(Business Wire)  The Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council (GCGBC) today announced it has been honored with the 2015 Green Business Award for Green Advocacy from the Cincinnati Business Courier and the Cincinnati Regional Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The annual award, which recognizes an organization that provides educational awareness about sustainability, was presented to the GCGBC in the non-profit category in recognition of their waste management initiatives at a ceremony held on March 5.

“This award validates the Council’s hard work over the past five years and we’re thrilled to accept it,” said Pamela Brailsford, Senior Director of Supplier Diversity and Sustainability, Cintas Corporation. “Waste management programs can have positive long-term impacts on local communities by reducing the amount of waste deposited into landfills. These programs also engage employees and raise awareness about ways to help the environment while reducing expenses and creating new opportunities. We hope that our success inspires other organizations to take action and collaborate on sustainability initiatives.”

The GCGBC is the area’s first collaboration of leaders from local corporations and organizations dedicated to promoting sustainability. Current members include Cintas Corporation, P&G, Melink Corporation, Macy’s, Luxottica Group, Fifth Third Bank, UC Health, Kroger, The Cincinnati Zoo, Duke Energy, emersion DESIGN, JLL, U.S. Bank, Graydon Head, MillerCoors, Toyota, Xavier University, TriHealth and dunnhumbyUSA.

Programs for the Green Advocacy Award are judged on how effectively the message is heard among the targeted constituencies, and the specific impact or measurable outcomes the campaign has had on Greater Cincinnati and/or the bigger U.S. market.

By sharing ideas, Council members have been able to quickly develop a more comprehensive waste management plan than any one organization could do alone. To help other organizations jumpstart their own waste management programs, the Council developed a toolkit, available for free online.

The Council’s member companies have implemented numerous waste management strategies. The results include:

• Fifth Third Bank’s Madisonville campus diverted 80 percent of its 2014 waste through a combination of document destruction services, recycling and composting.
• Toyota ships more than 60 tons of compost to a compost facility each year.
• Cintas has diverted more than 340 tons from the landfill in 2014 by conducting waste audits and education about what constitutes trash.
• U.S. Bank has worked with some suppliers to send packaging in recyclable materials so that it can be reused whenever possible. Its Lunken Operations Center diverted 34,170 pounds of organics in 12 months, in addition to 1.4 tons of cardboard and 23.4 tons of comingled recycling from landfills.
• emersion DESIGN's LEED Platinum office space diverted more than 99 percent of its construction waste away from landfills by recycling, sending material to others for reuse and finding outlets for the raw material.

“There were many deserving organizations present at this year’s awards, proving that Cincinnati is at the forefront of sustainability,” said Chad Edwards, RA, LEED^© AP BD+C, Principal, emersion. “We’re honored to be among such great company and our members are excited to continue working together to move the needle forward on key environmental issues.”

The Waste Management Strategy Toolkit, along with the Council’s Energy Benchmarking and Workplace Composting Toolkit are available for download at www.gcgbc.org.

About Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council

The Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council was initiated by Cintas Corporation in 2010 and is composed of some of the leading companies in Greater Cincinnati. The Green Business Council aims to inspire the business community to deliver a better social, economic and environmental future by sharing best practices and collaborating to drive and accelerate sustainable development in the region. The Green Business Council is driving the Greater Cincinnati business community to be the sustainability leader in America. More information on the Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council can be found at www.gcgbc.org.