Fact:

Human influence has been the major cause of observed climate change. More than ever, greenhouse gases lead to climate change, with melting ice caps and glaciers causing rising sea levels and altering precipitation.

Impact:

For Economy Linen, environmental responsibility means far more than being “green”. We view it as connected to every facet of our business, from our washroom modernization project to our multi-million dollar expenditure for state-of-the art equipment. We are the original “Green Industry”. Disposable paper products go to landfills, linen is reused over and over. Economy Linen uses much less water per pound than home washing. Top loaders use 5 gallons per pound, front loaders 2.5 gal/lb. We use 0.7 gallons per pound. We have the potential to make a difference on critical environmental issues, such as saving energy and combating climate change. Being environmentally responsible also supports our success as a company. We believe that it allows us to innovate, create value for our business, and meet the expectations of our customers and employees.

Over the past decade, we have made sustainability-focused advancements within our plant and distribution center – incorporating the use of renewable energy, reducing waste and lowering power usage. We also believe that our suppliers should consider sustainability in their own businesses – and we therefore work with mills and textile factories along our supply chain who reduce their own energy, chemical and water usage.

We are proud partners of organizations, such as the Textile Rental Services Association and the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council. We are Clean Green Certified; TRSA recognizes companies that demonstrate responsible leadership in sustainability and conservation to protect the environment. The program acknowledges a textile service company’s continuing commitment to improving efficiencies in water and energy conservation and adoption of best management practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources; recognizing that scaling efforts across our industry will help to amplify our efforts.

Things have changed

Our environmental initiatives are founded on the premise that we live in a world of constrained, finite natural resources, and that the long-term viability of companies will depend on the ability to do more with less.

Climate change and water scarcity have become significant risks for many industries, and they are increasingly affecting companies’ ability to operate. We recognize that in order to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century, innovations will be required across all sectors.

Environmental issues are presenting both new risks and opportunities, making our focus on environmental impacts all the more critical. Many trends are shaping the way companies mitigate risks and address opportunities:

• Innovations in operational efficiency.
• Increased consumer demand for sustainable practices and products.
• Measurement and awareness of environmental impacts that can help drive innovation and efficiency.
• Changes in the regulatory environment that requires companies to mitigate their environmental impacts.
• Increasing transparency in the marketplace, and the ability of technology to highlight impacts that were not previously clear.

At Economy Linen, our objective is to measure and reduce our impacts on the environment in order to protect natural resources, lessen risk, and help drive innovation. We seek to do so in a way that creates value for a wide range of stakeholders – our community, the employees, and others affected by our business. Here are some of the ways we’re doing that:

• Recovering heat from drained hot water and heat dispersed from the process of warming water
• Recapturing drained water from rinses for reuse
• Using environmentally friendly detergents
• Removing solids and liquids from wastewater
• Utilizing energy-efficient lighting
• Recycling programs
• Re-routing trucks to save vehicle fuel
• Spill prevention plans
• Preventive maintenance

We have a new vision

Our evolving strategy is based on our new vision for social and environmental responsibility at Economy Linen to “create value to our customers while doing the right thing”. This means we will seek to reduce our environmental impact and inspire sustainable innovation in a way that benefits a broad group of stakeholders, including workers, communities, consumers, employees, and our company.