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Green Initiatives

Sustainability has emerged as an important facet of wellness, as consumers adopt lifestyles that encompass not just their own health, but that of the environment. Companies have witnessed the change and are adapting to the new mantra as well. Exactly one-half of total respondents said that they are recycling solid waste; the specific number was 57% for retailers and 61% for manufacturers. However,

Sustainability has emerged as an important facet of wellness, as consumers adopt lifestyles that encompass not just their own health, but that of the environment. Companies have witnessed the change and are adapting to the new mantra as well. Exactly one-half of total respondents said that they are recycling solid waste; the specific number was 57% for retailers and 61% for manufacturers.

However, bag recycling and the sale of reusable bags were the first choices of retailers, with 70% stating they offered such options. That was a slight increase from two years ago, when 62% of retailers polled said they had bag programs.

Energy efficiency was another majority choice, with 52% of retailers and 30% of manufacturers reporting their companies are using solar or wind power, or participating in energy conservation programs like GreenChill, the initiative launched by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is up substantially from 2007, when only 24% of retailers said they were pursuing such strategies.