Best Buy Presents $3 Million in Teach Awards to K-12 Schools. April 24, 2008
Photo taken by Juliano Moreira
Increasingly, our customers have needs for responsible technology and environmentally friendly choices. They also want to know that our employees and company are trustworthy and socially responsible as we continue to grow and make a difference in their communities.
Best Buy already has some great wins to take credit for: consumers recycle more e-waste through Best Buy than any other retailer through special customer events, TV and appliance haul away program, our service programs and in-store recycling kiosks - over 43,000 tons in fiscal 2008, and our commitment to helping appliance customers with energy-efficient choices earned Best Buy the 2008 ENERGY STAR Excellence in Appliance Retailing award.
But, the increase in consumer needs around energy efficiency, the growing e-waste stream and pressure on our own company to be more conscious of our environmental footprint requires us to move even faster, and do even more.
In a recent survey of our customers, only seven percent of them were aware of how Best Buy could help them lessen the environmental impact of their consumer electronics products. In the same survey, 27 percent said they would be significantly influenced in purchase decisions based on information about the environmental impact of manufacturing and use of consumer electronics products. (From CSI Jan. 7 - Feb. 1, 2008.) That's an opportunity.
We're uniquely poised to help our customers in ways that no other retailer can match. Read on for the goals Best Buy has set for FY '09, highlights of what we've accomplished and what else is coming soon.
Four Green Goals
We help our customers choose the most energy-efficient and responsibly-made products and are able to teach them to use electronics more efficiently in their homes, offices or on the go. And when those products become obsolete or replaced, we'll help the re-use or recycle them responsibly.
This year, our marketing focus with customers will be on the first two goals described here (green business and recycling), and in July, store teams will conduct training focused on energy efficiency and recycling. We are in the process of establishing metrics for each of the four goals that align with our overall company strategy and commitment to sustainability, and as a company we'll be working on four goals in total:
1.Grow Our Green Business
Today, we offer thousands of ENERGY STAR-qualified products in Home Theater, Computers and Appliances. We're going to accelerate our energy-efficient product selection beyond appliances, identify ways to reduce our packaging, and provide new product and service solutions that help our customers make choices that help the environment. We'll ramp up our efforts to educate consumers on their options. The Private Label/Exclusive Brands team is also working on ENERGY STAR compliance for TVs and other home theater products.
Our sale of ENERGY STAR qualified products in 2007 will:
- Help customers save over $100 million in energy bills in 2008
- Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) output by over 1.4 billion pounds, which is the equivalent of taking 128,000 cars off the road for the entire year.
- Help customers save over $100 million in energy bills in 2008
- Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) output by over 1.4 billion pounds, which is the equivalent of taking 128,000 cars off the road for the entire year.
- Help customers save over $100 million in energy bills in 2008
- Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) output by over 1.4 billion pounds, which is the equivalent of taking 128,000 cars off the road for the entire year.
"Growing the mix of our overall business that is environmentally friendly will be an important part of us achieving our overall goals of 15/20/7," commented Tim Sheehan, SVP Customer Experience Creation.
Go to www.BestBuy.com/green to see how we help customers make environmentally-friendly choices today.
2.Increase Our Recycling Efforts and Options
Consumer Electronics is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet. We believe manufacturers, retailers, consumers, recyclers and government share a responsibility to ensure that e-waste is properly reused or recycled, and never exported or dumped in landfills. We're an industry leader, and we are a leader in recycling.
Best Buy was the first, and remains the only, retailer to have a permanent recycling kiosk in every U.S. store for recycling of rechargeable batteries, ink cartridges and cell phones. The recycling service has been expanded for the collection of all wireless devices, MP3 players, GPS and compact discs. In 2007, these kiosks collected over 83,000 pounds of these materials for recycling and donated more than $42,000 to the Boy's and Girl's Clubs of America.
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint
By using efficient lighting, we can impact the amount of energy we draw every day. Many of our distribution centers have already been updated with energy-efficient lighting (T5 lighting with dimmer capabilities) with the last center will be completed by August. The Transportation team is working to reduce truck idling at stores and distribution centers. "We believe we can reduce idling, and therefore the fuel emissions the trucks produce, by 50 percent in our distribution centers by the end of FY '09," commented Jeri Swierzewksi, VP Logistics.
Energy efficient building - doing it right from the ground up - is the focus of the Properties team. Best Buy is actively pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for new construction. Here's what's in the works for new Best Buy stores: