MILFORD, Conn. — Subway restaurant chain has announced it will participate in the Energy Star Change a Light, Change the World campaign.
By partnering with Philips Lighting Co. and Specialty Lighting to participate in the campaign, the chain is trying to encourage Americans to help change the world, one light — one energy-savings step — at a time.
On Oct. 1, in each of the approximately 22,000 Subway restaurants in the United States, an incandescent light bulb will be replaced with one Philips energy-efficient, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb.
By changing just one bulb, each restaurant will reduce its annual energy consumption by 87.6 Kilowatt hours. Together, however, U.S. Subway restaurants will save 1,927,200 Kilowatt hours, which is the equivalent to almost 3 million pounds of greenhouse gasses or removing more than 275 cars from the road for one year.
The brand also joins Energy Star, which is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, in encouraging Americans to take theEnergy Star Pledge to Change a Light/Change the World. The Pledge will be available on the subway.com and subwayfreshbuzz.com web sites.
Other environmentally friendly steps taken by the brand include:
- Distribution: Strategic relocation of several redistribution centers next to vendor manufacturing facilities, eliminating the need to transport product long distances. In all, the move saves an estimated 1,330,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year and eliminates 9,227 truck loads annually.
- Packaging: Along with making napkins from 100 percent recycled materials saving an estimated 147,000 trees annually, the brand has also: switched the materials used for the manufacturing of its cutlery and plastic drinking cups saving an equivalent of 13,000 barrels of oil.
- Eco-Store: The first Subway Eco-Store opened last year in Kissimmee, Fla. Since then, four more have opened and there are many more in various stages of planning. The brand is working with the U.S. Green Building Council to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the Eco-Stores.
