RAMSEY, Minn.--Vision-Ease Lens (VEL) is reducing its carbon footprint and setting new sustainability standards for lens manufacturers. Starting March 1, VEL began manufacturing all products at its Ramsey, Minn.-facility with 100 percent renewable energy. This effort builds on significant conservation and recycling efforts that VEL has had in place over the past several years, and sets the stage for a long-term, corporate-wide initiative.

“Consumers are in general becoming more eco-minded. With that, manufacturers and industrial companies are also aiding in overall sustainability efforts,” said Doug Hepper, president and CEO, VEL.

 

 Doug Hepper

“Reducing Vision-Ease Lens carbon emissions as a manufacturer translates directly to customers. With a number of lens styles, colors and brands, customers now have another, more important factor to consider when purchasing lenses--the environmental impact of the products they choose.”

Beyond setting a new standard in the lens industry, VEL commitment to sustainability marks one of the largest industrial companies with 100 percent renewable energy in Minnesota.

“We will pay a premium to use renewable energy, but the benefits far outweigh the cost,” said Hepper. “By switching to renewable power, we will avoid the release of more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. This saving is equivalent to the emissions that result from burning more than one and three-quarter million gallons of gasoline.”

Through Connexus Energy, an electric distribution cooperative, all energy purchased for the Ramsey, Minn.-based facility is generated through renewable power including wind, solar, hydroelectric and biomass.

In addition to the conversion to renewable power, VEL has already engaged in a number of other eco-friendly initiatives. By eliminating extra product shipments for manufacturing, VEL saved more than 12,500 gallons of gas in 2006 by producing its proprietary, award winning LifeRx photochromic lenses in one facility. This has also saved 113 metric tons of CO2 emissions--equivalent to the electricity for 15 homes for one year, according to VEL. By replacing all lighting in the Ramsey facility with energy efficient fluorescent lighting, the company said its savings have reached near 800 metric tons of CO2 emissions since the conversion in January 2007.