Environmental Sustainability

Recycling

Recycling sustains our environment by reducing waste and reutilizing natural resources. Currently, we recycle: Plastic Shrink Wrap, Plastic Containers, CHEP Program-Reusable Pallets, Wooden Pallets, Cardboard, Paper, Printer Cartridges, Cans, Glass and other containers.

Our City Carton cardboard and plastic recycling programs alone make important, positive impacts on the environment each year. In one year, these specific recycling efforts equate to saving approximately 2,300 trees, 950,000 gallons of water and 99,500 gallons of oil.

Reducing Energy Consumption

Controlling energy consumption is an important aspect of environmental preservation. At Martin Bros., we are reducing energy consumption in our warehouse by using:

• Digital Temperature Controls
• Automatic Lighting Controls
• Peak Usage Monitoring
• Skylights in storage areas that utilize natural light

Transportation

Our transportation routing system optimizes the quickest and most precise travel times and distances to delivery locations, which reduces fossil fuel consumption. This system, called Roadnet®, was created by UPS Logistics Technologies to increase customer service, decrease distribution costs and reduce environmental impact.

Other initiatives we are taking in transportation include "green" Carrier cooling units and Super Single tractor tires. The cooling units are designed to run off of electric motors for periods of time to save fuel, and the tires are purported to save fuel and thus reduce consumption, as well.

Facilities and Equipment

Martin Bros. also chooses to go the extra mile to sustain our environment when cleaning and maintaining our facilities and equipment. We use environmentally-friendly cleaning solutions to ensure that we are not contributing to undue groundwater pollution. Additionally, we use biodegradable fluids in our dock equipment.

Furthermore, we ship the vast majority of our products to our customers on reusable plastic pallets that are easily brought back, cleaned and used again. Plastic pallets have a life span of 400+ trips as compared to wooden pallets that have a life span of 4.5 trips.

Martin Bros. is also a participating member of the CHEP program, which means approximately 65% of our wood pallets are returned, washed, sanitized and reused; and all of our regular wood pallets are recycled via pallet companies to be used in other business segments.

Martin Bros.’ newest endeavor in the green movement is working to improve our facilities along the guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Printing

Martin Bros. publishes many of our forms, brochures and flyers as electronic documents, saving the electricity and paper use of printing. In addition, our reduced number of printed newsletters as well as our culinary magazine are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

Green Cleaning Advisors

Martin Bros. Janitorial Specialists are certified Green Cleaning Advisors with training completed through Multi-Clean, a leader in the green cleaning industry. They can assist you in earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) points and making your facility more sustainable and environmentally friendly to your occupants. They can complete an audit of your entire building and present a comprehensive report with recommendations on how to become more "green" and have an overall healthier environment.

Paper Recycling in 2011

• 136.02 Tons of Paper Recycled
• 2,312 Trees Saved
• 952,140 Gallons of Water Saved
• 62,977 Gallons of Oil Saved
• 68 Homes Powered for 1 Year
• 416 Cubic Yards of Landfill Space Saved

Plastic Recycling in 2011

• 53.32 Tons of Plastic Recycled
• 307,870 KWH of Energy Saved
• 36,524 Gallons of Oil Saved
• 5,225,360,000 BTUs of Energy Saved
• 1,600 Cubic Feet of Landfill Space Saved