 |
| |
| Steelcase, Designtex, and Röhmer Companies |
 |
Designtex, a subsidiary of Grand Rapids-based office furniture manufacturer Steelcase Inc., made a decision to produce a different kind of upholstery fabric. The Swiss textile firm Röhmer, which had been supplying Designtex with a traditional upholstery material, was spending considerable money shipping their textile scraps to Spain for landfill as well as using expensive equipment to release their effluent back into a nearby Swiss river, polluting its water. Production of the new fabric required only 38 benign chemicals rather than hundreds of toxic compounds that had been used to make the original fabric. |
| The new fabric is more durable and aesthetically superior, and its waste scraps are now used for mulch in Swiss gardens. The first time the Swiss equivalent of our EPA took samples of the new water emissions, officials thought their instruments were broken. The water coming out of the plant was as clean as the entering water supply. Röhmer no longer needs the expensive water pollution filtering system and has lower production costs. Profits have significantly increased, and the mill now only provides industrial products that are positive for Switzerland and the world at large. |
| |
| Ford Motor Company, River Rogue Plant, Dearborn, Michigan |
|
In
May of 1999 William Ford, Jr. announced that Ford
Motor Company’s massive River Rogue plant in
Dearborn, MI would undergo a $2 billion renovation that
would incorporate many sustainable business principles.
Completed innovations to date include a brilliant storm-water
management renovation strategy that saved Ford $25 million. |
|
| |
| Please Note: References to the above companies do not necessarily imply endorsements of Aquinas College by said companies. |
|
