Crystal Lake Central High School’s honors environmental science class was given a look at the past, present and future of OWC’s environmental efforts during a tour of the company’s LEED Platinum Certified facility.
Students from the nearby high school came to Other World Computing’s Woodstock, Ill. campus on Thursday for their yearly visit where they were shown just how far OWC’s environmental initiatives have come since the company’s inception in 1988. Students were given a look at the evolution of OWC’s ultra-green packaging and were also shown OWC’s campus including its energy-efficient warehouse and on-site Vestas V39-500 kW wind turbine.
Tour guide OWC Ryan, Warehouse Operations and Logistics Manager, finished the tour by showing the students OWC’s shipping processes right down to the green packaging which has proven OWC as an industry leader in green high tech electronic parts shipping.
OWC Ryan also spoke about the company’s history of environmental protection efforts. He demonstrated how important it is for students to gain knowledge through exposure and not maintain the status quo when it comes to already green practices by using OWC’s progressive efforts with its shipping materials as a prime example.
“Our environmental initiatives past, present and future are really core to OWC’s identity and our mission,” OWC Ryan said. “There’s a lot of curiosity. And the best way to get a good understanding of the impact is to go out and see what it looks like and gain a real world understanding of the processes.”
OWC has been an environmental leader in several ways, including involving the staff in recycling efforts. For example, OWC’s staff members’ efforts of pre-sorting all waste by type have meant OWC Woodstock literally takes out the trash only once every 10-months on average. The Company recycles – by volume of compressed waste and compressed recyclables – in excess of a 10:1 ratio of recycled material vs. landfill waste.
Crystal Lake Central science teacher Michelle Dare, who accompanied her class on the tour, said seeing a facility like OWC’s can be an inspiration to the students in her honors environmental science class.
“Getting to tour a facility like OWC’s and to have something like this in their backyard gives the students a sense of local pride,” Dare said. “These field trips really open students’ eyes to the world outside and what kind of impact can be made.”
You can check out more information on OWC’s green initiatives at our Green Headquarters, and read about the new solar panels at our Austin facility.
