Verizon's rate of 64 metric tons of CO2 emissions per million dollars in revenue in 2008 represents a year-over-year improvement of 3 percent, according to figures cited by the company. Overall, Verizon's "carbon intensity" is approximately nine times below the U.S. average, as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Verizon cited a number of ongoing initiatives that should see its energy efficiency improve even more in the years ahead. In 2008, Verizon:
- Became the first telecommunications company to require that the network equipment it purchases be 20 percent more energy efficient.
- Launched an initiative to limit engine idling, which cut fuel consumption by more than 1 million gallons (equivalent to taking some
1,600 cars off the road for a year. - Electronically delivered approximately 100 million bills to customers.
- Collected more than 1.1 million cell phones, an increase of 6 percent from 2007, through HopeLine, a Verizon Wireless program that collects, refurbishes and sells used phones to benefit domestic violence prevention programs.
- Recycled 35.1 million pounds of telecommunications equipment. (equivalent to the weight of more than 11,500 Toyota Prius sedans.)
- Focused on purchasing goods containing recycled material. As a result, 60 percent of all goods purchased by the company contained recycled material.
