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Sep 23
2009
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While I was browsing the Net for a ceiling fixture, I found this company called Eleek out of Oregon. They seem to have a strong committment to the environment as evidenced by their awards and mission statement.

"Eleek is committed to creating a better world by combining visionary ideals with practical actions: We are committed to understanding and reducing Eleek's impact on the natural environment, and to creating a workplace that fosters community, creativity and personal growth. Toward that end, we will continually seek out cleaner and greener materials, processes, and paradigms. We will incorporate changes as quickly and thoroughly as we can feasibly do so, with the ultimate goal of a positive environmental and social impact. We will work with our employees, our customers, our vendors and our peers to raise the consciousness and standards of our industry."

"Eleek products are durable and timelessly beautiful, designed for non-obsolescence from the start."
"Eleek castings are made of recycled metals whenever possible, with the highest possible post-consumer content. Our cast aluminum, for instance, is 100% recycled with a post-consumer content between 70-100%, depending on the product line. Pewter, bronze, cast iron and aluminum remnants are utilized in casting. We recycle all other scrap metal."

"Eleek will take back any product it makes in order to dismantle, reuse and/or recycle its materials."

"Eleek, Inc. is a member of The Oregon Natural Step Network and as such is working to understand and improve its environmental footprint.
- Eleek's shop and office operate on 100% Blue Sky wind power from Pacific Power.
Eleek is a NW Natural Smart Energy Circle Member, purchasing offsets for 100% of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our natural gas use. - 80% of our supplies come from within 50 miles of our shop. Buying locally allows us to support the regional economy and reduces the environmental impact of trucking our supplies from far away.
- Eleek prints on environmentally preferable paper (high post-consumer content) using the most environmentally preferable printing methods. We use 100% recycled stock with at least 30% post-consumer content for all in-house printing and copying and print two-sided whenever possible. Eleek's catalog is now available in a digital format only in order to conserve resources.
- Eleek is located in an Urban Renewal/Enterprise Zone. This allows the company to contribute jobs and other community resources to an economically challenged area of Portland, while enjoying its diversity, vitality and old neighborhood feel.
- Eleek's delivery truck runs on biodiesel, and we work to minimize the number of miles it is driven by carefully consolidating trips and planning routes.
- Most Eleek employees commute sustainably. Eleek has an incentive program to encourage biking and the use of public transit.
- Eleek strives to minimize our garbage output and divert waste from the landfill.
Our ambitious recycling program includes recycling all paper, metal, glass, wood and plastics. We even let our employees bring from home the recyclables that they can't recycle curbside or elsewhere.
Our shipping department reuses shipping containers and packaging.
Eleek utilizes a sustainable purchase policy that favors and enforces the purchase of products that have the highest-possible post-consumer recycled content, minimize or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lowest toxicity (zero VOC whenever possible), reduce waste by way of being durable & reusable, and are made and sold within 50 miles of our shop."

Wow! If only America's major corporations (or the world's for that matter) would do business in this manner! Eleek's link here.

