Hidden Charitable Companies: Kohler

When searching out some product inquiries on Kohler’s site the other day I was surprised to learn that they are so much more than just bath fixtures and faucets.

This privately held company has four very separate and distinct divisions. The Kitchen and Bath Group manufactures water-saving products for conserving water and utilizing recycled materials. The Interiors Group consists of businesses like Ann Sacks, McGuire Furniture, Baker Furniture and Kallista – four well-known names in the Interiors program.

As a company focused on environmental issues, many of the tiles within the Ann Sacks line are sustainable. McGuire Furniture has designed furniture that uses renewable natural products, like the water hyacinth fibers, in their Copenhagen lounge chair and ottoman. Global Power Group focuses on decreasing emissions and improving air quality and their Hospitality and Real Estate Group has preserved vast acres of wildlife habitats.

Regardless of which division you are working with, there is a sense of responsibility to their communities and our global environment. They talk about their “corporate environmental, and the health and safety considerations in all company activities.”

Kohler talks about their goal to have an environmental footprint that nets zero by 2035. To achieve this, they started working on reducing their dependency on natural gas back in the 1970’s. They reuse the heat from their kilns (which bake on the enamel finishes on the sinks & toilets) to heat their facility. When making cast iron tubs, rather than use new mined materials, they use their foundry to melt recycled metals and reclaimed materials. They recycle wood, corrugated materials, paper, waste oil, machine coolants, batteries, electronics and light bulbs rather than send them off to their on-site landfill. When they develop new facilities, Kohler use green building principles and incorporate green spaces with each facility design.

Let me continue filling you in on some of the surprising information that I learned about Kohler. Kohler’s has donated approximately 43,000 kitchen and bath products to Habitat for Humanity homes. They donate products to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and have charitable contribution programs that are concerned with education and preservation of the environment in every community they manufacture in.

Kohler has won awards for their gardens not only on their manufacturing facility locations, but also throughout their communities. The gardens are designed to encourage the wildlife in the areas, e.g. plants to feed hummingbirds and butterflies. So much for me thinking this is a little company in the hills of Wisconsin just focusing on making quality products.

Do you know of other corporations – public or private – that focus on green space design and manufacturing?