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The Surprising Benefits of Going Green: One Company’s Story

We’ve all heard of the importance of going green in today’s world. The future quality of our environment and surroundings depend on how we treat the world today. Many of the problems with the environment arise due to the large amount of industrial production that today’s modern lifestyle demands. One of the best ways to cut back on damage to the earth is by improving the environmentally friendly practices of our industrial factories and manufacturing.

The Sysco office in Boston tried to do exactly that. The Sysco office and manufacturing plants made a commitment to try implementing greener practices in the office and manufacturing process. The company made some of the following changes to their routine:

  • Switched out wood pallets for plastic pallets

  • Switched to low-emission trucks

  • Implemented a serious recycling plan

  • Used recycled refrigerant

  • Switched to high-efficiency cooling and heating units

  • Implemented self-sustaining power generators

  • Recycled water waste

  • Supplemented fossil energy with green energy sources

Sysco Boston has now had these changes in place for several years and the impact has been surprising. The company has been able to save driving costs and emissions for over 500,000 miles by implementing some of these changes. The trucks used by Sysco Boston emit about 90 percent clean emissions during use. The energy-saving techniques have saved the company millions of operating dollars. Many of these benefits were expected, but one additional benefit was not.

The decision to use plastic pallets instead of wood pallets seems like a choice that contradicts green living, but in reality, it only helps the cause. Plastic pallets are easier to reuse because they are much easier to sanitize, which reduces the risk for cross-contamination. The plastic pallets also weigh about 33 percent less than wood pallets, which cuts down on the fuel use in shipping manufactured products. Plastic pallets are also easier to recycle than wood pallets, because the plastic is easy to melt and transform into other, usable plastic products.