LEE INDUSTRIES

An early champion of eco-friendly manufacturing, the company launched its Ecology Plus program in the '80s, voluntarily eliminating products from its production process that produced ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases.

That longstanding green tradition continues today with naturalLEE, the earth-friendly process LEE Industries adopted to create all of its furniture. The company now uses organic and natural fabrics paired with frames made from wood harvested sustainably. To help maintain healthy forests, the company has donated 4,763 trees to the American Forests Organization since July 2007 and continues to donate a tree for each piece of naturalLEE furniture that is sold.

While it's common to use petroleum-based cushions in furniture, naturalLEE uses a 20% soy-based foam cushion that reduces petroleum consumption. LEE Industries also offers Eco-Lux, a luxurious upgrade that blends down and feathers with corn-based Ingeo fibers, the first fiber made from 100% renewable resources.

Beyond the company's green products, LEE Industries is dedicated to reducing the company's environmental footprint in other ways. It has increased its recycling programs within the manufacturing facilities and now recycles everything except food waste. The naturalLEE upholstery package will save 94 gallons of crude oil per day, resulting in 23,400 gallons per year. LEE is also adopting a paperless communication system while boosting internal recycling efforts, thereby decreasing the company's overall energy consumption.

At LEE Industries, being green is a core value and a way of life.