(CSRwire) NEW YORK and ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., April 25 /PRNewswire/ – Green is not just the color of money at Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. It’s also the way the company operates.

Harrah’s today became the first gaming corporation in the U.S. to receive an Environmental Quality Award, the highest recognition given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region Two. EPA’s Region Two presents the award annually to organizations that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to protecting and enhancing environmental quality in the Region Two sector, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The EPA announced the award to Harrah’s today at a ceremony in New York City.

Harrah’s Entertainment operates four casinos in Atlantic City, including Bally’s, Caesar’s, Harrah’s and Showboat. “We’re so proud of our employees for their many suggestions and for their active participation and awareness engagement in our ‘Go Green’ campaign. They are directly responsible for helping us become the first gaming corporation ever to win this award,” said J. Carlos Tolosa, Harrah’s Eastern Division President. “This accomplishment underscores our continuing commitment to environmental sustainability.”

“These exemplary environmental stewards have gone above and beyond for environmental change in local communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “Let their extraordinary contributions remind us all that we can make our world a better place and that companies, individuals and organizations can inspire others and make a lasting difference.”

Since 2002, Harrah’s has made “green” improvements at all of its Atlantic City properties, by using more efficient lighting, non-toxic cleaning chemicals, thermostats that limit energy use, more efficient boilers, chillers and air handlers, and more eco-friendly refrigerants. With the direct involvement of its nearly 16,000 employees, Harrah’s eliminated the equivalent of more than 94 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually. In addition, Harrah’s recycles 50,000 gallons of cooking oil waste each year from its kitchens, uses waterless urinals that each save 30,000 gallons of water per year, annually recycles 1.6 million pounds of cardboard, and has eliminated 1.1 million polystyrene beverage cups. Harrah’s also has purchased two hybrid vehicles to support local transportation requirements.

“We constantly review every facet of our business to see how we can conserve even more to have a positive impact on our environment, and at the same time provide our guests with a first-class experience,” said Tolosa. “We are honored by this recognition and will continue to do our part to reuse, reduce and recycle.”

About Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. — Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The Company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s(R), Caesars(R) and Horseshoe(R) brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker(R). Harrah’s Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. For more information, please visit www.harrahs.com.

The report is the most robust in PepsiCo history, using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines as a template. The GRI is the world’s most commonly used format for sustainability reporting. It is designed to provide an overview of the company’s initiatives and areas of focus. PepsiCo’s 84-page report can be downloaded as a completed report or in four sections; Corporate Sustainability, Human Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, and Talent Sustainability.

The report can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.pepsico.com/PEP_Citizenship/sustainability/index.cfm.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35 billion. The company employs approximately 168,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. The PepsiCo portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales. PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainable growth, defined as Performance with Purpose, is focused on generating healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the company serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company’s impact on the environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains world-class talent. PepsiCo is listed on the Dow Jones North America Sustainability Index and Dow Jones World Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

“Over the past three years, OfficeMax has made positive strides in our business overall and in our efforts to ensure that our company operates in a socially and environmentally responsible manner,” said Sam Duncan, chairman and CEO of OfficeMax. “We committed significant effort to the compilation of our CSR Report and are proud to have this record of our accomplishments. As OfficeMax enhances programs already in place and launches new programs, we have a living document to record our progress.”

The OfficeMax CSR report was compiled in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s G3 guidelines, the latest reporting criteria established for public and private organizations developing a corporate social responsibility report. The report focuses on five critical areas: Diversity and Inclusion, Working Environment, Community and Education, Natural Environment and Customer Value.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail office products. The OfficeMax mission is simple. We help our customers do their best work. The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress(TM), technology products and solutions, and furniture to consumers and to large, medium and small businesses. OfficeMax customers are served by more than 36,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and more than 900 stores. To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX. For more information, visit www.officemax.com.

This certification will allow Xerox to purchase and sell FSC-certified paper at 77 distribution centers in 17 countries in North America and Europe – covering the greatest geographic area of any FSC Chain-of-Custody certification to date. Xerox has also earned Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.

“The scale of Xerox’s commitment to FSC certification shows how large corporations are making serious commitments to greening their supply chains,” said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance. “Supporting FSC certification helps ensure the conservation of the world’s working forests for generations to come.”

Paper and other wood products that bear the FSC logo originate from forestlands that have met criteria covering the maintenance of high conservation value forests and the protection of soils, waterways, wildlife and the rights and welfare of workers and local communities.

Connecticut-based Xerox earned Chain-of-Custody certification – which ensures that paper bearing the FSC logo is properly tracked throughout processing, from the forest to the retailer – after passing audits conducted by the Rainforest Alliance at 11 facilities in four countries. The audits verified that the company was complying with the standards of the FSC, the global standard-setter for responsible forest management, and had a system in place for tracking and segregating FSC-certified paper.

The certification covers all of the company’s 77 distribution facilities in the US, Canada and 15 European countries – the largest scope of any FSC Chain-of-Custody certification to date. This will allow Xerox to meet the growing demands of customers for FSC-certified paper. The company plans to announce its first certified products in early 2008.

“Xerox sees sustainability as not only a value we talk about but as a real behavior we strive to practice,” said Steve Simpson, vice president and general manager, Xerox Paper and Supplies Business Unit. “FSC and PEFC certification are important steps in our effort to ensure that the production of paper is not a drain on our natural resources and that we use these resources wisely and efficiently. There’s also an increasing demand from customers that want to make sustainable purchasing decisions.”

At a time when climate change issues are on many people’s minds – as in the recent global climate change conference in Bali – it is important to recognize that, by supporting sustainable forestry and forest conservation, Xerox is making a positive contribution.

“The FSC applauds Xerox’s commitment to responsible purchasing,” said Heiko Liedeker, executive director of FSC International. “Well-known companies such as Xerox wield a great deal of power and responsibility to lead positive change. We are confident that an increasing number of multinational companies will choose to become certified with the development of this new multi-site standard.”

Indeed, large forest products companies are increasingly seeking FSC certification. According to a 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers global survey, 61 of the 100 largest forest, paper and packaging companies worldwide publish some kind of sustainability report – and of these, 49 percent have earned FSC certification for at least one of their operations.

Thousands of pulp providers, mills, merchants and printers have earned FSC Chain-of-Custody certification, and many publishers – most recently Simon and Schuster, Inc. – have committed to increasing their use of FSC-certified paper. Also in the past year, Nordstrom, Inc. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and Limited Brands (the parent company of Victoria’s Secret) all began using FSC-certified paper in their catalogs and other printed materials.

The area of FSC-certified forestlands has nearly doubled in the past three years to a total of more than 224 million acres (more than 90 million hectares), making a growing supply of certified wood products available to companies and consumers.

The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org. Contact Info:

Gretchen Ruethling
Tel : 646-452-1939br>
E-mail : gruethling@ra.org Website : Rainforest Alliance

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At a ceremony in Washington, DC, GE today received the Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. GE was recognized for its extensive corporate social responsibility programs in Indonesia, specifically the Company’s role in post-Tsunami relief efforts and its emphasis on employee volunteerism and educational programs.

The award was accepted by GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.

“On behalf of our 1,600 employees in Indonesia and the others across the world, we are honored to receive this award, a reflection of how we continue to dedicate our expertise and resources in supporting the communities in which we operate,” said Mr. Immelt. “This award is an excellent example of how GE can help improve the quality of life for our citizens, our employees and our customers, as we bring to bear our culture of integrity and innovation in communities we serve.”

The ACE, the Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence, was established by the State Department in 1999, and recognizes the important role U.S. businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens.

GE was actively involved in post-tsunami recovery. Working with Habitat for Humanity, it provided $800,000 to construct 147 houses and a “community learning center” in Banda Aceh. More than 5000 volunteer hours were spent on building the houses and the Center’s foundation. Water purification technology was used to provide drinking water in Aceh in the post-tsunami months. The company donated medical equipment such as portable ultrasound and x-ray units to assist medical personnel in providing care. GE also supported the Emergency School program to provide supplies to temporary classrooms in Aceh.

The GE Foundation matched the donations from GE employees to survivors in all affected countries, bringing the total to over $8 million. In all, the GE Family Around the world sent $20 million in cash and goods to tsunami-stricken area.

GE Indonesia also worked with the Nurani Dunia Foundation and local residents to establish the Proklamasi Community Learning House in Jakarta, which provides activities and trainings to children and adults. GE Volunteers also donate time for training or activities as needed and also provides mentoring for older children. Overall, 500 employees participate in the GE Volunteers program (nearly a third of the workforce). GE Volunteers in Indonesia will see the 10^th year of their environmental education activities, as well as other green projects.

Companies are nominated by Chiefs of Mission for the ACE and the winners are chosen by the Award Selection Committee, chaired by Under Secretary of State Sheeran and include senior officials from the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs; the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Department of Commerce.

GE is Imagination at Work — a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world’s toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com.

The Accountability Rating™ is the only independent initiative to measure how the world’s biggest companies build responsible practices into the way they do business.

European companies dominate the top positions:

1) BP
2) Barclays
3) ENI
4) HSBC Holdings
5) Vodafone.

Produced by international think tank AccountAbility and CSR consultancy Csrnetwork, the Rating, now in its fourth year, rigorously assesses the information G-100 companies themselves put into the public domain, as well as data on actual social and environmental performance. Companies are rated on four domains: strategy, governance, engagement and impact.

Despite recent headlines, BP remains a leader in accountable practices. The company performs well with independent assurance statements, a good governance structure and a high-level of public disclosure and has been progressive in multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the US Climate Action Partnership.

With oil, banking and motor companies all scoring highly in the Rating, Mark Line, director of Csrnetwork, says:

“This shows that sectors in the global spotlight face very powerful incentives to develop robust accountability systems.“

Yet the recent fines imposed upon BP show that even with world-class management systems in place, they need to be properly exercised across all a company’s operations.

“Global 100 corporations are rightly under scrutiny at present, with the situation in Burma to sub-prime lending, oil spills and health and safety disasters,” says Dr. Simon Zadek, CEO of AccountAbility.

“The bottom line is a small but significant increase in accountability performance. Companies of all sizes, in all regions and across all sectors still face significant accountability challenges.”

Other key findings

• An increase in the accountability of the G-100 (revenues over $10 trillion) with average performance rising 3.6% since 2006.
• European companies are the most accountable with a small sample of Asian companies outperforming US firms.
• Retail and FMCG sectors under-perform, suggesting that some global brands may need to invest more in strategy, systems and engagement as consumers increasingly hold them to account.

See the Accountability Rating™ 2007 in full in Fortune International, at www.accountabilityrating.com or join the debate at www.fortune.com

Csrnetwork is a leading consultancy dedicated to helping companies worldwide do business in a responsible way. Clients include Airbus, ArcelorMittal, Bacardi, The Co-operative Group, RWE npower, StoraEnso and Vodafone.

SERA Architects in Portland, Ore., is an example of a company that not only emphasizes sustainability— it won’t settle for anything less.

SERA Architects Inc. has been located in Portland, Ore., since 1968 and has had a major impact on turning downtown Portland into a center of urban livability and environmental responsibility. The architects and planners at SERA took on sustainable practices, such as urban redevelopment and revitalization of historic buildings, long before the term “sustainability” was even conceived. However, in the last 10 years, sustainability has become the firm’s guiding principle into the future, and it has worked hard to bring on board designers who understand sustainability as a unifying design philosophy.

Today, as a 100-percent-employee-owned company, SERA’s leadership within national organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Oregon Natural Step Network and the AIA Committee on the Environment help provide it with state-of-the-art knowledge of sustainable-design approaches to create energy- and resource-efficient buildings and communities.

The firm says that the trend toward resource efficiency has been a search for ways to build both more sustainably and cost-effectively. Resource efficiency refers to several strategies employed by architects to avoid environmental impacts. The first strategy is to reuse existing buildings when possible to take advantage of the embodied energy these structures contain. This is especially true in urban situations. Often, existing buildings can be purchased and redeveloped at less cost than building new. Even with the costs of seismic, mechanical systems and accessibility upgrades, the cost savings of recycling a building can be significant compared to demolition and starting new.

The second strategy is to deconstruct rather than demolish when buildings or parts of buildings are no longer of service.Deconstruction allows building materials to be salvaged rather than disposed. Deconstruction projects in Portland today are typically seeing upwards of a 95-percent diversion rate from landfills because of a growing infrastructure and economy in construction-material-waste recycling.

The third strategy is to specify regional and local materials in any new construction to cut down on transportation costs and the environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels. An added benefit of specifying locally is how it can also help create local economic wealth and new employment opportunities.

A fourth strategy is to specify both salvaged materials and materials with high recycled content. This strategy can also realize cost savings over utilizing virgin mined materials. All of these resource-efficiency strategies—building reuse, deconstruction, and use of local and recycled materials—offer potential cost, community and environmental benefits, and are also recognized by the USGBC as primary areas for potential Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification points.

In September 2004, SERA moved into a newly renovated historic building just five blocks from the firm’s original location in downtown Portland. The move was due to a desire to have the work environment match the firm’s mission of sustainability. In preparation for the move into the new offices, SERA undertook a comprehensive “backcasting” process led by the Oregon Natural Step Network to develop a framework for sustainable business practices that would be implemented in the new offices.

The overarching goal was to change all of SERA’s operations toward a fully sustainable way of doing business. The architects of SERA understood that as a company succeeds in changing its culture, it would also have positive impacts that expand beyond the boundaries of the office, as employees influence the thinking of their clients, families and acquaintances. They targeted every area of their office operations and created waste-reduction plans that even eliminated trash bins from individual desks. This step quickly caught everyone’s attention and also emphasized the role of the expanded centralized recycling center. They installed a compost and worm bin in the building, and staff takes the compost home for use in their personal gardens.

All of the steps that SERA implemented have been logical steps toward sustainability. They have learned to rely on common sense such as proper building orientation, natural daylighting and natural ventilation rather than sophisticated mechanical systems and expensive technology to guide them in their work. Most of SERA’s clients are long-term owners that appreciate sustainable design concepts for their projects because they realize the benefits of building for future generations. Sustainable design is all about building for the long term, and the associated investments are more than paid back over the years.

Recent research studies available on the USGBC Web site discuss the potential costs and benefits of sustainable building. A State of California report identified that the first-cost premium to build green buildings can be as low as 0 to 2 percent and yield a 20-percent lifecycle savings on the total construction costs. According to another study entitled “Costing Green,” many sustainable buildings have actually had no increase in building costs, and some have even been less expensive to build than conventional alternatives because sustainable design downsizes the use of costly mechanical, electrical and structural systems.

Recently there has been a trend in the Northwest to get away from speculative development that tends to give a quick turnover. Clark Brockman, an associate at SERA, observed, “The last 10 years has been about how to get buildings to be much more energy-efficient; the next 10 years is going to be about how to reduce fossil fuel consumption and reduce building’s global warming pollution.”

One area undergoing change is in suburban development. Developers have historically built fast, cheap and in ways that forced dependence on the automobile. However, city planners and developers are now seeing the downside of suburban development and are seeking more sustainable approaches that will last long-term. SERA’s planners and urban designers are working on innovative concepts that will help reduce automobile dependency and create more livable communities.
Environmental issues have historically created a grim mood due to lack of interest in the topic by the very people who need to address it. Businesses were not interested in the environment because they perceived that there were such large costs associated with any change that needed to be done. However, with the growing interest in sustainable design, and with the realization that architectural firms such as SERA—as well as engineers, contractors and trades people—are finding solutions cost-effectively, there is now a much stronger sense that we are headed in the right direction.