I was interviewed for a magazine article a while back on the subject of doing business in a green way. These days we are all trying to be more environmentally responsible. I only have to look out my window to realize how
important it is to each of us. So many businesses are hopping on the green bandwagon these days and it plays on the media constantly. Many companies efforts and endless rhetoric have made me a bit of a skeptic about how green they really are however. The ability to now buy green credits to offset wasteful practices and ongoing pollution have made me even more wary of many companies green claims. I agreed to the interview, curious about how we would compare to most shops in a somewhat similar business.
The person doing the interview asked me a series of questions. My answers were as follows...
My commute to work is only 300 feet, so the truck stays parked in the driveway most days. Our truck is mid-sized, big and powerful enough to pull a trailer when needed but small enough to be economical and easy to maneuver into a normal parking stall. Trips to town for supplies generally wait until there are enough items to make it worthwhile and efficient - most often only once or twice each week with lots of stops on the way.
Our shop is built with concrete filled foam blocks. Our primary concern when we built the shop was noise which we feared might bother our neighbors. By insulating the building well we kept the noise inside. In doing so the building is rated at better than a R40 insulating value - much higher by a factor of two or three times than most buildings. We heat with natural gas powered radiant heat - again high points for the environment. We like to use water based acrylic paints for most of our work. It’s our preference as they last well and make it easy to achieve our delightful finishes. It’s also good for the environment. We generate very little waste in our shop, and recycle as much as possible. Almost of the materials and methods we use daily in our shop turned out to be good choices for the environment.
After the final tally, our shop proved to be amongst the very greenest of the many businesses from all across Canada and the USA who were interviewed for the article. While we certainly do care about the environment, our decisions were mostly based on common sense and a lifestyle which suits us. These common sense decisions also proved to be green. It proves we can do much more than we think possible if we try. Little things do add up over time.
-grampa dan