ISD Review

Since 2007, Riley Life Industries, based in Durham, North Carolina has worked to deliver superior outsourced service support to companies who aim to be sustainable and progressive.  They allow their customers to focus on advancing their own business while Riley Life manages product shipment and inventory.

Riley Life Industries is founded on the values of Sustainability, Integrity, Passion, and Innovation. From the start, sustainability was one of their focuses and was a major point of emphasis.  They seek to work with businesses, partners, and people who have those same values, and they strive to develop a culture of sustainability in our workplace. Here are some examples of what Riley Life has done to promote a culture focused on sustainability, they:

• Recycle 100% of our aluminum, plastic, and cardboard products and most of the office paper.
• Use post-consumer recycled paper and recyclable bubble wrap for protective packaging instead of Styrofoam peanuts.
• Use GreenPrint to automatically format documents and conserve paper.
• Purchased a battery-powered forklift to move packages in the warehouse.
• Provide sales and executive staff use of a hybrid vehicle for travel.
• Purchase renewable energy credits to ensure that their electricity is generated from renewable sources.
• Set the default mode for all their computers to hibernate.
• Installed programmable thermostats to reduce the amount of air conditioning and heating in their facility.
• Specifically work with local suppliers to source products.
• Use ground transportation to ship products when possible and we encourage our suppliers to send shipments by ground transportation.
• Sponsor a health care program for all of our full time employees and their dependents.
• Provide employees with access to a corporate gym membership.
• Encourage employees to carpool by providing gasoline credits.
• Created a policy for their staff to complete 50 hours of volunteer work each month.
• Compensate employees for the time they spend volunteering.
• Encourage employees from organizations that we partner with to attend our volunteer events.
• Participate in programs to improve our knowledge about sustainability.
• Were awarded the Durham Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainable Business of the Year Award and the Triangle Business Journal’s Green Business of the Year Award.

Why did you get involved with Green Plus?

[We] attended a meeting of sustainable businesses held at the RTP Headquarters and run by Chris Carmody where they explained the program and its benefits.  After review, [we] felt that it was an important addition to our repertoire and a great opportunity for a road map toward our overall sustainability initiatives.