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Stonyfield Farm Receives EPA Clean Air Award

Release Date: 05/14/2009
Contact Information: EPA Office of Public Affairs, (617) 918-1010

(Boston, Mass. – May 14, 2009) – Stonyfield Farm, the Londonderry, N.H. based organic yogurt manufacturer, was one of 15 organizations across the nation honored with a 2008 Clean Air Excellence Award at a ceremony this week in Washington D.C.

This is the ninth year EPA has recognized outstanding innovative efforts that help achieve cleaner air. Stonyfield Farm was recognized for their commitment to social and environmental responsibility. In addition to supporting family farms and donating 10 percent of its profits to programs that protect and restore the earth, Stonyfield offsets the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from its facility energy use. Stonyfield has experienced healthy growth over the past several years while also implementing a corporate plan to decrease emissions from their transportation and logistics operations.

“EPA New England is proud to recognize Stonyfield Farm for their leadership and innovation in addressing the unique challenge of expanding operations, while also reducing emissions and becoming more sustainable,” said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator for EPA New England. “The strategies that Stonyfield has employed, demonstrate that what is good for the environment is also good for their bottom line.”

Stonyfield’s growth highlighted several issues in the area of transportation and logistics, including increased output of transportation-related greenhouse gases (GHGs). To address and accurately measure the impacts of this growth on GHG emissions, the company implemented several key strategies, including the following:

- Purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles;
- Implementing the use of electronic freight invoicing;
- Measuring GHG via the SmartWay FLEET Performance Model;
- Increasing the minimum order requirements to reduce the frequency of deliveries to a single location;
- Expanding local fleet usage to deliver 25 percent of the product volume; and
- Maintaining adequate inventory of products to ensure orders are filled in a single shipment, reducing redundant deliveries.

These strategies have reduced CO2 emissions by 37 percent in one year, despite an increase in the tons of product shipped. Stonyfield continues to show their leadership in environmental responsibility through their smart transportation choices.

"Throughout our 26-year history, Stonyfield Farm's focus has not only been to create a quality, great-tasting product, but also to remain mindful of the environmental impact of making and distributing that product,” said Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo. “We had to address the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from our product distribution, so toward that end, our team worked tirelessly to create a more efficient, 'greener' distribution strategy. They did a great job, and we're honored that this award recognizes their hard work and single-minded commitment to lessening our environmental impact."

Award-winning entries in the Clean Air Excellence Award must directly or indirectly reduce pollutant emissions, demonstrate innovation, offer sustainable outcomes, and provide a model for others to follow.

More information:

- SmartWay Transport Partnership (https://www.epa.gov/smartway/)
- Clean Air Excellence award winners (https://www.epa.gov/air/caaac/clean_award.html)
- Stonyfield Farm – Earth Actions (http://www.stonyfield.com/)

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