School Specialty, LLC has recently achieved Platinum status with the Green Business Bureau.
The company joined the GBB in 2019 and has leveraged the platform and apps to manage their sustainability initiatives and track their progress. School Specialty, LLC completed enough initiatives to reach 400 EcoPoints™ to earn the GBB Platinum Seal. The company is committed to protecting the environment, engaging employees and customers in their sustainability efforts, and saving money through more efficient operations. They continue to utilize the GBB framework and online tools to become greener and meet their sustainability goals.
School Specialty was looking for an opportunity to take small steps towards becoming a more environmentally friendly organization for both customers and employees. As a distributor of highly consumable products, it was important for them to look internally at what they could, and should, be doing to reduce their large footprint.
Some of the activities which helped School Specialty achieve Platinum status toward green certification was the creation Green Teams throughout the company which served as the initial supporters of greening the business, enlisting and informing all employees of key activities, assessing where the organization was at in terms of green efforts and creating programs where employees can engage in green activities.
Low Effort, High Impact Green Initiatives
Like many organizations, School Specialty and their Project Green Teams initially focused on low-hanging fruit when the program first started. Putting focus on changes that include recycling of paper, adding low water flow censors, changing out paper cups in the cafeterias to ceramic, ensuring that all cleaning supplies are green. After a bit of time the teams have started to tackle some of the long-term goals that include:
- Implementing virtual office spaces
- Utilizing productivity tools like Microsoft Teams for meetings to reduce travel and the carbon footprint
- Replacing employee water coolers with zero bottle coolers
- Upgrading office lighting to LED
- Working to make office and distribution spaces Zero Waste
“We are proud of accomplishing Platinum status with the Green Business Bureau and continue our commitment to create a more sustainable environment for both our employees and customers,” says Stacey Rubin, Senior Vice President of Marketing for School Specialty. “The elevated Platinum status with the GBB aligns well with our vision of Transforming More than Classrooms, and we are excited to have GBB as a valued partner with us on this journey.”
