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Boulder's WhiteWave Foods a Green Power Leader

Release Date: 10/27/2008
Contact Information: James Critchfield, USEPA, 202-343-9442 Richard Mylott, USEPA, 303 312-6654 Ellen Feeney, WhiteWave, 303-635-4507

Company's green power purchases account for 100% of electricity use; saves CO2 equivalent of 13,000 cars

(Denver, Colo.-- October 27, 2008) WhiteWave Foods Company has been selected as a Green Power Partner of the year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. WhiteWave's green power purchase of 98 million kWh is equivalent to avoding the carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 13,000 passenger vehicles per year, and is the equivalent amount of electricty needed to power more than 9,000 average American homes annually.

This is the fifth year that EPA has recognized WhiteWave Foods Company with a Green Power Leadership Award. The company has a rich history of supporting green power, starting in 2003 with its first purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for the Silk® Soymilk brand operations. In 2004, the company began buying RECs to cover the operations for the Horizon Organic® brand, and in 2006 for the electricity used at the company’s corporate headquarters. In 2008, WhiteWave added the International Delight® and Land O’Lakes® creamer brands by increasing the company’s overall purchase to more than 98 million kilowatt-hours annually.

“Our nation is shifting to a ‘green culture’ and Americans understand that environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “EPA commends our partners for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment by purchasing green power.”

To further build on the impact of its REC purchases, WhiteWave helps engage and educate its customers, partners and media about the benefits of green power. WhiteWave promotes green power on its Silk and Horizon Organic packaging and offers unique consumer incentives and promotions. For two years running, Silk has engaged consumers in learning more about wind energy with its Green Caps for Green Energy program. Consumers who buy qualifying Silk products can enter the products’ UPC numbers at SilkSoymilk.com. For each UPC entered, Silk donates 30 kilowatt-hours of RECs for its customers. WhiteWave also buys green power for electricity used at events, such as the Farm Aid concert and Natural Products Expo tradeshows, to help spread the word about the benefits of renewable energy. WhiteWave continues to use online tools to help drive consumers to learn more about green power and to make informed decisions.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1000 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information please see www.epa.gov/greenpower.

The EPA Purchaser Awards honor U.S. organizations that have helped build a market for green power by making significant purchases of renewable energy. Award winners were selected based upon criteria including the quantity and type of renewable energy purchased, the impact of their green power purchases, the extent to which their actions have helped to establish a precedent that may catalyze similar actions by others, and the extent to which they demonstrated innovative purchasing strategies.

Collectively, Green Power Partners purchase nearly 5 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power more than 460,000 average American homes. The purchases made by these organizations will also avoid the same amount of CO2 emissions that 640,000 vehicles would produce in one year.

EPA is recognizing winners in three award categories at the Eighth Annual Green Power Leadership Awards in Denver, Colo. Winning organizations are judged on their purchase, leadership, overall green power strategy and impact on the green power market.

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. Green power sources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and no human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Purchases of green power also help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide.

EPA co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions.

2008 Green Power Leadership Award Winners:

Green Power Partner of the Year: Bellingham Community; Washington Community; Cisco Systems Inc.; Intel Corp.; University of Pennsylvania; WhiteWave Foods Co.

Green Power Purchasing: City of Houston, Texas; ING; Merritt 7 Venture, LLC; Oregon State University; PepsiCo Inc.; Powdr Resorts; The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc./Operations; The Philadelphia Phillies; U.S. Air Force.

On-Site Generation: Lundberg Family Farms, Kohl’s Department Stores.

More information on Green Power Awards: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/awards/winners.htm

Information on EPA’s Green Power Partnership: https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/