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.

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

On Earth Day, April 22nd, Spruce donated two trees to the local community. To be honest, it wasn’t just any kind of tree, it was a Spruce tree. Also, to be fair, it wasn’t just the local community, it was two elementary schools that have a personal connection with Spruce. Our first donation took place at Oak Ridge Heights School in Colonia, NJ. Our purchasing manager, Linda McGowan spent many of her days wandering those same halls when she was a kid. The event started with a terrific presentation in the gymnasium where one of our manufacturers, Gojo Industries, gave a great presentation on personal hygiene and hand washing. The presentation then moved outside for the actual tree planting ceremony while the elementary school choir sang several songs.

“Green-Day” continued as we headed north to Springfield, NJ. We celebrated the second half of our Earth Day at James Caldwell School. It wasn’t too long ago… OK it probably was a long time ago…. that Hank Josephs, Spruce Industries’ president, could be seen running around the playground of this very same school. Almost 50 years ago, Hank enjoyed the beautiful landscape of Caldwell School. Now it was time for us to give back. With the Caldwell School Environmental Club on hand to help give the new Spruce tree it’s first watering, Hank had an opportunity to educate the students on the values of family and what it means to be part of a community. His message was plain and simple: It’s about giving back to a community and providing the next generation with an equal opportunity to grow up in a clean and green environment.

I know Earth Day is just once a year and it is important to try and make improvements and be conscious of the environment everyday but we live in a fast pace world and sometimes it isn’t easy. There are so many aspects of our lives that can be enhanced or improved by simply looking for the “Greener” solution. My best advice is to impart one green action each day. Don’t try and implement, do, revamp, rebuild and remodel everything in one day – you will find the tasks overwhelming, the solutions overpriced and the idea of “Going Green” to simply be over. But if you take the time to research the issues and the solutions, you will find that the most modest modifications can have enormous benefits. Just think of the trees we planted…we not only planted two Spruce trees, but we planted the importance of being environmentally conscious in the next generation.

So I now want to hear from you…what did you do on Earth Day?

Now, almost 40 years later, over 500 million people and 175 countries observe a day that not only recognizes our environment, but this day holds us accountable for the total impact that we have on our planet. This day, April 22nd, is known as Earth Day.

In recognition of Earth Day, Spruce Industries will be donating two blue spruce trees on Tuesdsay April 22nd, 2008. The first tree will be donated to the James Caldwell Elementary School in Springfield, NJ. Hank Josephs, the president of Spruce Industries, attended this school and learned the importance of teamwork, participation and community. The second tree will be donated to the Oak Ridge Heights #21 Elementary School in Colonia, NJ. Linda McGowan, a purchasing agent for Spruce Industries, was a student at Oak Ridge Heights and wants to make sure that her family and her generation have the same clean air and landscape that she was privy to while growing up.

Earth Day is a day for not only going green, being green and living green; but it is the day where we all take responsibiility for the future of our families, communities and planet. Spruce Industries is a family company that has extended its’ roots through two generations. Spruce values family, community and working together and therefore, in honor of Earth Day, Spruce is giving back to the educational facilites that has imparted invaluable learnings to our team.

In honor of Earth Day, we are pleased to provide our planet friendly patrons with a 5% discount on all products purchasd online until April 29th, 2008. Just enter the coupon code “EARTH08″ during checkout to clean with the power of green.