Spruce Industries Blog Page

O'Dell Corporation Goes Beyond Selling Green

July 14, 2008 – 9:51 pm by Danielle Esposito

Whether it be huge conglomerates or your run of the mill Mom & Pop operations who decide to “go green”, it may seem like just another stint at a great marketing ploy and joining the competition on the green fanaticism. And in some instances, that might be just exactly the case. Not to say that these companies aren’t headed in the right direction, but come on people! Let’s get seriously serious and if you really want to make a difference, you should be following in the steps of The O’Dell Corporation. The O’Dell Corporation is dedicated to the preservation of the environment by producing products for responsible cleaning alongside with green manufacturing of those products.

The Leonardo Academy - A non-profit organization dedicated to a vision of advancing sustainability and putting the competitive market to work on improving the environment¹ — along with The Green Cleaning Network, have awarded The O’Dell Corporation for successfully completing the requirements for the Cleaning Industry Climate Initiative. Their levels of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide and nitrous oxide emissions have dropped so dramatically that the only energy they’re using is their employees burning off their lunches!! The following table outlines the total emissions reductions that result from the company’s renewable energy use and maintenance of the company’s tree farm.

Total Emissions Reductions by Pollutant Type	Carbon Dioxide	Sulfur Dioxide	Nitrous Oxide	Mercury
Off-Site Emission Reductions from Renewable Energy (lbs)	154,892	1,806	411	0.00541
Emission Reductions from O’Dell Tree Farm	99,063,814	–	–	–
Total Company Emission Reductions (lbs)	99,218,706	1,806	807	0.00541
Total Company Emissions (lbs)	591,922	2,733	807	0.00525
Percent Emission Reduction	16,721%	66%	51%	103%

So what does all of this mumbo jumbo mean? Layman’s terms: They saved more energy than they actually used. How can something like this be possible you ask? O’Dell has established their own 1000-acre tree farm and in conjunction with The South Carolina Waterfowl Association, has also created wetlands to provide naturally occurring food sources such as fruit trees, grasses & grains, which promote healthy growth and reproduction of many other species of wildlife. Their certified tree farm REMOVES 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide and PRODUCES 4,000 tons of oxygen annually, enough to supply 16,200 people.

More recently, O’Dell has brought environmental stewardship into the manufacturing process. While recycling of corrugated and plastic materials has been implemented for some time, newer technology now offers greater opportunities to contribute to the overall environmental impact. O’Dell has become the first manufacturer in South Carolina to obtain “Green Power Partner” status with LEC and the EPA. They are 100% green power supplied. O’Dell has also fully committed themselves to taking advantage of new, sustainable technologies as they become available.

Here at Spruce, we applaud companies like The O’Dell Corporation who have single handedly changed the face of what it means to “go green”. They have demonstrated a whole hearted participation in dramatically changing how we can control the forefront of our global issue: emissions reduction. If we can all, not only produce environmentally safe products, but do it in an environmentally manufacturing way, we can hit the issue head on. Only time will tell. But I hope sooner rather than later.

¹www.LeonardoAcademy.org