Verizon Store Certified Earth Friendly

Customers familiar with the Verizon Wireless store on Harper know they can find the latest in cellular phones and other wireless communications technology.

But lately the local Verizon outlet has a new point of pride, the St. Clair Shores retail store is one of two southeast Michigan Verizon locations to have earned the coveted Energy Star certification from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Shores location joins 85 Energy Star-certified Verizon stores across the country. The second Michigan store to attain this certification is in Southfield.

“The stores — located at 28117 Telegraph Road in Southfield and 26401 Harper Avenue in St. Clair Shores — utilize Energy Star-certified equipment, including energy efficient lighting and light-emitting diode (LED) exit signs,” explains Alan Upchurch, senior vice president, Marx Layne & Company. “They also have motion sensors to activate lighting in portions of the stores that are not in constant use, such as storage rooms and back offices.

“Additional energy-saving initiatives include insulating water heaters and piping and properly sealing the entire building structure and entry doors to prevent the loss of heated or cooled air.”

Earning Energy Star certification is one of several initiatives the company employs as part of a proactive effort to save energy and protect the environment. According to Upchurch, Verizon has added 26 store locations nationwide to its list of Energy Star-certified stores since Earth Day in 2010.

Upchurch adds that in total, Verizon Wireless Energy Star certified stores save more than 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, or the equivalent in annual emissions from 432 passenger vehicles or 267 private homes.

“Verizon Wireless works every day to protect our environment,” said Michelle Gilbert, spokesperson for Verizon Wireless in Michigan. “The energy-saving initiatives that we have implemented in our St. Clair Shores store demonstrate our commitment to ‘going green.’ We have many other programs that help protect the environment, including our HopeLine and trade-in programs that keep no-longer used phones out of landfills.”

The HopeLine program takes unused cell phones and turns them into support for victims and survivors of domestic violence. Keeping used cell phones out of landfills is equally easy with Verizon’s trade-in policy, which accepts phones from all carriers.