WhiteWave Foods Company Greens Natural Products Expo West for Second Consecutive Year
WhiteWave Foods Company (WWFC), maker of Horizon Organic® and Silk® Soymilk, announced today that it will offset the environmental impact of The Natural Products Expo West, one of the top 100 largest trade shows in the U.S. WWFC is purchasing enough Green Tags, or renewable energy certificates, from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to cover the energy used to power all 256,000 square feet of the Anaheim Convention Center and host staff hotel rooms for the duration of Expo West from March 9-11.
Green Tags help “green the grid” by replacing the power produced from burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas with clean, renewable wind energy. With the purchase at Expo West, which totals 690 megawatt-hours of wind energy, WWFC will offset more than 483 tons of climate-altering carbon dioxide emissions. This is the second year WWFC has helped green Expo West and it is one more step in the company’s broader commitment to being a leader in sustainable business practices.
“Greening Expo West is an example of how we at WhiteWave Foods try to infuse our support of renewable energy in all we do,” said Joseph E. Scalzo, President and CEO of WWFC. “We’re pleased to continue purchasing renewable energy credits for the show because we believe it’s an investment that realizes invaluable return to our environment, our health, our economy and our quality of life — today and in the future.”
Also through its partnership with BEF, WWFC currently uses clean wind energy to offset 100 percent of the power used in the production of Silk and Horizon Organic products, as well as all the energy used at its corporate headquarters. To date, the company’s wind energy purchase of 153,000 megawatt-hours is the environmental equivalent of eliminating 107,000 tons of polluting greenhouse gas emissions or taking 18,000 cars off the road for one full year. The company and its brands also maintain a proud tradition of social and environmental responsibility. For the past four years, WWFC has been named a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Leader by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
It is in this spirit that Silk and Horizon Organic continue to make green strides in 2007. Next month, Silk Soymilk will introduce “Green Caps for Green Energy,” a new program that gives people a chance to be an active player in fostering and growing alternative fuel sources for a cleaner environment. To participate, consumers can purchase Silk products with green-colored caps and visit SilkSoymilk.com to enter the Universal Product Code (UPC) number. For every number entered, Silk will donate 30 kilowatt-hours in green tags to help grow the national green power grid, with the goal of providing enough wind energy to power 1,800 homes for an entire year. Wind power is an affordable energy source that does not cause pollution, generate waste, or deplete natural resources.
Horizon Organic also continues to make positive environmental impacts through its sustainable organic farming practices. The brand has been a pioneer in the organic movement and remains committed to land stewardship, working with some of the industry’s top experts in land conservation, organic agriculture and animal welfare. Since it was founded in 1991, Horizon Organic has converted what is equivalent to two acres every hour to organic production, which positively impacts the health of people and the planet. In 2006 alone, the combined efforts of the brand’s company-owned farms and those of its farmer partners, Horizon Organic prevented the use of 17.1 million pounds of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.
“We’re proud to be leaders in establishing a model for responsible, sustainable business in America,” said Scalzo. “We continue to remain committed to sustainable practices because it’s not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense.”
ABOUT SILK
Silk Soymilk was launched in 1996 and is the best-selling soymilk brand in the country. Not only do Silk products taste delicious, a cup of Silk contains as much calcium as a cup of milk and is loaded with soy protein, which when consumed as a part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. Silk is available in virtually all major supermarket chains and the complete product line includes a number of varieties and flavors to meet specific tastes and nutritional needs. For more information, visit www.silksoymilk.com.
ABOUT HORIZON ORGANIC
Horizon Organic, founded in 1991, was the first certified organic dairy to distribute products nationally in the United States. The company remains true to its vision for a more organic planet, purchasing milk from 353 certified organic dairy farms and providing certified organic dairy products to natural foods retailers and supermarkets across the country. Horizon Organic products are produced without the use of antibiotics, added growth hormones or harmful pesticides and always will be. That’s the organic promise from our farmers to consumers. For more information on the growing world of organic, visit www.horizonorganic.com.
About the Bonneville Environmental Foundation
The Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in 1998 to restore watershed ecosystems and further the development and use of new renewable energy resources. Through revenues generated from the sales of green power products, BEF funds projects that restore damaged watersheds and support new renewable energy projects from solar, wind and biomass. BEF pioneered the sale of Green Tags in 2000 and has helped establish national standards for certification and trading. More information is available on the web at www.greentagsusa.org.