Staples recently announced plans to build the first retail store in Miami to be registered with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The goal is construct a building in compliance with LEED’s silver certification program.
In concert with the environmentally-friendly building comes a plan by the company to encourage sustainable transportation by bike by providing bike racks and showers for its employees.
(From the Staples website) The store’s green design will help
- Improve energy performance and reduce “heat island effect” contributing to higher city temperatures through a highly reflective roofing system
- Reduce the strain on municipal water and Florida aquifer reserves by collecting rainwater through rooftop gutter systems and installing waterless urinals and low-flow toilets
-
Preserve non-renewable, virgin resources by using drywall, steel, concrete, bathroom partitions, carpet and parking stops made from recycled materials - Protect and restore habitats by landscaping with 100 percent native plants and shrubs
- Encourage alternative transportation by installing bike racks and showers
- Lead recycling efforts by having on-site recycling for paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard, in addition to computer, electronics and ink cartridge recycling offered by Staples stores every day. </blockquote>
It’s always exciting when companies go green in their business practices, especially when they take the extra step to address their workers’ transportation. But it’s particularly encouraging when a company like Staples, the world’s largest office products supplier, moves in that direction. Efforts such as this one help take the carectomy procedure, and environmentalism in general, out of the fringe and one step closer to mainstream. If this new store became Staples’ global model, other businesses would follow suit and the world would be a greener, cooler, bike-friendlier, happier place.
Related posts: