Consulting Stories
We love sharing stories about our customers' successes! The following are descriptions detailing some of our recent sustainability consulting work. Because some companies prefer to remain anonymous, we have described the stories in general terms. We are happy to help your business or organization become more sustainable – contact us today to get started!
- Plastics
A resin user who makes plasticized paper overlays asked for a non-petroleum source; the firm was trying to get away from the price volatility in oil products. We suggested the firm look at nut oils; it settled on pecan shell oil for its resin product. This material is available at a lower and more stable price than high quality light diesel, which helped the firm stabilize its costs. Plastics are made from many more oils than petroleum; usable resins can come from conifer saps, nut oils, and seed oils. - Retail
Several retail food outlets have talked to us about saving money in operations. We have several suggestions for any food outlet: separate liquids from solids in trash (beverages and ice), so that liquids are drained off, and solids (napkins, paper plates, food wastes) go into the trash without being water-soaked. This way the company does not pay for water weight in trash. Take this one step further and send all organic solids to a local composter. In the kitchen, recycle used cooking oil to a local biofuels producer. Recycle glass, metal, cardboard, and plastics. Look for food suppliers within the region and locally, rather than hundreds to thousands of miles away. Make menus more seasonal, and use those locally-available seasonal foods. Refit exhaust fans in kitchens so that waste heat goes to preheat hot water, rather than out the stack. Improve daylighting with skylights or light tubes to bring daylight into interiors. Clean with environmentally benign cleaners. - Organic Dairies
We have had several organic dairies in our loan portfolio over the years. Organic milk from pasture-based herds is a major improvement in land management over confined herds eating out-of-area feed. The key point is to put herds back on grass, using high intensity, short duration grazing. When well-managed, farmers focus on growing forage, and using herds to crop it. Forage production may double, or in some cases, go up an order of magnitude. This also reduces manure handling, and the energy associated with the equipment, pumps, and storage. Other important points include: shifting calving times to correspond with better weather in spring, rather than winter, when very small calves are more likely to become ill. Improved forage management reduces weed problems and improves adjacent water quality in nearby waterbodies. Grass-based herds eating fresh forage on daily basis are often healthier than confinement herds on dried feed. - Lodging
Resort lodging businesses have changed many practices in just a few years. We recommend, and see, widespread use of the following practices: cleaning rooms with environmentally safe compounds; using towels and sheets for several days rather than changing daily; recycling in rooms; furnishing rooms with low or no VOC carpets, soft furniture, wall and ceiling finishes; using dispensers or individual use packets rather than bottles or hard packaging; sourcing furniture from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified or similar manufacturers; using environmentally benign laundry detergents. - Green Building
Green buildings have come a long way in the past decade. There are specific decisions to be made when constructing green buildings, but they all come down to some basic points: reducing or avoiding the need to use energy, as well as using durable materials to reduce maintenance costs and lengthen the capital maintenance cycle; working with the site and climate to arrive at a comfortable and workable solution. Surprisingly, many 'green' choices add to the comfort of built spaces. We have seen clients rehabilitate old buildings, transforming sturdy frames into highly functional new spaces. We encourage mixed use buildings, infill at higher densities, competent stormwater handling, over-insulating, increasing wiring sizes in new electrical wiring, and using Energy Star certified fixtures and appliances. - Wild Fish
A charter fishing company asked for suggestions for its fleet and office. We suggested for the building: better daylighting with skylights or light tubes, insulation, and a light colored roof to replace the flat and black tar roof. For the fleet, we suggested biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel, to reduce engine wear and maintenance costs. They could also use environmentally benign cleaners to scrub down the boats each day, and recycle most of the trash that comes off each boat after a fishing trip, as by volume it is largely clean cardboard and empty beverage containers. - Other
A dried fruit producer, with a recent fine (prior to becoming our client) for illegal disposal of brines (sugar solutions, in this case), took us through the plant, looking for suggestions on handling old brines. We proposed that they find a way to re-concentrate brines for reuse without heat, and without shipping barrels of brine by truck hundreds of miles to cheap natural gas cookers. The firm eventually settled on centrifugal re-concentration, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on sugar costs, because brines could be reused many more times. The firm then found a use for the brines at end of life in ethanol plants. The firm also improved plastics recycling, and saved more than $2 million per year in materials and operations costs. Waste products in one plant may be feed stocks in another.
A home theater installer had a problem disposing of cardboard and packaging materials. We found three recyclers in his city who specifically take heavy cardboards, and the major kinds of packaging that the components were shipped in; all were willing to pick up from the business. This reduced disposal costs for solid wastes by several hundred dollars per month. More importantly, it reduced an important materials handling problem for the installation crews.
We are happy to help your business or organization become more sustainable – contact us today to get started!