Macy's: Saving Energy and Reducing Landfill Waste with 'Green' Practices

When it comes to shopping at your favorite department stores, have you ever stopped to think what they are doing to ease the distress that manufacturing, shipping, and their daily activities can cause on the environment? For many eco-conscious shoppers, the strides that popular, high-end stores take towards creating a more sustainable shopping experience can make all the difference when paying a visit to their shoe department to ordering a product from their online catalog. Let's take Macy's for example… Offering an impressive collection of luxurious bedding, your favorite scents, and cutting-edge fashion – the store has embraced a handful of 'green' practices. Biodegradable Shipping With shipped-out items, say 'goodbye' to those pesky Styrofoam peanuts. Expect eco-friendly packaging consisting of 100% biodegradable materials – pure corn and potato starch, to be exact. In less than 10 minutes, the packing material breaks down in water. You can dispose of the packaging by:

• Adding the packing material to your compost.
• Tossing it in the trash, as it will dissolve on its own at the landfill.
• Dissolving in water and then adding to your garden or yard.
• Simply placing into your garbage disposal under running water.

Solar Power on the Rise Taking advantage of the replenishing sun, California-based Macy's (such as Sunnyvale, Temecula, Newport Beach, Moreno Valley, and Thousand Oaks) will now use solar panels to enhance high-efficiency lighting and other energy-saving changes within their stores. These efforts will cut energy consumption by 40%. Each year, the difference is more than 24 million kilowatt hours saved per year. With these changes, Macy's will also decrease their annual greenhouse gas emissions by well over a million pounds per year. Eco-Friendly Shopping Bags Macy's is estimated to send consumers home with more than 43 million shopping bags (with handles) on a yearly basis. However, new practices now mean there will be no more guilt with mounting shopping bags, as their new bags are now 100% recyclable and use kraft paper with 30% recycled material. Macy's Eco-Shop Interested in shopping eco-products at Macy's, consider the following:

• Haven by Hotel Collection – organic cotton bath towels and rugs
• Calvin Klein – organic cotton towels
• Lauren Ralph Lauren Spa – towel collection and organic cotton bedding
• Charter Club Organic Cotton – down comforters, mattress pads, and European pillows
• Frango Organic Mint Chocolates

Photos from Macy's.com