Intuit Releases First-Ever Sustainability Report

Software company Intuit released its first-ever sustainability report documenting the company’s progress since launching a corporate-wide sustainability program in 2007.

At that time, the company set four goals for its internal operations and client relations:

1. Consider sustainability in all decisions

2. Engage employees in sustainability goals and culture

3. Increase transparency of sustainability initiatives

4. Solve important customer problems to enable a sustainable community

Early efforts focused on employee engagement and the creation of so-called Green Teams. As a result, Intuit says its latest annual employee survey revealed that 92 percent of employees believe the company “demonstrates commitment to being an environmentally responsible company.

Other areas of focus include water usage, waste generation, supply chain, GHG reduction, products and sustainability reporting.

Intuit acknowledges it is early in the sustainability process. Several of the company’s current goals are merely to achieve 100% data collection so that it can fully measure its environmental impact. However, the company also has a goal to reduce emissions 15% by the end of 2012, and the report notes these highlights:

• Approved plans for two renewable energy projects: thin-film solar and a Bloom Box fuel cell installation.
• Integrated Zimride, a social carpooling network, and reduced nearly 1 million miles in employee commute.
• Diverted 60 percent of landfill waste through increased recycling efforts.
• Prevented the use of 720 million sheets of paper though its products and services - getting closer to its annual goal of 1 billion.

Bart King is a PR consultant and principal at Cleantech Communications.