Sustainability 2008

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Table of ContentsKindermusik & Sustainability: a note from Michael Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

At-a-Glance: Accomplishments, Challenges & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–7

Our Commitment to Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Our Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16–18

Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Our Environmental Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Future of “Green” at Kindermusik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Sustainability 2008

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Kindermusik & Sustainability

I am proud to introduce Kindermusik’s first report on sustainability to our community of educators,parents, and partners. Now in our thirtieth year, Kindermusik International has focused onexceptional educational materials from our earliest days. We have created and brought toclassrooms the world over a body of work that has transformed music education and informedteaching methods and parenting skills. Our energy for continuing to adapt and improve thesematerials is renewed each time we hear a child ask: “Mommy, is today a Kindermusik day?”

Yet we have come to know we have a responsibility beyond the classroom. With the publicationof this first report on sustainability, we turn our attention to becoming a small company that istruly a model for others who seek to make a responsible profit while honoring its people and itsplanet. In 2002, we took a first bold step by becoming 100% employee-owned. Fewer than onepercent of small companies in the U.S. go to this length to ensure that each and every employeeshares fully in the benefits of ownership. Our educators and parents have the comfort of knowingthat each product and class experience is shaped by the hands of an owner who believes passionatelyin the benefits of music education. We are guided by core values at Kindermusik International,the first of which is “We do what is best for parent and child.” In these days in which so manycompanies are focused on the “quick buck,” our owners consistently strive to make choices forthe long term.

There is so much more we can do. As a publisher, we face both challenges and opportunities inlimiting the environmental impact of our products and packaging. Though we are small, we doserve educators and parents in over seventy countries; we must attempt to limit the carbon footprintcreated by movement of physical product. We believe that the most effective solution is reduction,that the most effective recycling is reuse, and that we can have a positive impact by makingbetter choices in design and in raw material selection. Finally, as educational publishers, wemust help the children and families we serve to see the good we can do together in our steward-ship of planet Earth.

Michael DoughertyCEO, Kindermusik International

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At-a-Glance: Accomplishments, Challenges & Goals

First Steps

• Personnel• Behaviors survey• Communications: parents/public, educators,employee-owners

• Packaging reduction: CD sleeves• Reduce, reuse• Green purchasing• Green cleaning• Carbon footprint• Carbon reduction: Renewable Energy Certificates• Sustainability report

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• Trickle-down constituency• Print reduction: curriculum materials• Packaging reduction: curriculum packaging• Recycling• Carbon reduction• Personal carbon reduction options• Quantify and reduce office-related waste• Product grid• Statement of environmental policy

Walking the Talk

• Shipping reduction• Carbon footprint: manufacturing• Facilities assessment• Environmental philanthropy

In the Running

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Our Commitment to Sustainability

First StepsPersonnelTo ensure that sustainability is a nuts-and-bolts, best-practices,walk-the-talk priority that takes root across all teams andoperations in the company, we have dedicated a staffmember to sustainability issues.

Behaviors surveyAn in-house behaviors and values survey has helped us determinewhere we stand, as a corporate culture, on issues of sustainability.We’ve quantified where there is most interest and energy;where there are background gaps, and where there are thebiggest opportunities for change.

Trickle-down constituencyThe “footprint” of our corporate facilities is only part of what wewant to reduce, and is indeed relatively small in comparisonto the larger global footprint of the Kindermusik name andbrand—namely the footprint of our educators and theparents and children they know and teach.

Weaim:• to ensure that Kindermusik International adopts sustainable practices.• to provide education and incentive for Kindermusik employee-owners tointegrate principles of sustainability into their work lives and everyday practices.

• to provide opportunities for Kindermusik educators to adopt Kindermusik-inspiredsustainability initiatives and to contribute sustainability solutions and ideas to us.

• to inspire Kindermusik families to participate in sustainable behaviors.

Walking the Talk

I think sustainabilityis an important issueto our customers:

Verymuch

Prettymuch

Notreally

Notat all

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80

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geof

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When I think aboutthe environment,I feel guilty:

Verymuch

Prettymuch

Notreally

Notat all

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80

Perc

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Honestly, I don’t care muchabout this “green” stuff. Justleave me alone so I can getmy work done:

Verymuch

Prettymuch

Notreally

Notat all

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80

Perc

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geof

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21% 26%45%

8%

5% 8%

32%

55%

18% 16%

53%

13%

Apeek at ourbehaviors survey:

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Communications

Our success will depend heavily on communication. We have created the followingavenues for dialogue:

“KindermusikGreen” blog forparentsand publicwww.kindermusikgreen.blogspot.comThis blog will introduce and explore current sustainability terms and issues, featurerecent news items pertinent to families, announce Kindermusik sustainability initiatives,and solicit ideas, thoughts, and feedback.

“In the Key of Green” Teacher’s Lounge page and blog for educatorswww.keyofgreen.blogspot.comThis blog will announce Kindermusik sustainability initiatives, offer basic educationon sustainability terms and issues, provide a place for educators to share their ownsustainability-related innovations and classroom solutions, and enable KI to solicitideas, thoughts, and feedback on ways to introduce sustainability into our headquartersand product development.

“Green Together” digital newsletter for employee-ownersThis in-house newsletter will propose and/or announce Kindermusik sustainabilityinitiatives, share recent news items pertinent to sustainability initiatives in our industry,offer basic education on sustainability terms and issues, and provide a forum foremployee-owners to ask questions or offer suggestions about the company’sgreen projects.

First Steps

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Our Products

Packaging reduction: CD sleevesWe’ve introduced a new CD packaging design into some of our lines, reducingmaterials use and eliminating the need for shrink-wrap. The new CD sleeves aremade of 100% post-consumer recycled paperboard that is processed chlorine-freeand recyclable. Inks are 100% vegetable (linseed) based.

Print reduction: curriculummaterialsWe have launched a major initiative aimed at reducing the amount of curriculummaterials we print on paper and ship around the world. We are currently pilotingthe digital delivery of at least some Teacher Materials and an “online forum”approach to the sharing and development of Kindermusik’s proprietary curricula.

Packaging reduction: curriculumpackagingWe are currently exploring several new curriculum packaging options, includingthe use of 100% post-consumer recycled paperboard and making somepackaging optional.

First Steps

Walking the Talk

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Resources

Reduce, reuseKindermusik is currently adhering to a moratorium on the purchase of office supplies,furniture, and tech equipment, and establishing a policy of sharing, reusing, andreducing the need for simple resources we might otherwise simply replace. Humanresources, payroll, medical coverage, and professional development, coaching,and evaluation paperwork have all been converted to online/digital formats. Weanticipate that the annual reduction in waste and expenditure will be upwards of 15%.

Green purchasing/EPA standardsWhen it becomes necessary to purchase supplies, our goal is to use the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA)’s purchasing standards and to group orders to reduceshipping quantities.

Green cleaningOur home office cleaning service uses natural, non-toxic, plant-based cleaningmaterials and biodegradable paper products.

RecycleThere are still some items we can’t avoid purchasing. Our first choice is to purchaseitems that are recyclable and made of at least 30% recycled material. Each of ouroffices has a recyclables policy posted and enforced.

First Steps

Walking the Talk

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Carbon

Carbon footprintThe first step in reducing our contribution to global warming was to quantify theimpact of our company’s greenhouse-gas-emitting actions, or “calculate our carbonfootprint.” We measured electricity usage in two corporate offices, a half dozenhome offices, a recording studio, and a warehouse; calculated emissions fromemployee commutes, air travel, and car rentals; and measured emissions fromshipping and receiving.

Calculating our carbon footprint was an essential firststep because it (a) increased awareness of the systemsand behaviors that cause the emissions in the first place;(b) will provide a “measuring stick” against which futurequantities can be compared; and (c) has revealed whereour negative impact is greatest and where ouropportunities for the greatest emission reductions lie.

Carbon reductionRenewable Energy Certificates (RECs) provide the option of balancing our emissions.RECs can be purchased in a one-to-one ratio with specific energy expenditures andrepresent the investment in and creation of an equal amount of renewable energy(in this case, National Wind).

While RECs are ideally a last step, used to counteract the portion of overall emissionsdeemed unavoidable, Kindermusik chose to launch its commitment to sustainabilityaction by purchasing 59 RECs. They have been allocated to offset the energy consumedby The Process Recording Studios (48,000 kWh/yr) and Kindermusik Convention2008 (9,000 kWh for convention facilities and hotel accommodations).

First Steps

Apeek at our carbon footprint:6,232 Gallons of gas used by KI

employees to commute by car353,868 Miles traveled by KI employees

by air (USA only)8,945,223 Pounds of CO2 produced by

shipping (USA/Ground only)

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Carbon reductionThis initial step will be followed by education and incentives to decrease totalemissions more holistically, beginning with electricity usage, travel, and inboundand outbound shipping.

We also hope to energize employee-owners, educators, and parents toparticipate in a variety of personalcarbon reduction options, followingKindermusik’s corporate lead byreducing and/or offsetting their owncarbon emissions.

Shipping reductionCurrently, a large portion of Kindermusik’s carbon footprint rests in outbound shipping. Inthe future, we plan to reduce our impact by (a) digitalizing many curriculum offeringsand (b) looking into more efficient packaging and shipping options.

Carbon footprint:manufacturingWe print and manufacture books, CDs, Teacher Materials, Home Materials, andinstruments at a variety of sites around the world. Although calculating the emissionsof third-party vendors is not often considered within the scope of a company’s footprint,we aspire to quantify and reduce the overall impact of the products we create.

Walking the Talk

In the Running

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Facilities

Walking the Talk

In the Running

Quantify and reduce office-relatedwasteWe now have systems in place to keep long-term track of our facilities emissionsand reductions. In 2009, we hope to initiate water measurement and conservationdevices, as well as systems (like programmed thermostats) that will help us bettercontrol our electricity usage.

Facilities assessmentWe hope, too, to have our facilities evaluated by a LEED-certified professional whocan assess our properties; propose energy-reduction, water conservation, indoorair quality improvement, and solid waste reduction solutions; and reveal opportunitiesfor innovation.

Apeek at our electricity usage averages:

Headquarters 26,400 kWh/moThe Process Recording Studios 4,760 kWh/mo

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Our Environmental Policy

Sustainability reportCreating a sustainability report doesn’t “change” anything all on its own, but byinsisting that a company’s data and attitudes be gathered, assessed, and expressedin a single place, it does make effective change possible. We’re proud to haveproduced our first-ever sustainability report and look forward to reporting ourprogress next year.

Product gridThis year, we will begin to create a product “report card,” identifying certificationsand eco-labels associated with given Kindermusik products, investigating eachproduct’s life cycle, and introducing transparency into our supply chain.

Statement of environmental policyWe will also generate a statement of our environmental policy, including guidelinesfor vendors regarding manufacturing/ingredient guidelines, human rights and laborissues, and environmental compliance.

Environmental philanthropyIf it becomes possible, we hope to contribute to environmental organizations andcauses that align with Kindermusik’s mission to do what’s best for both child andparent, including a charitable materials donation and recycling program.

First Steps

Walking the Talk

In the Running

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The Future of “Green” at Kindermusik

Having established our sustainability beginnings at Kindermusik, we’d like to imagineit would be all blue skies from here . . . but we know we have our work cut out forus. In a tight economy, our first green initiatives need to be ones that reduce ourcollective impact on the environment without costing the company, its educators, orits families more than we can reasonably spare. And in a time when the averageperson’s attention is in high demand and accordingly divided, our first green initiativesalso need to be ones that are simple, high-impact, and easily understood.

If, in the course of the next year, we can reduce a portion of the quantifiable impactof the things we create and the people and places we use to create them, we willhave met a difficult challenge. But better yet—if, in the course of the next year, weare able to reach, energize, invigorate, empower, and educate some portion ofthe thousands upon thousands of people upon whom Kindermusik already has animpact, we will have met an even more honorable goal.