The following case studies show what three businesses did to earn the Sustainable Business Award.
In
the small business company it was Clark Environmental Inc., a
family-owned company located in Mulberry, FL. Established in 1991, Clark
Environmental has four divisions: waste processing, transportation of
hazardous and non-hazardous materials, hazardous waste disposal, and a
thermal treatment division that produces clean soil. In 2005, they
switched to using reclaimed oil as their fuel source in the Thermal
Treatment plant and in 2009 used more than 530,000 gallons of recycled
waste oil with nary a smoke stack in sight. The motto at Clark
Environmental is “cleaning the Earth…one ton at a time.”
The
medium company is EVOS, whose founders are committed to being America's
healthier fast food leader. EVOS cooks with 100 percent pure air vs.
oil. They purchase Fair Trade Certified products, which guarantee a
better deal for third-world producers. EVOS supports sustainable family
farming by using Certified Organic ingredients whenever possible. They
affect their supply chain by using only biodegradable plastic cups and
bags made of vegetables vs. petroleum.
The large company is
Skanska, a multinational construction company recognized in 2010 as the
number one global leader of green building by the US Green Building
Council. More than half of waste material from construction sites is
diverted from landfills through recycling or reuse. Skanska believes
that the next important step in sustainability must include ‘greening’
the existing buildings that account for 99 percent of the planet’s
buildings. The company was the main influence on the greening of the
Empire State Building when they made their own office a LEED certified
platinum space.
The Sustainable Business Awards are an
initiative of The Earth Charter U.S., a nonprofit organization that
provides an ethical framework to building a caring, sustainable and
peaceful global society. It is a global declaration of our
interdependence and shared responsibility to inspire, educate and engage
people in respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice,
participatory democracy and a culture of peace. More than 6,000
individuals and organizations in the U.S. have endorsed the Earth
Charter, and gatherings are taking place in countries across the globe,
including Mexico, Holland, Australia, India, Brazil, Italy, Spain,
Taiwan and Costa Rica.