by Brianna Crandall — May 22, 2013—Global office supplies and services provider Office Depot recently announced the expansion of its public-private green business promotion partnership with ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA). In 2013, four more cities will be selected to receive funding to launch their own Green Business Challenge programs, building on the successful Challenges that ICLEI and Office Depot helped launch with local governments in Chicago, Austin, Bellevue, Chula Vista and the Triangle J region.
Office Depot also announced that it will help ICLEI USA establish a Green Business Challenge resource center that will support cities and counties wishing to develop a Green Business Challenge, as well as a network of Green Business Challenge communities to encourage sharing of successful practices. The announcement was made at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business & Civic Leadership Center’s Bricks & Sticks Sustainability Symposium, an event designed to showcase outstanding examples of public-private partnerships making a difference in America.
The Green Business Challenge is a unique program through which city leaders encourage local businesses to take part in a friendly competition to save energy and money, reduce waste and water consumption and procure greener products. The program was first piloted in 2010 as the City of Chicago’s “Green Office Challenge.”
ICLEI USA helped implement the Challenge in Chicago, and Office Depot provided core funding and program design support. Chicago businesses that participated in Round 2 of the Challenge collectively saved over 124 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and more than 85,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.
“The Green Business Challenge is a highly scalable idea that brings together the historically separate concepts of ‘fun’ and ‘sustainability,'” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Senior Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “The Challenge helps ‘gamify’ greening, and as such builds on the natural human and organizational impetus to compete. We’re proud to have been associated with the Challenge since its inception, and are excited to be able to bring it to four more cities in 2013.”
The four new cities will be selected and announced later in 2013, and Office Depot will provide each with a “Green Business Challenge Implementation Pack.” This includes cash, in-kind support, and training/technical support through ICLEI, as well as a customized Green Business Challenge software tool.
