ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Neil Goldberg, CEO of furniture retailer Raymour & Flanigan, noticed in 2006 that recyclable materials and Styrofoam were being thrown out at a loading area.
Goldberg instituted a recycling program because he knew the company’s trucks returned empty after delivering furniture to Raymour & Flanigan’s 81 stores. Since June, the company has diverted roughly 16 million pounds of waste from entering landfills and plans to hire as many as a dozen workers to manage the recycling program.
The company recently announced it was undertaking several initiatives to soften its carbon footprint, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.
For instance, sensors throughout its stores control energy use, cutting consumption by as much as 15 percent. It added white heat-reflecting roof membranes to cut down energy consumption related to cooling. The company buys renewable energy credits from Juice Power to satisfy about 10 percent of its energy needs, which also triggers a tax credit.
Raymour & Flanigan replaced about 17,000 incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, as well as swapping 2,500 computer monitors with liquid crystal display monitors. Showroom carpeting will be replaced with carpeting comprised of plastic bottles and other post-consumer waste. The company used oil from its fleet to heat a 12,000-square-foot garage at one of its transportation centers, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
The green initiatives have helped the company offset higher energy costs, which have risen about 30 percent.
GreenBiz
www.greenbiz.com
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