THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS  

OUR WORK

Mission

Who We Are

Zero Waste Efforts

Earth Day

Testimonials

Donate

THE FESTIVAL

Music

Venue

Festival Schedule

Become a Sponsor

Festival Sponsors

Tickets

Farm to Fork

Contributors

FAQs

Volunteers

Past Festival Recaps

 

 

 

NEWS

Blogs

Press Releases

Social Feed

​

GALLERY

 

CONTACT

 

SUBSCRIBE
TO OUR NEWSLETTER

© 2017 Rock the Green, Inc. All rights reserved.  |  Privacy Notice  |  Site developed by Anthologie, Inc.

CONNECT WITH US.

  • OUR WORK

  • THE FESTIVAL

  • NEWS

  • GALLERY

  • CONTACT

  • More...

    DONATE
    RTG FAN CLUB

    Goodwill's Eco-Story

    August 3, 2017

    |

    By Kyla Mrazek

     

     

    What's your company's definition of sustainability, and why is it important to you?

     

    At Goodwill, our focus is keeping items out of landfills by recycling, reducing, and reusing. Sustainability is extremely important to us because we care about our environmental impact and the communities we serve.

     

    What are the most important sustainability issues your company deals with? 

     

    Many people are familiar with our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers. Every day, these retail operations live and breathe our “reduce, reuse and recycle” message of sustainability. Our customers “reduce” their gently-used items by donating them to our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers. We then sell those donated items in our stores for a fraction of the original price, allowing our customers to reuse or upcycle their newly purchased items. And even better, revenue from the sale of donated items is reinvested in programs that help provide training and jobs right in the communities in which we serve.

     

    A new business for our organization is Goodwill E-cycle, which is an R2 certified computer recycling and refurbishment operation.  E-cycling is the practice of recycling or reusing computers, computer components and other electronics, rather than discarding them at the end of their life cycle. E-waste is the most rapidly growing segment of the municipal solid waste stream. With the rapid pace of technology, the life cycle of these electronic components is getting shorter and shorter, creating more e-waste than ever before.

     

    Goodwill E-cycle aligns with our commitment to being green by keeping millions of pounds of electronic waste out of landfills. Bringing the electronics processing in-house is a natural fit for our organization and our mission of being socially and environmentally responsible.

     

    Because e-waste is such a new concept, most companies don’t have disposal plans in place or are paying excessive fees to private sector providers. Goodwill’s E-cycle partners can rely on Goodwill as a secure resource for their electronic waste, and our R2 Certification gives them piece of mind that our upstream and downstream vendors are just as careful as we are with their materials.

     

    Sustainable thinking is no longer just a "nice to have",  it's increasingly seen as a competitive advantage. Tell us how sustainable thinking is helping move your company forward?

     

    Sustainability is a critical part of our operations and it’s behind so much of the work we do. For example, our Goodwill Manufacturing division, along with DataShield and Retail, works to create a positive environmental impact by choosing green materials, as well as breaking down and recycling materials from their operations. Last year, Goodwill Manufacturing recycled 11.7 million pounds of materials. Goodwill DataShield, our document destruction service, recycled nearly 2.8 million pounds of paper in 2016. And, Goodwill Store & Donation Centers collected more than 3.5 billion pounds of donations last year alone.

     

    Rock the Green, the Sustainability Festival, is all about going for zero waste. How has your company reduced waste across your operations? Has it paid off for you financially?

     

    Across the Goodwill organization, we use preventative maintenance designed to maximize the efficient operation of our equipment and facilities. And when building new facilities, we separate construction waste and use regional and low-emitting materials to minimize our carbon footprint. We use green refrigerants in our air conditioners and are upgrading lighting in our locations to more energy-efficient fixtures. Finally, we have installed motion sensors to cut down energy use and we have installed low flush toilets and use green landscaping practices.  All of these steps make a big impact on our organization’s operations, and in the communities that we serve.

     

    Surveys show that employees are happier and more productive when they're engaged with a company's sustainability strategies.  How do you engage your staff to implement your sustainability plans?

     

    We proudly share our sustainability practices with employees through monthly communications, so that they understand the green efforts being made by our organization. Employees are made aware of the green practices and equipment we’ve implemented in our buildings and are encouraged to contribute to their own green lifestyle as well. In addition, Team Members at our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers don shirts that communicate our “reduce, reuse, and recycle” message of environmental sustainability!

     

     In a nutshell, how will you be “rocking the green” in the coming 5 years?

     

    Over the next five years, we plan to continue and grow

     

    our green efforts by researching and pursuing the latest sustainable equipment and alternatives in the construction and remodeling of our facilities. The growth of our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers and Goodwill E-cycle means we can expand our operations and continue our environmental sustainability cycle of reducing, reusing and recycling in the communities we proudly serve.

    Please reload

    Recent Posts

    Interview with Lex Allen

    April 17, 2019

    Interview with Chicken Wire Empire

    March 12, 2019

    Rock the Green 2017 Recap

    September 12, 2017

    Interview with Mondo Cozmo

    September 7, 2017

    A Fast Survey - How Does Your Company "Rock the Green"?

    September 6, 2017

    Rock the Green Announces 2017 Festival Family Programming and Farm to Fork Vendor Lineup

    September 5, 2017

    Get to Know Klassik

    September 5, 2017

    Rock the Green: A Sustainability Festival Like No Other

    September 1, 2017

    Meijer's Eco Story

    August 23, 2017

    Getting to Know Girls Rock MKE - Negative/Positive and Gas Station Sushi

    August 16, 2017

    Please reload

    Archive

    April 2019 (1)

    March 2019 (1)

    September 2017 (6)

    August 2017 (11)

    July 2017 (1)

    June 2017 (1)

    April 2017 (2)

    March 2017 (1)

    November 2016 (1)

    September 2016 (12)

    August 2016 (9)

    July 2016 (2)

    June 2016 (1)

    April 2016 (1)

    March 2016 (1)

    September 2015 (1)

    May 2015 (1)

    April 2014 (1)

    March 2014 (2)

    June 2013 (1)

    March 2013 (2)

    December 2012 (1)

    November 2012 (1)

    August 2012 (4)

    July 2012 (1)

    April 2012 (1)

    September 2011 (1)

    Please reload

    Follow Us
    • Facebook Basic Square
    • Twitter Basic Square
    • YouTube Social  Icon

    ALL BLOGS