Around the Equator, 19 Times

In 2008, we began encouraging our employees to carpool and bike to work. Four years later, the program has resulted in 474,997 miles saved—that’s the equivalent of 19 trips around the earth’s equator.

Every year we collect information like miles saved, environmental emissions, and charitable activities into our Better World Report. We do this to let you know what we’re doing to reach our goals in four areas—community service, inclusiveness and diversity, health and well-being, and environmental advocacy. Are we perfect and do we always succeed? Of course not, but we believe every trip around the equator saved is a step in the right direction.

To learn how we turned 16 into 15,992, check out the new Better World Report.

A Better World by Design

We aim to improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn, and live. Problem-solving design and “being a good steward” are just two ways we do this. We also set goals for our business and our people, including: environmental advocacy, inclusiveness and diversity, health and well-being, and community service.

Every year we put together our Better World Report so that you can see how well we’re doing at reaching our goals. Here are a couple of highlights:

11,500 volunteer hours spent in the communities where we work around the globe.

437,225 miles saved by employees carpooling and biking to work.

100% green energy usage in our facilities worldwide.

To learn more, see the web version or download the full report.

Herman Miller Highlights Progress to Building a Better World Around You

Every year, we put together our Better World report to let you know how we’re building a better world around you through environmental advocacy, inclusiveness and diversity, health and well-being, and community service. Are we perfect and do we always reach our goals? Of course not. Building a better world is not so much a goal as an everyday way of life.

Here are some highlights from the past fiscal year:

Community Service:
• Herman Miller employees logged 13,640 volunteer hours, exceeding the goal of 10,000.

Inclusiveness & Diversity:
• “Corporation of the Year” by Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

Health & Well-being
• 3rd consecutive year on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Environmental Advocacy
• Surpassed overall footprint reduction goal with 91% overall reduction.
• 100% green electrical energy usage worldwide.

If you have any questions or comments about the report, please feel free to share them with us here.

How Can We Make This a Better World? And What Does Zero Have to Do with It?

How do we balance using our resources to earn a profit while doing it responsibly? At Herman Miller, we look to our statement of corporate values called Things That Matter. One of the nine is called “A Better World.”

Our third annual Better World Report talks about how we’re trying to live up to our Better World values—advocating for the environment, embracing inclusiveness, fostering well-being, and serving our communities. Read it for a look at our progress so far.

And the zero? It graces the cover of the report because getting to a zero operational footprint by 2020 is such a big deal for us. We’re proud to say that we’re 83.5% of the way there. For the full story, check out our video “Zero is hero.”