Kinko's Inc. (Dallas) has announced a series of agreements that increases its projected annual use of green power by 37 percent to approximately 11.2 million kilowatt hours. The move is part of the company's on-going efforts to integrate sustainable business practices into its operations.
More than 65 Kinko's locations in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington have joined the company's efforts to support the development and use of renewable energy. Kinko's says its new purchases will help avert more than 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking more than 250 cars off the road this year or planting more than 270,000 trees during the same period.
“Caring for the environment is part of Kinko's culture and our core values,” said Larry Rogero, the company's director of environmental affairs. “Using renewable power is a necessary step for our business to take on its journey to becoming a more sustainable business. This action delivers the lasting environmental, economic and social benefits derived from using clean, renewable and locally produced energy.”
Kinko's new agreements include new purchases in and around Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle. In Southern California, 19 Kinko's locations have joined the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Green Power Program. Participating branches will purchase between 10 and 20 percent of their electricity needs in the form of renewable energy through the Green Power Program, a part of LADWP's Green LA Program. In the Philadelphia area, Kinko's has expanded its existing renewable energy relationship with Green Mountain Energy Co. Kinko's has upgraded 10 stores to 100 percent renewable energy and added four participating locations in Philadelphia and Greensburg, Pa.
Kinko's also recently added to its green power purchases with Portland General Electric in Oregon by becoming one of the first commercial customers for PGE's Clean Wind product, a new wind power product designed to meet the needs of medium and large businesses. Five Portland-area locations signed up to purchase 20 percent of their power needs through this new program. They join seven locations that qualified for PGE's Green Mountain Energy electricity program last year.
Twenty-nine Kinko's locations in the Seattle/Puget Sound area have begun purchasing renewable energy to fulfill between 5 and 25 percent of their power needs. The new agreements were made possible by Seattle City Light's Green Power program, Snohomish County PUD's Planet Power and Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Plan, which is supplied by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.