Our Carbon Footprint

Besides efficiency measures, we are working to reduce our carbon footprint by harnessing the power of renewable resources onsite.

In September 2009, we flipped the switch on a 100 kilowatt solar generation facility installed atop our Waterbury Distribution Center.  On an annual basis, the 572 solar panels are expected to provide about 9% of the Distribution Center’s electricity needs.   At peak generation on a sunny day, the facility will meet approximately half of the Distribution Center’s energy demand.

We support the development of new renewable energy generation through our greenhouse gas offset program.  We began this offset program in FY ‘03, and have since expanded it to include estimated emissions from our delivery fleet, operations energy use, business and air travel, and commuting, as well as direct emissions from the common carriers and parcel services that we hire, both inbound and outbound.  To offset our emissions, we purchase renewable energy credits (RECs) from NativeEnergy.  These RECs represent the environmental benefits from introducing new renewable energy sources to the grid, displacing dirtier resources.

• In FY ’09, we became a charter supporter of the Greensburg Wind Farm.  The 12.5 megawatt wind farm is being developed in Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was flattened by a massive tornado in May of 2007.  NativeEnergy’s commitment, on behalf of customers like us, made the Greensburg project possible – by promising critical upfront revenue to help the project meet critical financial milestones. 
• We also purchased 15,000 megawatt-hours of RECs from the Oklahoma Woodward Wind Farm, exceeding our EPA Green Power Partnership goal of 100% of our 2009 electricity usage.