OSJL recognized with sustainability award

ROCHESTER - Ocean State Job Lot announced today that it has been honored with a 2023 Sustainability Leadership Award from the Business Intelligence Group. It is the second consecutive year OSJL has earned this distinction.

The Sustainability Awards honor those people, teams, and organizations who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice or overall mission. Ocean State Job Lot is committed to paving the way toward a Net Zero future by focusing on how the organization manages waste, energy, and carbon emissions. These efforts include upgrading lighting and HVAC companywide, reducing waste while improving recycling systems, generating renewable energy sources, implementing EV charging stations, and more. Combining all these efforts allows OSJL to develop a carbon emission reduction plan that will be the driving force behind its future plan to become Net Zero.

In 2021, OSJL announced a partnership with Ecogy Energy to host the largest rooftop solar portfolio in Rhode Island. Three OSJL store locations in Johnston, R.I., Woonsocket, R.I. and Richmond, R.I., are equipped with solar panels. The solar panels will generate roughly 11.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity over 20 years. OSJL is revolutionizing vacant rooftops of store locations into energy-generating platforms. Currently, OSJL has 2,100 solar panels installed across the three stores and is working to expand to other store locations.

"We are thrilled to be honored as a sustainability leader once again," said Harry Oakley, Director of Energy, Sustainability, Procurement & Corporate Facilities at Ocean State Job Lot. "This award is a much-deserved recognition of our team's commitment to doing all we can to reduce our business's carbon footprint and to hopefully inspire others to do the same. We look forward to creating even more opportunities to make a positive impact on the planet."