Cool Planet

By Bob Sheppard
COO & Director of the Business Program
Clean Air-Cool Planet

Last week I spoke at a three-day workshop featuring 50 employees from the multi-national consumer goods conglomerate Unilever PLC. When Clean Air- Cool Planet was founded, no one could have imagined that a business with $40.5 billion in sales would bring top divisional managers from across North and South America to learn about sustainability and pragmatic solutions to climate change, but then this is no ordinary firm. In September the company was named Food & Beverage sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 11th consecutive year!

It is encouraging to be in the company of executives grappling with a range of complex issues (the global sourcing of raw materials including water use, biofuels, packaging and end-of-life-cycle to name a few), but there are also small companies out there, often unknown outside their region, who are earning considerable respect for their actions, while inspiring other firms who aspire to a low-carbon existence.

Our first contact from Oakhurst Dairy was a 2001 cold call from someone in the accounting office who had some questions about their energy bills. Following a series of phone calls over the next few weeks, we had a meeting with the company’s President at his office in Portland, Maine, to discuss the benefits of making a voluntary commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions based on an enterprise-wide assessment of their energy consumption. Over the years, Clean Air – Cool Planet played a role in reviewing their carbon footprint, introducing them to people who were knowledgeable about energy efficiency opportunities, biofuels and renewables. When Oakhurst was singled out by one of their largest customers, Wal-Mart, for being at the forefront of addressing the carbon emissions within the dairy sector, the impact of our five-year relationship really began to sink in.

In 2007, Clean Air – Cool Planet recognized the leadership of New England’s largest independent dairy with a Climate Champion Award in part for their decision to set an aggressive target to reduce carbon emissions from their operations 20% by 2010 based on 2005 levels. They are also part of an industry-led collaboration examining ways to reduce emissions from cows by altering their diet, introducing renewables on the farm to burn methane or take advantage of the sun, since that portion of the process is responsible for as much as 80% of emissions from every gallon of milk consumed by Americans.

Oakhurst Dairy is living proof of the impact that a 240-person firm can make. By announcing three major projects, Oakhurst not only inspires other small businesses, but in effect lays down a challenge to others as well. The firm is purchasing one of the nation’s first hybrid diesel-electric trucks which will deliver refrigerated milk products within a 70-mile radius of the plant. If the new vehicle lives up to expectations it will use 30-50% less fuel than the existing fleet, which translates into 52,000 pounds of avoided CO2 emissions annually. Next, the dairy will retrofit 25 of its long-range semi-trailers with aerodynamic side skirts, which redirect the flow of air to boost efficiency by 6-8%. That means that brightly painted Oakhurst truck that you pass on a New England highway will be part of a fleet that is working to reduce carbon pollution by more than 7 million pounds annually.

Finally, the Bennett family, who manages the dairy, flipped the switch on a new solar PV array atop a distribution center in Waterville, Maine. This latest project joins a solar thermal array that pre-heats water used in bottling products in Portland, making Oakhurst one of the largest owners of solar energy systems in the state. Despite decreases in energy prices, this investment makes sense from an economic standpoint. When prices for oil and natural gas rise (which economists agree is only a matter of time), it will reduce the payback period, leaving the company in a more positive cash position in comparison to its competitors who continue to rely on imported fossil fuels.

So, to Oakhurst Dairy, who continues to set the standard on climate change, that it’s good business and good for business, I raise a glass of 1% milk – Cheers!