Ethan Allen bags 'Environmental Excellence' award

“We are proud of our commitment to environmental protection and we take it very seriously both locally and globally,” said Ethan Allen Chairman, President and CEO, Farooq Kathwari. “All of our facilities, including those in northeastern Vermont are dedicated to making best use of our resources and protecting the safety and health of our employees and their communities.”

The company’s project—Fossil Fuel Oil Use Reduction and Increased Recycling Efforts—was among those selected to receive the prestigious award due to the significant efforts of the company’s manufacturing facilities in Orleans and Beecher Falls, Vermont, to reduce fossil fuel oil use to zero or near zero through increased recycling of sawdust, chips, and wood scrap, and to increase recycling in general to reduce land-fill waste.

In the company’s Vermont facilities, wood chips, and sawdust—byproducts of its manufacturing operations—are burned to provide steam energy for heat and reused for electric co-generation. This has resulted in a drastic reduction in heating oil use at these plants; the goal is to be oil-free by the end of 2013.

An award presentation will take place at the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility’s annual spring conference at the University of Vermont Davis Center on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013, during which Governor Peter Shumlin will acknowledge Ethan Allen’s environmental performance and sustainability accomplishments.

In Beecher Falls, Ethan Allen has also been recognized by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation as a Vermont Business Environmental Partner for its commitment to preserving Vermont’s environment. Ethan Allen’s Beecher Falls and Orleans, Vermont facilities became Enhancing Furniture’s Environmental Culture (EFEC) certified in July of 2012.

Launched by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) in 1999, EFEC is an environmental management system that requires companies—on a facility-by-facility basis—to analyze and better understand the environmental impact of their processes, raw materials, and finished products.

A key element of the EFEC program is to establish annual goals and objectives to improve environmental performance. Earlier this year, Ethan Allen was awarded the Corporate Environmental Excellence Award at the AHFA’s annual Sustainability Summit for demonstrating exemplary environmental management and ongoing stewardship.

About Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc is a leading interior design company and manufacturer and retailer of quality home furnishings. The company offers free interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of furniture products and decorative accessories through ethanallen.com and a network of approximately 300 Design Centers in the United States and abroad.

Ethan Allen