The Independent Carton Group (ICG) recently announced that its members have collectively saved more than $1.8 million in electricity costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 18.1 million pounds annually by implementing energy-efficient lighting solutions in their manufacturing facilities, warehouses and offices.
The association of 17 independently owned and operated folding carton companies worked with Efficient Lighting Consultants (ELC) to create a custom energy-efficiency program, which included auditing energy consumption, devising conservation strategies, leveraging energy incentives and employing technologies that provide for the immediate reduction of energy usage while remaining within members' current utility budgets.
"In addition to considerable environmental and cost-saving benefits, many of our members have told us that the new lighting reflects true colors better and provides for improved color matching," said Andy Willie, president of the Independent Carton Group. "Since we know our members work closely with color matching in the manufacture of folding cartons, we've been very pleased to hear about this ancillary benefit of the program."
The ICG members' collective annual savings of more than $1.8 million is the result of more than 16.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity being saved each year. This is equivalent to more than 8.4 million pounds of coal and nearly 1.1 million gallons of oil not burned, or the amount of fossil fuels needed to provide 1,976 homes with electricity for one year.
ICG members have also helped reduce air pollution and improve air quality by decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful environmental pollutants. Gas emissions avoided annually include 33,383 pounds of sulfur oxides, 8,906 pounds of nitrogen oxides and more than 18 million pounds of carbon dioxide.
For more information, visit www.independentcartongroup.com.