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**UK water cooler distributor Greencare H2O has been ranked 19th in The Sunday Times 'Best Green Companies List 2008'.
**Greencare received the accolade for its operations, which provide plumbed-in water coolers to businesses and restaurants as an alternative to bottled water coolers.
Greencare competed across five categories, against companies of all sizes and environmental impacts to win its place on the coveted Sunday Times Green List.
Greencare Managing Director Adam Warren commented: "We are thrilled to have been recognised as one of the UK's top green companies. The preservation of the environment is critical to the services we offer our customers, but it's fantastic that our own green policies are also recognised for genuinely making a difference to the environment."
Greencare H2O (enables organisations to purify, chill and dispense tap water through mains-fed water coolers and encourage a higher level of water consumption while reducing costs and carbon emissions. Founded in 2004, the company is one of the leading providers of mains-fed water coolers in Europe.
Sunday Times Managing Editor Richard Caseby added: "The 50 companies in this survey are all pioneers - enterprising, enlightened and fizzing with new ideas. All have a common sense of purpose about their corporate social responsibility.
"This is the first environmental awards that has both a robust methodology to measure environmental performance and a survey of each company's staff to find out whether the green sheen is more than skin-deep.
The Sunday Times' survey assessed all aspects of Greencare's environmental performance, including its environmental management policies, training and internal consultation, energy consumption, waste reduction and recycling. Amongst the criteria, Greencare was most highly ranked for meeting the Environmental Management Standard, IS0 14001; for publicly auditing and reporting its green credentials; for calculating and reducing its carbon footprint; for providing employees with environmental training; and for its overall commitment to recycling.
As well as measuring corporate policies and practices, the Best Green Companies survey also measured the involvement of employees in delivering them. Greencare ranked particularly highly in the employees survey, with a green score of 82%, placing the company third in the country in the overall list. Greencare staff gave the company a 94% green score for placing environmental commitments at the heart of the company and 92% for always doing what is best for the environment.
The surveys were devised by The Sunday Times in collaboration with Bureau Veritas, a leading international firm of environmental consultants and Munro Global, the respected data analysis company. Every company making the final 50 was subjected to rigorous data verification to ensure the authenticity of every aspect of their environmental performance.
Will Ullstein, director of innovation at Munro Global said: "This survey offers an unparalleled insight into how deeply environmental issues have permeated a company's structure. It provides a benchmark for corporate environmental performance as well as identifying what staff are thinking and what action they are taking on the shop floor."
The 2008 list, which also included HBOS bank, Canon UK and professional services firm Deloitte, was topped by coffin manufacturers J C Atkinson and Son.