Sustainable Cooperative Lighting
At Spectrum Lighting, we have always practiced sustainability in operating our factories and designing our products. We wholeheartedly believe we must do everything we can to protect this one home we share.
We take full responsibility for the environmental impact we have created. We are constantly looking and investing in new systems to reduce our carbon footprint.
Recycling
We practice aggressive recycling of cardboard, paper, metals, and plastics and have a small outflow of landfill garbage. We do not use mixed plastics, which are difficult to recycle. Our newest lighting fixture, the CR2, is 90% recyclable. Once you are done with our lighting fixtures, you can send them back and we will recycle them.
Packaging
We reduced bubble wrap plastics use by 85% in the last six years. We installed a made-in CNC house box machine that allows us to make our own inserts and boxes per order. Where we need a bubble pack, we make our own that deflates and can be recycled. Our boxes are made in-house from recycled cardboard – no extra shipping from vendors and no wasting of any materials.
Materials
We prefer local vendors over those farther away or in other countries. We try to purchase everything in North America. Our LED boards are from the midwestern U.S., drivers from Mexico, aluminum from the Midwest and Canada. Lenses, glass, wire, and connectors from the southeast U.S..
Facilities
Our main building is 120,000 square feet and was originally constructed in 1872. We have continually upgraded the building adding new windows and roofing and kept the open concept floor plan making it a wonderful place to work. Other buildings include a 1920s brick warehouse and two modern metal buildings housing our powder coating and laser fabrication buildings. We are maintaining the old and improving the new.
Energy
We installed a white membrane roof which saves natural gas usage. We installed solar panels that produce 40% of energy needs and have plans on paper to become net 0 in 5 years. We have installed new electronic transformers and 6 EV charging stations on the premises. We have encouraged employees to invest in EV and get free charging at work.
Products
The issue with artificial lighting is that, in some cases, it can have a significant environmental impact on the natural world and the environment. Many animals are disoriented or unnecessarily drawn to artificial light. Even plants and insects can be negatively affected. Light pollution is also caused by excessive or inefficient artificial light. Our new wildlife and dark sky-friendly Envirolights product group was designed to help resolve these issues. Over the last few years, our team has worked hard to provide lighting solutions to aid places around the country like Florida and its significant marine turtle conservation effort or places like Grand Canyon National Park, which was officially certified as an International Dark Sky Park in 2019.