McKesson to raise awareness around Earth Day with fourth annual Green Week
SAN FRANCISCO — McKesson Corp. on Tuesday announced that in observance of Earth Day, the company will celebrate its fourth annual Green Week April 21-25. McKesson’s Green Week will focus on raising awareness and inspiring action. While informing employees about McKesson’s efforts to reduce its environmental footprint, the campaign will also provide ways that employees can make a difference. Each day of McKesson’s Green Week 2014 is organized around a theme, such as Meat Free Monday or Fossil Free Friday.
“McKesson aims to create better health for our customers, our employees, our communities and our planet," stated Carrie Varoquiers, VP corporate citizenship. "Engaging our employees in environmental efforts only strengthens our commitment to maintaining a healthy, vibrant and sustainable company.”
McKesson will also encourage participation in an online pledge prompting all its employees to think about how they might change their habits and celebrate Earth Day every day. McKesson will be donating one tree to the National Forest Foundation for each employee who submits their pledge.
McKesson’s employee-led Environmental Councils drive awareness of local environmental initiatives and help scale enterprise-wide sustainability programs. The Councils represent a variety of locations, from offices of 2,000 employees to distribution centers to call centers. Environmental Councils host events, speakers, vendor fairs and volunteer activities.
McKesson’s business practices promoting better health include:
Fleet Efficiency: Since 2010, McKesson has focused on reducing fleet emissions by replacing unleaded gasoline and diesel engines with more fuel-efficient compressed natural gas engines in its U.S. Pharma sales fleet. Between fiscal years 2012 and 2013 alone, fleet CO2 emissions (in pounds) decreased 24%, and average CO2 emissions per vehicle decreased 30%;
Building Efficiency: McKesson uses the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager to benchmark its facilities. In its U.S. portfolio, 25 facilities qualify as Energy Star, totaling 2.4 million square feet; and
Supply Chain Efficiency: To analyze McKesson's distribution operations, the company developed the Supply Chain Sustainability Model in partnership with IBM Research. SCSM collects energy use and carbon emissions from fleet vehicles and every piece of equipment in the distribution center. It allows McKesson the agility to adjust operations, which drives decreased carbon emissions and reduced fuel consumption.