SACRAMENTO, Calif. —AmeriPride Services’ local facility has been named the Sacramento Sustainable Business of the Year, the company reports.
AmeriPride says the branch was recognized for transportation and air quality by the Business and Environmental Resource Center (BERC), and as a Sacramento Area Sustainable Business by the City of Sacramento, the County of Sacramento, the California State Senate and the U.S. Congress.
The branch was originally nominated by the county sewer inspector and was also certified for water conservation, pollution prevention, energy conservation, solid waste reduction and green building, according to the company.
AmeriPride says it went through a long certification process that required on-site visits and verification that it met established criteria for certification. The company received the recognition last fall, and was the first company to receive all six certifications.
U.S. Rep. Ami Bera toured the AmeriPride laundry processing facility in Sacramento on March 31, according to the company. Bera also met with company management and employees about their efforts to implement sustainable business practices and reduce their environmental impact.
“We were pleased to host Congressman Bera and proud of the recognition we’re receiving for our efforts in environmental sustainability,” says Doug Henderson, general manager of the Sacramento branch. “We’re raising the bar for clean operations in the industry and it’s nice to know that people are starting to take notice.”
“It was great to spend some time with the AmeriPride team and learn more about their efforts to implement and utilize green technologies and best practices in sustainability,” says Bera. “They demonstrate a true commitment to responsible business practices in their production and delivery operations.”
Some of the recent operational changes the AmeriPride branch has made include production equipment upgrades, environmentally friendly (NPE-free) detergents, low nitrous oxide equipment (boilers, hot water heaters, dryers), fuel-efficient trucks and sedans, telematics technology to optimize fuel usage, automatic shut-off technology to reduce unnecessary idling, trailer skirts on semi-trucks for better gas mileage and routing software to plan more efficient routes.
AmeriPride says the effort in Sacramento is a part of a companywide sustainability program. Other initiatives the company is implementing across the United States and Canada include heat reclamation systems, solar power, mat and paper recycling and water conservation.
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