Sustainability starts at Home
At Home Centre, green isn’t just a colour we love – it’s a permanent state of mind. In a sincere commitment to do our bit for the planet, we’re continually developing, implementing and improving earth-friendly initiatives that allow us to make more sustainable choices every day. As part of our ‘Go Green’ initiative launched across all countries of operation, employees regularly receive education about green alternatives and commemorate milestones such as Earth Day and World Environment Day. We invite you to choose our ecologically-sound products and materials to make your home – and the earth – a more beautiful place.
Earth-friendly products & materials
Sustainable bamboo is naturally anti-microbial, making it ideal in the kitchen for our Bamboo Cutting Boards, Bamboo Dish Rack, Bamboo Bowls and more. Renewable acacia wood lends the character of its active grain to our beautiful Acacia Salad Bowls and Acacia Chip and Dip serving bowls. For casual entertaining, some of our drinkware gets rustic character from recycled glass. We also offer several products manufactured using E1 particle board, an ecologically preferred material because of its low formaldehyde content. There’s lots more: just browse our in-store collections for more earth-friendly products.
Rubber wood: certified sustainable
We’re pleased to announce that all of our rubber wood collections are certified as sustainable. Rubber wood is an environmentally-conscious choice as it comes from plantation trees that have already served their primary function and would otherwise simply be discarded. Don’t let the name put you off – the next time you’re out shopping and see rubber wood furniture or products, remember that it’s an eco-friendly, sustainable and high-quality wood.
Lower-impact resource consumption
Our new Home Centre stores have converted to low-energy lighting systems, reducing energy consumption by up to 30%. At our warehouses, we are in the process of converting 1,000-watt lighting fixtures to more energy-efficient 400-watt fixtures. In November 2010, we ran a pilot project in our Jebel Ali office in which we installed economisers in all water taps to minimize the water consumption, reducing the water usage by 16%. This marked a reduction in water consumption by over 4500 gallons compared to the previous quarter, equating to a savings of over 14%.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Rethink everything, every day
We currently have a very successful recycling programme at our stores, warehouses and corporate offices in which we recycle corrugated cardboard and plastic. We are also initiating plans to backhaul recycling material from our stores to our warehouses. Recycling efforts are being expanded to include office paper, bottles and cans as we continue to challenge our store and logistics operations to work toward Zero Waste.
More planet-conscious catalogues
Our catalogues have been switched to a lighter-weight paper, and we’ve reduced the size of several catalogue formats to minimize paper use. We diligently keep our mailing lists and databases up to date to avoid duplicate and undeliverable catalogue mailings. In addition, we also provide the option of a complete online catalogue, viewable page by page, for those who opt not to receive paper catalogues by mail.
A smarter Paper Purchasing Policy, company-wide
In 2010, Home Centre developed a new reduced-impact Paper Purchasing Policy that continues to evolve. In this multi-year, multi-phase project, we review and monitor standards with our suppliers and partners to track our progress as we implement new environmentally-conscious programmes, and as we seek out greener alternatives and technologies as they become available.
Improved warehouse efficiency
The back end of most retail operations use three main types of packaging, storing and shipping materials – wooden pallets, bubble wrap and shrink wrap. Home Centre warehouse operations have taken conscious steps towards reducing the pressure on these resources by adopting eco-friendly measures. Of our total pallet consumption, 25% are now recycled wooden pallets supplied by CHEP, a global leader in pallet and container pooling. CHEP’s durable pallets and containers responsibly use timber from sustainable tree farms.
Eco-friendly practices
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Our extensive waste collection and recycling drive has helped recycle 1,632 tonnes of paper in a year (equivalent to saving 27,000 trees).
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We use bio-degradable plastic bags, recycled paper bags, and canvas shopping bags for our customers.
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Switching to CHEP recycled wooden pallets has resulted in saving over 8,500 pounds of solid waste and 6,613 pounds of greenhouse gases.
