Burt’s Bees Embraces Renewable Energy
Natural Personal Care Products Sustainability Leader Offsets 100
Percent of Its Electricity with Wind Power
DURHAM, N.C. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) February 12, 2008 --
Burt’s Bees, a leading manufacturer of natural
personal care products, today announced it has purchased 3,954,000
kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by
wind farms across America. Burt’s Bees’
REC purchase from Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy will
offset 100 percent of the company’s
electricity use.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that this purchase
helps avoid the same amount of CO2 emissions produced by nearly 563
passenger vehicles annually.
"Burt’s Bees is committed to supporting
the development of clean renewable wind energy and to continuously
improving our company’s overall environmental
footprint,” said John Replogle, president and
CEO of Burt’s Bees. “In
addition to the energy and resource conservation efforts we currently
have in place, this purchase of wind RECs is a step in the right
direction as we do our part to move our country toward a more
sustainable energy future.”
For information about how RECs work, please see below.
Burt’s Bees is encouraging its employees to
join the company in supporting wind power by participating in Renewable
Choice Energy’s home wind power program,
which enables consumers to purchase RECs offsetting their home energy
use. When employees sign up for the wind power program, the company will
pay 50 percent of the employee’s first year
charges as part of its employee benefits package. As part of its
commitment to Burt’s Bees, Renewable Choice
Energy held an on-site educational training for employees on renewable
energy and the REC market.
"Burt’s Bees’
purchase of RECs is a prime example of how environmentally responsible
companies can play a significant role in developing our nation’s
wind energy infrastructure,” said Quayle
Hodek, CEO of Renewable Choice Energy. “Corporate
REC purchases play a critical part in providing developers with more
opportunities and flexibility to get wind projects built. We’re
excited to work with Burt’s Bees and other
progressive companies to create demand for an increase in our nation’s
supply of clean renewable wind power.”
How RECs Work
Over seventy percent of U.S. electricity comes from fossil fuels like
burning coal and gas. Every time we burn fossil fuels to generate
electricity, harmful greenhouse gasses are emitted into the atmosphere,
contributing to climate change. Wind power-generated electricity is
renewable, sustainable, and does not produce environmental pollution.
Renewable energy credits (RECs) help get more clean power online. A REC
is created every time a renewable energy facility adds one MWh of
electricity to the national electricity grid. Every renewable energy
developer considers REC sales when deciding whether or not to build new
facilities. RECs allow government and consumers to price the positive
value of renewable energy, making its generation more competitive
financially with electricity generated from fossil fuels.
More than twenty states rely on RECs to track and verify government
renewable energy mandates. Consumers purchased approximately 12 million
megawatt hours of RECs in 2006. Organizations supporting the use of RECs
include the World Resources Institute, the Union of Concerned
Scientists, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Green-e program, administered by the non profit Center for Resource
Solutions, certifies and verifies every transaction to ensure that each
REC meets the highest environment and regulatory standards and is not
double counted. Green-e provides transparency, marketing guidelines, and
consumer disclosure for renewable energy credits.
About Burt’s Bees
Since 1991, Burt’s Bees has been offering
distinctive natural personal care products. Today, Burt’s
Bees is the leading manufacturer in natural personal care with over 150
Earth-friendly, natural personal care products, including face care,
body care, hair care, lip care, personal wash, men’s
grooming, baby care, outdoor remedies, and kits & gifts. Burt’s
Bees has a rich tradition in corporate social responsibility and stands
for The Greater Good with all their products having the highest
levels of natural ingredients, nature-safe processes, and
environmentally sensitive packaging. Burt’s
Bees has nearly 400 employees with products available through
approximately 40,000 retail stores in the United States, as well as
Canada, UK, Taiwan and on its website (www.burtsbees.com).
About Renewable Choice Energy
Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy (www.renewablechoice.com)
is the award-winning, full-service provider of Renewable Energy Credits
(RECs) and carbon offsets to organizations and individuals. The company’s
mission is to move society towards a more sustainable energy future by
connecting renewable energy and mitigation project developers with
forward-thinking companies, municipalities, academic institutions and
residential consumers. Since its inception in 2001, Renewable Choice has
developed innovative and meaningful programs on behalf of organizations
and Fortune 500 companies. In 2006, Renewable Choice shared the Beacon
Prize with its client Whole Foods Market for their campaign to educate
customers about wind power. Renewable Choice helped develop many
industry standards and best practices, and is the leading REC supplier
to LEED certified green building projects. All Renewable Choice RECs are
certified by Green-e, the nation’s leading
independent consumer protection program for the sale of renewable energy
and greenhouse gas reductions in the retail market. For more
information, visit www.renewablechoice.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wind farm b-roll and still
photography available upon request.
See the original story at: http://eon.businesswire.com/releases/renewable/energy/prweb694604.htm
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