SC Johnson Empowers Families to be a Force for Change

RACINE, Wis., July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SC Johnson, a family company, has taken a new step in empowering families to be a force for change in the world.  The company expanded its corporate web site, www.scjohnson.com, to include a section entitled "Greener Choices," designed to provide families with information to help them make daily changes to help the environment. 

The new Greener Choices forum shares insights from SC Johnson, but also encourages discussions within families and communities.  It includes tips on small, easy choices families can make for a better world, as well as an area where people can post their own tips and recommendations.  The section covers four main areas including: Conserving Energy, More with Less, Reduce & Recycle and Everyday Alternatives.  The Greener Choices site also offers perspective from well-known green family blogger Scarlet Paolicchi of the FamilyFocus Blog and FAQs from SC Johnson about its own green practices.  Additionally, the company is hoping to continue the conversation about greener choices on Twitter at @SCJGreenChoices (www.twitter.com/scjgreenchoices).

"As a family company, we know change starts at home," explained Kelly M. Semrau, Senior Vice President – Global Corporate Affairs, Communication & Sustainability. "A conversation at the dinner table leads to a decision to start recycling... and progress grows from there. By giving families easy tips and tools to understand their impact on the earth, we hope to help them make some of the simple but important changes that can add up to a real difference."

The launch of the Greener Choices site coincides with SC Johnson's launch of Windex® Mini, a concentrated refill pouch that uses 90 percent less plastic packaging than a traditional 26 fluid ounce trigger Windex® bottle.  With Windex® Mini SC Johnson hopes to gain valuable insight into how Americans use concentrated cleaning products to inform future efforts of similar nature. Windex® Mini concentrated refill pouches are being sold exclusively on the Greener Choices site and the company invites purchasers to return to the site to post comments and critiques about their experience with the product.

Change Your Carbon Footprint

Also part of the Greener Choices site is a new a carbon calculator that SC Johnson launched in partnership with Conservation International (CI). The easy-to-use tool offers a detailed analysis of a family's carbon impact based on home energy use, vehicles, diet and more. It then offers suggestions to lower your impact and a chance to offset it.  

Research has shown that the average American produces approximately 20 tons of carbon dioxide every year - five times the global average. That's a big footprint - and one with a significant environmental impact. SC Johnson believes that families can be a force for change simply by understanding their carbon output and taking small steps in response. Tips like these can be found on the site and through the CI carbon calculator:

• Replacing a single incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent can reduce C02 emissions by about 100 pounds.
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
• Keeping your car's tires inflated can save hundreds of pounds of C02 each year.

"We are continually impressed by SC Johnson's commitment to protecting the environment and inspiring that same commitment in others," said Justin Ward, Vice President of Business Practices at Conservation International.   "By recognizing the value of Conservation International's carbon calculator in educating families about how their everyday actions can help sustain nature for the benefit of people on Earth, SC Johnson continues their long tradition of environmental leadership."

A History of Environmental Leadership

SC Johnson has made a commitment to reducing its own environmental footprint, as well. The company has set specific goals every five years for the last two decades and is currently working against objectives to be achieved by 2011. As reported in SC Johnson's 2010 Public Report, 75 percent of these have already been met, with SC Johnson reducing water and emissions by 54 percent since 2000, cutting U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 29.1 percent since 2006 and cutting worldwide GHG emissions by 31.6 percent since 2000.

The company hopes to source 40 percent of total electricity usage worldwide from renewable energy, and currently is at 39.7 percent. SC Johnson's largest global factory, based in Racine, Wisconsin, is partially powered with cogeneration using methane gas from a local public landfill. Its Bay City, Michigan plant is powered with wind energy, reducing the annual purchase of coal-fired electricity by nearly half. In Indonesia, waste palm shells are burned as a substitute for fuel, requiring 80 percent less diesel fuel, and in 2009, SC Johnson launched its first owned and operated windmill at its largest European manufacturing plant in Mijdrecht, The Netherlands. The 80 meter-tall wind turbine is expected to eliminate 3,900 tons of carbon dioxide annually. 

SC Johnson has been greening its products and operations for decades, examples include:

• In 1975, we voluntarily and unilaterally eliminated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from our aerosols, three years before the U.S. mandate.
• In 1992, we published our first sustainability report, becoming one of the first packaged goods companies to do so.
• In 2001, we created our Greenlist™ process to help our chemists to select better ingredients and phase out less desirable ones. As an example, since 2005, we've cut nearly 48 million pounds of VOCs from our products.
• In 2002, we phased out chlorine-based external packaging materials worldwide, including bleached paperboard and bottles made of PVC.
• In 2009, we surpassed industry guidelines by launching an extensive ingredient communication program (www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com).
• By 2010, we had cut our worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 31.6% since 2000.
• In 2011, we announced that by 2015, we will only purchase palm oil-based ingredients that originate from responsible and sustainable sources.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, and pest control. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®, and MR. MUSCLE®. The 125-year-old company, with more than $8 billion in sales, employs approximately 12,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com.

About Conservation International (CI)

Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature for the well-being of humanity. With headquarters in Washington, DC, CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents. For more information, visit www.conservation.org.

Media Contacts
Jam Stewart, SC Johnson
[email protected] and (262) 260-6654

Megan DiSciullo, Edelman
[email protected] and (646) 642-7780

SOURCE SC Johnson