Philadelphia, PA – April 19, 2009 – ARAMARK’s 255,000 employees worldwide reach millions of people and communities every day, making their environmental stewardship initiatives a powerful, international effort. In honor of Earth Day, ARAMARK is celebrating its employees’ efforts to positively impact the environment and communities it serves by launching a microsite on the company’s home page www.aramark.com.
“Throughout our operations we work to incorporate environmentally-preferable products and practices, sustainable food and local purchasing options, energy and water conservation efforts, and waste management,” said Robert Dennill, Associate Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility. “This Earth Day we are proud to take a moment to recognize our employees, clients, customers and communities, for the part they play in nurturing a healthier planet through their continued efforts.”
Earth Week
In nine cities across the United States, ARAMARK employees are joining with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), volunteering on conservation service projects during Earth Week. The SCA is the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit, non-advocacy organization devoted to linking young people and their communities, to protect our parks, urban green spaces, restore our environment, raise awareness of our natural world, and improve the lives of those in underserved communities.
To find an SCA Earth Day event near you, please visit: http://www.thesca.org/events
RAMARK Higher Education is celebrating Earth Day across ARAMARK partner campuses with a special “Happy bEARTHday Earth Day” party including several programs to highlight ARAMARK’s focus on environmental stewardship. Higher Education also announced an update to its Green Stakes program launched on Earth Day 2009. Green Stakes are national commitments put in place to affect real change in five key sustainable practices across ARAMARK Higher Education operations. As just one example, ARAMARK Higher Education is diverting 100 percent of the nearly 500,000 gallons of fryer oil waste from all ARAMARK-managed college and universities throughout North America resulting in a reduction of approximately 3.5 million pounds of emissions, or the carbon sequestered by 40,000 trees grown for 10 years. Click here to see the environmental and social impact of the Green Stakes commitments.
ARAMARK Business and Industry Group (BIG) locations across the country will be featuring special Earth Day menus and distributing related educational information. BIG Facility Services will be distributing white pine trees to all employees at a GM plant in Northeast Ohio and participating in a “River Sweep” to clean up feeders to the Cuyahoga River.
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations celebrates Earth Day by showcasing examples of environmental stewardship practiced every day throughout its operations. After implementing environmental management systems that assess, measure and improve performance, ARAMARK Parks and Destinations found that in 2009 alone it had: achieved reductions of 5% in water use and 16% in electricity, while increasing commitments to recycling by 7% and overall diversion of waste from local landfills by 13%. While every day is Earth Day at ARAMARK-managed Parks and Destinations, the team is also coordinating Earth Week 2010 activities in communities across the U.S. Click here to learn more.
Every Week
ARAMARK Healthcare Canada was recently recognized for its Green Team Environmental Stewardship Initiatives (ESI) by the Recycling Council of Ontario. The ESI is delivered largely through client sites across the country, and is a broad-based and evolving environmental awareness communications platform focused on engaging Canadians to reduce their ecological footprint. The program includes environmentally-focused event management kits and a variety of communication materials that provide useful information about making a positive impact on the local and global environment.
Internationally, ARAMARK is supporting several eco-friendly dining initiatives in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany. ARAMARK UK is now in its fifth year as lead sponsor of British Food Fortnight, which promotes the use of British food and encourages school children to learn about the value of local and seasonal produce through farm tours, hands-on classroom demonstrations with ARAMARK chefs, and menus featuring the best of British food. ARAMARK Ireland’s “Celebrate Irish Food Fortnight,” campaign was designed to promote the use of Irish sourced produce. ARAMARK Ireland has long been a supporter of Irish produce, milk, eggs, and beef. In all, the company purchases approximately €37m in Irish-produced food each year. Earlier this year, the ARAMARK-operated restaurant of Bauerfeind AG in Zeulenroda one of the world’s leading manufacturers of medical aids, received the respected "Stop Climate Change (SCC)" certification, making it the first climate-neutral company restaurant in Germany.
ARAMARK Uniform Services (AUS) has steadily and systematically reduced its carbon footprint and its impact on the environment – and has the results to show for it. Research conducted since 2003 tells the story of AUS’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The group tracked a 29% reduction in natural gas usage, 24% reduction in water usage, and an 11% in electricity.
SeamlessWeb, an ARAMARK company, has instituted several important tools to its Web-based food ordering system to reduce its ecological footprint, including: supplying its restaurant partners with Oxo-biodegradable bags (over 15 million meals each year are delivered in 100% biodegradable bags); offering an eco-friendly option at checkout to reduce the extra packaging that accompanies delivery and takeout meals; eliminating paper waste by using electronic invoicing (saving an estimated 50+ full grown trees annually;) and aggregating many of our business clients’ orders from each restaurant in an effort to make a single delivery, thereby reducing the number of deliveries to a given location.
Awards
ARAMARK’s award-winning environmental stewardship initiatives have been recognized by several prestigious organizations.
ARAMARK was ranked one of the Top Green-IT Companies by InfoWorld.
ARAMARK Healthcare Canada’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative has earned a Waste Minimization Gold Award in Communications from the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) for the second straight year.
A partnership between Iowa Health System and ARAMARK Healthcare received an Environmental Stewardship Award from the Metro Waste Authority (MWA).
For the second consecutive year, ARAMARK’s energy management expertise helped win the EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year awards for ARAMARK Education client Council Rock School District in Pennsylvania.
The National Conference Center, managed by ARAMARK, was one of 28 lodging properties in the United States to receive a prestigious Green Seal Certification.
The City of Chicago and the United States Environmental Protection Agency recognized Navy Pier and McCormick Place for their efforts in recycling. For seven years, ARAMARK Sports, Entertainment and Conventions has provided facility services for the two popular Chicago tourist attractions.
About ARAMARK Environmental Stewardship
At ARAMARK, we are committed to protecting and improving the environment. We work to reduce our environmental footprint while offering expertise and practical solutions to thousands of client locations to help them reduce their environmental impacts. Throughout our company, we develop and implement programs that promote sustainability through environment-friendly products and practices, sustainable food & local purchasing options, energy & water conservation efforts and waste management.
About ARAMARK
ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. The company is recognized as one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, as the industry leader in FORTUNE magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies," and as one of America's Largest Private Companies by both FORTUNE and Forbes magazines. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 255,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Learn more at www.twitter.com/aramarknews.
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