home depot report indicates continued building sustainability progress

A new report issued by the Atlanta-based Home Depot indicates that the company is well on its way to reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent in its nearly 2,300 locations.
The company’s 2019 Responsibility Report also indicates that the largest home improvement retailer in the world decreased its carbon dioxide intensity by 6 percent per every dollar of product sold.
In a statement regarding the report, Ron Jarvis, Home Depot vice president for environmental innovation, said the new report “showcases outstanding examples of our core values—how we work together to create a business that’s inclusive, ethical, and sustainable.”
Jarvis added that the company will continue to “challenge ourselves to think innovatively and keep raising the bar for sustainability.”
Among the steps Home Depot has embraced in recent years is an upgrading and improvement of its supply chain in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the goal of getting 135 megawatts of energy used by the chain’s store from renewable sources by next year.
The company has additionally committed itself to purchasing wood only from companies practicing sustainable forestry.
According to the company’s Built from Scratch overview report, Home Depot now sells “less than 1 percent of all wood cut worldwide.” And the majority of that wood, says the report, comes from “North American forests, which are expanding.”
Launched in 1978, Home Depot continues to build new locations in every region of the country, with most stores averaging around 105,000 square feet. Combined, Home Depot today owns and operates around 240 million square feet of retail space.
In a report published earlier this year, Daniel Kline, an analyst with the website Motley Fool, noted that Home Depot is one of the few retailers in the country that has not decreased its store presence as a result of ecommerce pressure.
“Customers might order a known home improvement item online,” said Kline, “but whether it’s a paint color or a light fixture, most items sold by the chain are the types of things people like to see in person.”

By Garry Boulard

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