Kinko's Becomes Cleanest-Powered Retail Chain in the Philadelphia Area

Kinko's Triples Local "Green" Power Purchases through Green Mountain Energy Company, Moves to 100 Percent Renewable Energy at 14 Stores in the Region

PHILADELPHIA — February 12, 2003 — Kinko’s, Inc. has teamed up with Green Mountain Energy Company to become the cleanest-powered retail chain in the Philadelphia region.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street and officials from the two companies gathered around a “solar powered copy machine” inside a downtown Philadelphia Kinko’s® branch today to announce an agreement to upgrade 10 area stores to 100 percent renewable Green Mountain Energy® “Nature’s Choice” electricity and sign up four more participating locations in Philadelphia and Greensburg, Penn.

The new agreement triples Kinko’s annual renewable electricity purchase in the Philadelphia area to 2.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year – about the same energy required to power 360 average homes in Pennsylvania for a year. Kinko’s total purchases through Green Mountain Energy Company in the area will avoid 278 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year. That prevents as much CO2 pollution as planting 37,000 trees, or not driving nearly 16,000 round trips on Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Expressway – a total of 619,000 miles.

Kinko’s Pennsylvania “green” power commitment, combined with other agreements announced today across the U.S., increases Kinko’s estimated annual renewable power purchases to more than 11.2 million kWh.

“At Kinko’s, caring for our communities and the environment are part of our core values, and we are proud to work with Green Mountain Energy Company here and around the country to live up to those values,” stated Judy Burditt, operations director for Kinko’s.

"Incorporating the use of renewable power at our branches is a working example of Kinko’s commitment to integrate sustainable business practices into our on-going decision making process. These decisions will have lasting benefits for both our local community and the planet as a whole.”

To demonstrate the power of renewable energy, Green Mountain Energy Company plugged in a Kinko’s copy machine to a mobile solar and wind electricity generating trailer parked in front of the 16th Street Kinko’s in the heart of Philadelphia’s business district. Mayor Street used the copier to make “green” powered copies of a proclamation commending Kinko’s for being “the cleanest-powered retail chain in the Philadelphia region.” PennFuture, a leading clean energy and environmental advocacy group in the Mid-Atlantic region, photocopied a certificate naming Kinko’s to the “Clean Electricity Buyers Hall of Fame.”

Kinko’s made its first two renewable energy purchases through Green Mountain Energy Company in Pennsylvania and California in 1999. Last summer, Kinko’s announced it had begun purchasing Green Mountain Energy electricity for several of its stores in Oregon. In all, Kinko’s now buys green power at more than 150 branches in 13 states. Other environmental initiatives include reducing energy use, offering recycled and alternative fiber papers, and minimizing and recycling wastes.

Kinko’s stores covered under the contract will purchase Green Mountain Energy’s “Nature’s Choice” Green-e certified product generated from renewable resources such as wind, water, biomass and solar generation. Green-e is a program of the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a non-profit organization based in San Francisco. To receive Green-e certification, an energy product must come from at least 50 percent eligible renewable resources, and comply with an annual verification audit.

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