| News & Know How | News
Study Suggests 40% of Cancers
| Green Scene | GOJO is Going for the Green! By Jennifer H. McInerney
It’s easy for a company to adopt one or two environmen- tally responsible manufacturing practices and proclaim it’s “gone green.” So it’s refreshing when a company, such as GOJO Industries, Inc., embraces sustainability and integrates it into nearly every aspect of its operation, as an ongoing “commitment to the future.” GOJO, based in Akron, Ohio, is perhaps best known
for its antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers, including PURELL Green Certified Instant Hand Sanitizer, which has been recognized as a first-of-its-kind. But what might not be as well known is that the company’s commitment extends well beyond its lineup of green products. Take, for example, its waste-management initiative to repurpose its unused soaps. “Scrap soap and associated packaging that don’t meet our rigorous quality standards
Green Certified!
are sent off-site. The packaging is recycled locally, and the soap, reformulated and repackaged, is transformed into other products: industrial floor and equipment washes; automotive car detail wash; cleaners for wheels, dashboards, and leather; and other industrial items,” explains Joe Drenik, GOJO’s marketing communications and services director. “This and other ‘landfill-avoidance’ initiatives have allowed us to divert 86% of all our solid waste from landfills in just a few short years.” Waste-management is just one component of GOJO’s multifaceted sustainability
strategy, which it calls Sustainable Ways of Working. The program also involves reducing water consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, and environmental stewardship. As part of its ongoing recycling efforts, the company has recycled: 3,872 tons of corrugated cardboard, saving an estimated 66,000 trees and 93 million gallons of water; 253 tons of scrap metal, conserving an estimated 910 barrels of oil and enough metal to make more than 600 hybrid cars; 142 tons of office paper, sparing the equivalent of another 2,400 trees; and nearly a million gallons of water and 600,000 kilowatts of electricity. GOJO’s green commitment is also clearly in evidence at its state-of-the-art distribu-
tion center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which was completed in 2008. The building’s long list of energy efficiencies includes T8 fluorescent bulbs, which use 75% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last 10 times longer; sensors that shut off lights when not in use; and high-frequency battery chargers that automatically shut down once batteries have been fully charged. —|
.com For additional information about GOJO’s green initiatives, visit
gojo.com/sustainability. > Short Takes | A Healthy ROI
A study conducted by Regence BlueCross Blue Shield documented a $1.78 ROI for every $1 invested in its wellness offerings by its corporate clients. During the 2005–2009 period, participants in the program, compared to nonparticipants, had lower medical costs, saving $3.47 million; fewer unplanned absence hours ($2.9 million); and lower disability claims ($2.83 milion). Total savings: $9.2 million! —|
20 Club Business Internat ional | FEBRUARY 2012 |
ihrsa.org
are Preventable Lifestyle factors play an even larger role than anticipated
> A new report from the U.K. suggests that nearly half of all cancers are the result of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and could be avoided by not smoking, losing weight, exercising regularly, drinking fewer alcoholic beverages, etc. The study, conducted by Cancer
Research U.K. and described in the British Journal of Cancer, examined the correlation between 14 lifestyle factors and the incidence of cancer, and, in many cases, found a strong connection. It concluded, for instance, that alcohol was responsible for 6.4% of breast cancers and 10% of liver cancers, and that 75% of stomach cancers could be prevented by not smoking, not eating too much salt, and consuming more fruits and vegetables.
“Looking at the evidence, it’s clear that
around 40% of all cancers are caused by things we mostly have the power to change,” says the report’s author, Max Parkin, an epidemiologist with Cancer Research U.K. “We didn’t expect to find that eating fruits and vegetables would prove to be so important in protecting men against cancer. And, among women, we didn’t expect being overweight to have a greater effect than alcohol.” “…These figures show again the
impact a healthy lifestyle can have,” observes Ciarán Devane, the chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support. “Yet these healthy lifestyle messages are clearly not reaching enough people.” —|
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