Editing Lowe's (section)

==Environmental record==

Lowe's won eight consecutive [[Energy Star]] awards from 2003 to 2010, including four Energy Star Partner of the Year awards for educating consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency. On March 1, 2010, Lowe's also became the first winner of the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award in Retail, to recognize its contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by promoting energy-efficient products and educating consumers and employees on the value of the Energy Star program.<ref>{{cite press release| url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100301006282/en/Lowe's-Retailer-Win-Energy-Star®-Award-Sustained#.VaErwHhg6yM |title=Lowe's Becomes First Retailer to Win Energy Star Award for Sustained Excellence in Retail| date=March 1, 2010| access-date=March 14, 2010| publisher=Lowe's Companies| via=[[Business Wire]]}}</ref> In 2000, Lowe's released a policy promising that all wood products sold would not be sourced from rainforests.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/335.html |title=Lowe's Launches Forest Protection Initiative |publisher=socialfunds.com |date=August 11, 2000 |access-date=May 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517084410/http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/335.html |archive-date=May 17, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, according to a 2006 report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency, wood used in flooring by Armstrong Flooring that Lowe's was selling had been coming from the forests of [[Indonesia]]'s remote Papua Province, where some [[logging]] was estimated to be illegal.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0323-png.html| title=Home Depot, Lowe's selling illegal wood from Papua New Guinea-Report| journal=[[Mongabay]]| last=Butler| first=Rhett A. |date=March 23, 2006 |access-date=May 6, 2008}}</ref> According to the Telepak report, which was the sole basis of the EIA allegations, Armstrong commissioned an independent audit of Kreasi's merbau supplies over the last 18 month which found documentation relating to the source of the company's merbau logs in Papua, and based on this, Armstrong decided to continue to trade in merbau supplied by Kreasi. The cited report dates to 2006 and Lowe's continues to claim its wood products come from known sources; is legally harvested and traded, and more.<ref>https://content.eiaglobal.org/posts/documents/000/000/406/original/Trading_Merbau_Wood_Flooring_of_Dubious_Origin_.pdf?1468418717{{dead link|date=August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Lowe's Wood Policies| url=https://newsroom.lowes.com/policies/lowes-wood-policy/| website=Lowe's| access-date=August 25, 2019}}</ref>

On April 17, 2014, Lowe's paid a $500,000 penalty for violations of the federal Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, which require renovation contractors, such as window and carpet installers to manage the risk of lead dust when renovating customer homes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2014 |title=Corporate-Wide Settlement with Lowe's Protects Public from Lead Pollution During Home Renovations |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/corporate-wide-settlement-lowe-s-protects-public-lead-pollution-during-home-renovations |access-date=September 2, 2022 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref> As of 2022, this is the largest RRP violation to ever occur.<ref name=":0" /> In the words of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]], ""This settlement will ensure that not only children in southern Illinois, but children throughout the United States will be better protected from the known hazards associated with lead exposure".<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Lowes Interior 2348 Charlotte.jpg|thumb|Interior in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]] (2022)]]
On March 6, 2020, Lowe's paid a $1,600,000 fine for violating [[South Coast Air Quality Management District|California's air quality regulations]]. This includes violations in [[NOx]] emissions from ovens and [[asbestos]] from demolition/renovation activities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2020 |title=Civil Filings and Civil Penalties Report |url=http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/Agendas/Governing-Board/2020/2020-mar6-014.pdf |website=aqmd.gov}}</ref>

===Carbon footprint===
Lowe's reported Total [[carbon footprint|CO2e emissions]] (Direct + Indirect) for the 12 months ending December 31, 2020, at 1,971 Kt (-138 /-6.5% y-o-y).<ref name ="Lowe's Total CO2e emissions for 2020Q4">{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804110730/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf|archive-date=August 4, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2020Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> Lowe's plans to reduce emissions 40% by 2025 from a 2016 base year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804110730/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf|archive-date=August 4, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Climate%20Goal&#91;Climate%20Goal,Total%20CO2e%20emissions%20(Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202)&#93;/2020Q4 Alt URL]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Lowe's's annual Total CO2e Emissions - Location-Based Scope 1 + Scope 2 (in kilotonnes)
|-
! Dec 2015 !! Dec 2016 !! Dec 2017 !! Dec 2018 !! Dec 2019 !! Dec 2020
|-
| 2,690<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2017Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506172145/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2017CRReport_FramingOurFuture.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2017CRReport_FramingOurFuture.pdf|archive-date=May 6, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2015Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> || 2,408<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2018Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506172136/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/lowes-2018cr-report.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/lowes-2018cr-report.pdf|archive-date=May 6, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2016Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> || 2,422<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2019Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506172058/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2019CRReport_r2%20Folder_Lowes_2019CRReport_r12.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2019CRReport_r2%20Folder_Lowes_2019CRReport_r12.pdf|archive-date=May 6, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2017Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> || 2,403<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804110730/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf|archive-date=August 4, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2018Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> || 2,109<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowe's's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804110730/https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf |url=https://corporate.lowes.com/sites/lowes-corp/files/CSR-reports/Lowes_2020CSR__FINAL_ADA.pdf|archive-date=August 4, 2021 }} [https://analytics.exerica.com/App/Name/Lowe's/Total%20CO2e%20Emissions%20-%20Location-Based%20Scope%201%20%2b%20Scope%202/2019Q4/12 Alt URL]</ref> || 1,971<ref name="Lowe's Total CO2e emissions for 2020Q4"/>
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