Lowe’s and the Environment

Sustainable Goals

Becoming a more sustainable business is a journey, and Lowe's is committed to continuously working toward being a good steward of the environment.
 
Developing our approach to sustainability has given us the opportunity to look beyond the traditional supply chain and focus on the entire product life cycle. A product's life cycle begins with sourcing the raw material that goes into the product all the way to the end of product life disposal issues. We are working on reducing fuel consumption across the supply chain, saving energy in all of our facilities and reducing waste that goes into landfills.

Product Solutions

As a home improvement industry leader, Lowe's is dedicated to providing more than just great prices, products and services. We are committed to providing solutions that benefit the home we all share. Creating a sustainable planet starts with each of us doing our part.
 
We are meeting that obligation in our stores by continuing to expand our line of efficient home products and by communicating their value to customers. In October, we reached a multi-year agreement to make insulation manufacturer Johns Manville an exclusive supplier to Lowe's. As a result, our customers gain increased access to the most advanced insulation technology for energy efficiency and improved indoor air quality from the only company to offer a full line of Formaldehyde-free™ fiberglass building insulation. The formaldehyde-free feature comes at no additional cost, providing added value for consumers who are benefitting from lower utility bills.
 
Providing customers products that make their lives better while saving them money and reducing their environmental footprint resulted in industry-leading recognition for Lowe's in 2009. In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy named Lowe's the 2009 ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year. In October, the EPA awarded Lowe's the 2009 WaterSense® Retail Partner of the Year Award.
 
“We are proud to advance a model for conservation that benefits future generations,” said Nick Canter, Lowe's executive vice president of merchandising.
 
Our success educating consumers about the cost-saving and environmental benefits of energy efficiency led to our fourth ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year Award – our seventh consecutive ENERGY STAR® honor overall. The award winners were selected from more than 12,000 organizations. In addition to being recognized for continued leadership in marketing our comprehensive line of appliances, lighting and home improvement products, we were honored for exceptional contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 
In 2008, Lowe's sold enough ENERGY STAR® products to:

• save consumers enough energy each year to eliminate greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from more than 220,000 cars;
• save consumers more than $190 million each year off their energy bills compared with non-ENERGY STAR®-qualified products.

The WaterSense® award honored our efforts to increase awareness of the WaterSense® label and to educate consumers about water-efficient practices. Explaining the benefits of water conservation in stores and online through the “Build Your Savings” program, Lowe's is helping to protect the future of our nation's water supply and helping families reduce utility bills at a time when every dollar counts.
 
The number of WaterSense®-labeled toilets and bathroom faucets Lowe's sold in 2008 can save enough water in a year to:

• fill more than 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools (or save more than 200 million gallons of water annually);
• save consumers more than $750,000 each year on water bills.

ENERGY STAR® savings information is based on information from the EPA; WaterSense® savings information is based on the EPA's WaterSense® Calculator.

Product Transportation

Providing customers with products they need to improve their homes and lives is core to our business. Getting those products to the stores is necessary to make that happen – and we do that in an environmentally responsible manner. 
 
Our conservation strategies and continued contributions to the transportation industry were honored in October as we picked up our third consecutive SmartWay Environmental Excellence Award. Recognized for our leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, we were one of 37 companies and organizations, from among more than 2,100 partners, to receive this distinction.
 
In the process, Lowe's completed an unprecedented sweep. Together with the ENERGY STAR® and WaterSense® Retail Partner of the Year Awards, the SmartWay Environmental Excellence Award gives Lowe's the distinction of being the first retailer to simultaneously hold these three top honors.
 
“Our many years of dedication to environmental stewardship are reflected in the awards we received this year,” said Michael Chenard, Lowe's director of environmental affairs.
 
To earn the award, we implemented initiatives that resulted in reduced carbon dioxide emissions and less overall highway congestion. These included increasing shipping by rail, increasing efficiency of truckload shipments, allowing more products to be shipped on fewer trailers, and continuing to use a higher percentage of SmartWay carriers. 
 
Since becoming a SmartWay partner in 2005, shortly after the EPA created the program, we have doubled the percentage of intermodal (truck and rail) loads we ship. In 2006, when about 75 percent of Lowe's truck shipments were moved by SmartWay carriers, we announced our goal to increase that number to 90 percent by 2010. We achieved that goal in 2008, and SmartWay participating carriers are now moving 98 percent of the products we ship domestically.
 
The impact has been significant. Since 2005, the SmartWay program has reduced our carriers' highway travel by 324 million miles and resulted in diesel fuel savings of more than 61 million gallons and carbon savings of more than 682,000 tons.
 
For more information on this important program, visit www.epa.gov/smartway.

Efficient Store Operation

Lowe's Energy Awareness Delivers Savings (LEADS)
With more than 1,675 stores in the United States and Canada, Lowe's strives to operate our stores as efficiently as possible. To help manage our resources, our facility team engages with our stores to implement a new efficiency program called Lowe's Energy Awareness Delivers Savings, or LEADS.
 
Using LEADS principles, our employees have reduced energy use by more than 301 billion BTUs and water use by 154 million gallons during the first seven months of the 2009 fiscal year as compared to the same period in 2008. Total cumulative savings of our energy and water bills exceed $26 million – and that's just since March 2008.

Green Power
Lowe's is committed to improving our environmental performance and creating a healthier world through the purchase of green power, electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. We rank sixth among America's top retail green power purchasers and No. 16 in the FORTUNE 500® in green power purchasing.

Recycling
Reducing waste in our communities is at the heart of Lowe's recycling strategies. With a proactive approach to minimizing our impact, Lowe's is proud of the progress we've made with our recycling programs. Our stores collected 285,000 pounds of recyclable batteries in 2008, a 38 percent increase over 2007. Each year, Lowe's stores and regional distribution centers recycle a combined 149,000 tons of wood pallets, 146,000 tons of cardboard and 261 tons of shrink wrap. And in 2009, we moved forward with our appliance recycling pilot program, with 120 stores participating. Through October, more than 87 percent of appliances were recycled. We plan to launch the program in all of our stores in 2010.

The Nature Conservancy

Part of our community commitment is our strong relationship with The Nature Conservancy. Our partnership with the world's leading conservation organization is now in its fourth year, and it has evolved from specific projects in select states to a regional focus.
 
The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation's $2 million gift in 2009 will support one of the Conservancy's most important initiatives – the forests of North America. The gift provides crucial funding for conserving forests in the Southern Coastal Plain, the Rockies and the Appalachians in the United States as well as the vast Canadian Darkwoods.
 
The Darkwoods represent the largest private land conservation acquisition in Canada's history. The 135,000-acre project connects a tract covering 250,000 acres that is large enough to allow wide-ranging animals such as grizzlies and caribou to roam freely. Similarly in the Northern Rockies, Lowe's is contributing to the purchase of more than 310,000 acres of forestland in western Montana. The Montana Legacy Project will protect forestland that is home to nearly all of North America's large mammals.

Responsible Wood Sourcing

Forests provide both sustainable building materials and a place to relax and reconnect to nature. Since 2000, Lowe's has worked with our suppliers to ensure that today's forests can be enjoyed for years to come through the practice of conservation and protection.
 
In 2008, Lowe's extended our commitment to global forest conservation by supporting the update of the Lacey Act – an effort to end illegal logging globally.
 
We are now actively engaged with environmental and industry groups and government agencies in helping interpret and implement this important initiative.
 
For more information on Lowe's wood policy, visit www.lowes.com/woodpolicy.

Stormwater Program Honored

In June, Lowe's received the John A.S. McGlennon Environmental Award for Corporate Leadership. The Environmental Business Council of New England honored Lowe's for the development and implementation of our national stormwater pollution prevention program, which manages construction activities to protect and improve water quality in the communities where we locate.
 
For more information, visit www.lowes.com/environment.