrugated cartons, and 6900 plastic skids.
- Identified an alternative material for an equipment cleaning process that diverted 400 pounds of material per year from landfills and eliminated $37,000 in labor costs.
- One-time use cloths were replaced with washable cloths.
- Waste toner was diverted to be used for roadways.
- Earned Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody Certification for onsite print services sites across Canada.
- Replaced an old chilled water system with one that uses a natural refrigerant (NH3) and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 130,000 kg in only six months. The estimated yearly energy reduction of 300,000 KWH will deliver cost savings of $15,000.
- Trimmings from a binder tape process were diverted from landfills and redirected to a cement kiln to be used as a fuel source.
Proof once again that
going green saves green, and makes good business sense. Put all those minds to work and see what you can come up with in your company.
