PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Commemorating Earth Day on April 22, PetSmart® (NASDAQ: PETM) announced an update on its progress in the area of environmental sustainability. The Phoenix-based company’s Think Twice™ platform is the driver behind PetSmart’s focus on sustainability, impacting not only its corporate campus but its more than 1,232 retail stores and distribution centers across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
“Through Think Twice, we continue to develop innovative and sustainable solutions internally and within the community,” said Jaye Perricone, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Development for PetSmart. “We're committed to sustainability not only because it’s good for business, but because it's the right thing to do.”
Saving Lives and Landfills
In 2011, PetSmart tested a “hardgoods donation program” with the help of non-profit vendor Good360. The program enables some discontinued hardgood items such as pet toys, beds and other non-consumable products to be donated to PetSmart’s adoption partners instead of being discarded or destroyed. The program, which will be rolled out to all PetSmart stores by the end of 2012, is expected to keep up to 3,000 dumpsters of product from going to landfills and instead, be used to support pets in the care of adoption agencies. To-date, over 31,000 items have been donated to adoption partners.
A Community’s Unique Sustainability Solution
The Town of Gilbert, neighboring PetSmart’s hometown of Phoenix, announced today that PetSmart “closed the gap,” providing the remaining funds needed for an eco-friendly project at Cosmo Dog Park. As a result, the “Dog Digester” will be installed in the park in May 2012 and will transform dog waste into energy that will provide light in the park. Gilbert’s Solid Waste department worked with students at nearby Arizona State University to develop this innovative and cost-effective energy-saving solution.
Fresh Ideas Mean Fresh Air
A “Fresh Air Forum” encouraging “green-minded” associates was introduced in 2011. This forum enables associates to learn about sustainability inside and outside of PetSmart and share ideas for sustainable living and working.
Think Twice
Started in 2008, PetSmart’s Think Twice platform identified six Sustainable Priorities to address and reduce the environmental impact of the retailer’s corporate, store and distribution facilities: Energy and Carbon; Waste; Recycling; Water; Green Products and Partnerships; and Engagement.
To learn more about the company’s sustainability efforts and its Think Twice platform, view PetSmart’s 2011 Sustainability Report at www.petsmart.com/thinktwice.
About PetSmart
PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company employs approximately 50,000 associates and operates more than 1,232 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, over 192 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities and is a leading online provider of pet supplies and pet care information (http://www.petsmart.com). PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products; and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp SM day care services and pet adoption services. Since 1994, PetSmart Charities, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization and the largest funder of animal welfare efforts in North America, has provided more than $165 million in grants and programs benefiting animal welfare organizations. Through its in-store pet adoption partnership with PetSmart Charities®, PetSmart has helped save the lives of nearly 5 million pets.
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