Macy’s going green

One of the biggest department store chains in the US operates 4 Bloomingdale and 850 Macy’s stores, with a turnover of USD 25 billion in 2010. On 21 April the company published its latest sustainability action plan, according to which they will replace all of their 300 million clothes hangers with new ones made from recycled material by autumn 2011. The company joined the Recyclebank programme and this year replaces 410,000 light bulbs with energy saving LED light bulbs, by this saving 73 percent of energy used for lighting. Macy’s starts using recycled paper and plastic in their department store restaurant, plants 10 giant solar thermal collectors to provide 49 stores and distribution centres with energy. The company also asks customers who pay with credit cards to accept monthly payment history online instead of a printed version by mail.