DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2004--In
celebration of Earth Day, which is recognized around the world in more
than 180 countries on April 22, Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP) today
announced strategic partnerships with Keep America Beautiful Inc. and
Earth Share both underscoring the company's commitment to
environmental stewardship and 'Caring and Making A Difference'.
"We are committed to promoting environmental stewardship in all
that we do and we are pleased to partner with these groups because of
their focus on children's programs and promoting environmental
awareness," said Office Depot's Tyler J. Elm, Director of
Environmental Affairs.
According to Elm, these strategic partnerships will allow Office
Depot to create greater awareness in the communities where their
employees, customers and stakeholders work and live--and to make
'Earth Day Every Day'.
The partnership with Keep America Beautiful, the nation's largest
community improvement organization dedicated to inspiring
environmental stewardship, is an ongoing partnership. Under the
partnership, educational programs focusing on litter prevention and
educating children and communities on how to collectively "keep
America beautiful" will be launched nationwide throughout the year.
"Keep America Beautiful is proud to establish a partnership with
Office Depot that will focus on how we can help to inspire
environmental stewardship through the power of education," said G.
Raymond Empson, President of Keep America Beautiful. "Our relationship
is yet another demonstration of Office Depot's deep commitment to
caring for its customers while assuming the mantle of leadership in
corporate sustainability."
Office Depot and Nu-kote, the company's private label imaging
supplies vendor will also make a combined $20,000 donation to Earth
Share, a nationwide network of the country's most respected and
responsible non-profit environmental and conservation organizations.
Earth Share raises vital support for its member organizations
through workplace giving, offering employees at hundreds of American
workplaces the opportunity to donate to the environmental causes they
care about. Office Depot's and Nu-kote's donation will help support
Earth Share's member organizations' programs, which include
environmental outreach to inner city youth, educating children and
families about the importance of environmental awareness, and
protection of our health, air, water, land and wildlife at home and
around the world.
"We are proud to receive this generous gift from Office Depot and
Nu-kote," said Kalman Stein, President and CEO of Earth Share. "We
applaud their fine example of making a difference in the health of our
environment through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy."
Additionally, Office Depot's 900 retail locations will feature a
new environmental brochure and poster. The brochure is entitled
"Environmental Stewardship at Office Depot: Help to Make Every Office
an Office for the Environment," and includes tips for a "greener"
office as well as information from Keep America Beautiful about how to
become involved in community-based environmental stewardship
activities.
While supplies last, customers shopping at Office Depot stores on
Earth Day will receive packets of flower seeds with the Office Depot
Caring and Making a Difference logo and cards that offer the "Top Ten
Tips for a Green Office."
Office Depot will continue celebrating Earth Day with the Sandoway
House Nature Center, in Delray Beach, Fla., on Saturday, April 24. The
South Florida community is invited to join in a beach clean-up
activity followed by a wide range of other environmental activities
for children and families.
About Office Depot
With annual sales of nearly $12 billion, no one sells more office
supplies to more customers in more countries than Office Depot.
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, FL, the company
conducts business in 23 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people
worldwide.
Office Depot is an industry leader in every distribution channel -
from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce.
The company is the world's number two online retailer - on target to
generate $2.6B in sales for FY'03. In North America, Office Depot has
more than 900 retail stores in addition to a national
business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery
centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13 regional call
centers.
Recently, Office Depot was recognized in BusinessWeek as the
country's 11th most generous in-kind giver as a percentage of
revenues. Also, the company was one of twelve companies included in
the Companies That Care Honor Roll.
The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.
Additional press information can be found at:
http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.
About Nu-kote
Nu-kote is the favorite aftermarket brand of ink jet, fax,
ribbons, copier and laser printer supplies. With a commitment to
quality, value, innovation and superior service, Nu-kote produces more
than 3,000 products for use in more than 30,000 types of imaging
devices. Nu-kote is "The Choice for Quality & Value."
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep American Beautiful, Inc. is the nation's largest community
improvement and education nonprofit organization that is focused on
litter prevention, beautification, as well as reducing, reusing,
recycling and managing solid waste. Founded in 1953, Keep America
Beautiful has a legacy of encouraging environmental citizenship
through its programs, campaigns and its national network of more than
540 affiliates in local, county, state and international communities.
Through partnerships with citizens, business and government, Keep
America Beautiful is dedicated to creating healthier, safer and more
livable community environments. Keep America Beautiful's Great
American Cleanup(TM), which takes place from March through May 31, is
Keep America Beautiful's signature program that encourages people to
care for their communities through volunteer participation. For more
information about Keep America Beautiful or to join this year's Great
American Cleanup(TM) activities, visit www.kab.org to locate and
contact the closest Great American Cleanup(TM) participating
organization.
About Earth Share
Earth Share is a nationwide network of more than 400 local, state,
national and international environmental and conservation charities.
Earth Share was created by its member organizations more than a decade
ago to represent them in employee workplace giving campaigns across
the country, and to provide them with an efficient and secure way to
manage their donations. In turn, Earth Share protects its donors by
ensuring that its member groups operate with the strictest ethical and
professional standards and engage in active programs that protect our
health, land, water, air and wildlife on local, national and global
levels. Earth Share makes it easy to support the vital organizations
working to protect and restore our natural resources, improve and
manage our nation's parks, eliminate toxic threats to our air, land
and water, reduce the waste in our landfills, and protect our natural
heritage for future generations. For more information about Earth
Share, please visit www.earthshare.org.
CONTACT: Office Depot, Delray Beach
Alison Lynch, 561/438-4276
alynch2@officedepot.com
SOURCE: Office Depot, Inc.
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