"As a purpose-driven company, Lowe's is committed to helping people love where they live. That's the lens we use to do what's right for customers and our communities," Robert A. Niblock says in the report's CEO Letter. "This report is a demonstration of that commitment. I'm proud of what we accomplished in 2015, and I'm looking forward to building on our momentum."
Lowe's continues to make improvements in important focus areas, including efforts to reduce waste, energy use and emissions, enhance workplace safety and diversity, improve product sustainability and grow charitable giving and employee volunteerism. For the second consecutive year, Lowe's report contains standard disclosures from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines – an internationally recognized framework for sustainability reporting – and a GRI index to enhance transparency and access to key data.
Lowe's highlights from 2015 include:
- Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation gave more than $33 million in charitable contributions, and more than 43,000 Lowe's Heroes employee volunteers donated their time and expertise to improve communities.
- For the first time, every single Lowe's store in the United States, more than 1,700 stores, participated in a Lowe's Heroes volunteer project.
- The company celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Lowe's Toolbox for Education®. The program has awarded $48 million in grants, benefiting more than six million children and nearly 11,000 schools.
- Focused on bringing better products to market and improving customer education, Lowe's worked with suppliers to remove ortho-phthalate plasticizers from all residential vinyl flooring and committed to phase out the sale of products that contain neonic pesticides within 48 months to support pollinator health. Lowe's also announced plans to eliminate window coverings with accessible cords that can form a hazardous loop from its in-stock assortment by the end of 2018.
- To build a stronger leadership team, Lowe's launched a mentoring program that pairs female and minority store managers with market directors to grow their leadership skills. Lowe's also continued to build diversity through its recruiting efforts, attending more than 100 recruiting events to attract people with diverse backgrounds and ideas.
- Lowe's mobile health-screening units completed 111,792 free health screenings for employees, a 10 percent increase from 2014, and Lowe's continued to build on the success of its cardiac surgery and hip and knee replacement programs. More than 200 employees received no-cost hip and knee replacements, and 84 employees received no-cost spine surgery, a new benefit Lowe's launched in 2015.
To learn more about these activities, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility. Feedback is welcome at [email protected].
Download a PDF of the 2015 report
About Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving more than 16 million customers a week in the United States, Canada and Mexico through its stores and online at Lowes.com, Lowes.ca and Lowes.com.mx. With fiscal year 2015 sales of $59.1 billion, Lowe's has more than 1,855 home improvement and hardware stores and 270,000 employees. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's supports the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
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SOURCE Lowe's Companies, Inc.
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