The Heising-Simons Foundation has been awarded Climate Registered™ Gold Status by The Climate Registry, North America’s largest voluntary registry for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Climate Registry designs and operates voluntary and compliance GHG reporting programs globally, and assists organizations in measuring, reporting, and verifying the carbon in their operations in order to manage and reduce it. The Foundation earned Gold Status recognition by publicly reporting a third-party verified GHG emissions inventory for its day-to-day operations, which aim to implement and maintain practices that minimize the organization’s environmental footprint.

Some of our sustainable practices in our day-to-day operations include: 

• purchasing energy efficient, EnergyStar Certified, and/or WaterSense Certified appliances or office equipment;
• using locally sourced vendors and appliances;
• limiting single-use packaging, cutlery, glassware, and dishware with catering services;
• offering USDA certified organic, grass-fed, free-range meat products, cage-free eggs, wild-certified/sustainable seafood, and vegetarian/vegan options during served meals;
• setting thermostats at energy efficient levels; and
• offering incentives for staff to drive electric and plug-in hybrids, carpool, bike, or walk to work and work-related events.

“By attaining Climate Registered status through managing and reducing emissions, organizations are able to prove they are leaders in a growing movement to address climate change,” said Amy Holm, Executive Director of The Climate Registry. “With just a decade left for humanity to ensure our planet avoids the worst effects of climate change, The Climate Registry is proud to recognize organizations working hard to be part of the solution.”

With transparency as a key part of our value of integrity, the Foundation has been reporting GHG emissions to The Climate Registry since 2017. See below for a breakdown of our past GHG emissions by year and activity type, generated from The Climate Registry’s public database.