The Wildlands Conservancy announced this week Crayola is the 2009 recipient of Wildlands Conservancy’s Ark Award.

The Ark Award recognizes one of the Lehigh Valley’s pre-eminent businesses that accomplish its work in an environmentally sustainable manner. A representative from Crayola received the Award at the Environmental Innovations Conference & Expo on September 17.

“Emerging as a leader in sustainable business practices, Crayola exemplifies a corporation that understands the value of the balance between protecting the environment and bottom line profitability.” remarks Christopher M. Kocher, president of Wildlands Conservancy.

Crayola’s innovative approach to eco-friendly business practices encompass all aspects of business operations from its Energy Star certified office facility in Easton, PA to using only reforested wood for crayon labels and for the 850 million colored pencils that are manufactured every year.

The company exemplifies the “reduce, reuse and recycle” mentality. Crayola has reduced their wax cargo’s previous 1,000 mile route, eliminating the use of 6,137 barrels of oil, by shipping 50 percent of the product by rail from local sources.

Crayola reuses sub-standard crayons and excess wax by re-melting it to make new (black) crayons. The company recycles 68 percent of all waste and uses corrugated cardboard to package chalk, eliminating the usage of 398 tons of plastic.

Recently, the company has undertaken one of its most progressive environmental endeavors with the construction of its new 15-acre solar farm. More than 26,000 fixed photovoltaic solar panels installed on Crayola’s property will convert sunlight into electricity, generating 1.5 megawatts of electrical power.

The solar facility will provide 10 percent of Crayola’s total annual energy consumption and about a third of the energy required to make 3 billion crayons annually. Generating the same amount of electricity with fossil fuels would produce about 1,900 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Crayola takes the “going green” initiative one step further by taking an active responsible role in educating the public about the importance of protecting natural resources. Crayola strives to encourage its customers, suppliers and employees to integrate sustainability into their lives and business practices.

As part of the solar farm project, a solar energy educational display will be developed at The Crayola Factory in downtown Easton, which attracts nearly 300,000 visitors annually. The exhibit will showcase the accomplishments of the solar partnership and demonstrate solar energy’s potential in Pennsylvania.

For more information on Wildlands Conservancy’s Ark Award, please contact Elizabeth McKinney, development manager, at 610-965-4397, ext. 26 or send email to: emckinney@wildlandspa.org.