Reduce Reuse Recycle

Much of what you see has recycled products in the landscaping.

Reduce, reuse, recycle are what many in businesses are attempting to do in greening up America and the world. We are in the day and age where the 3 R’s are very important in our business dealings. How does the landscaping industry stack up with others attempting to do that very thing? Do we do our share of keeping America Green?

Here in Clark County Washington, there are many recycling plants that take our green waste such as, pruning debris, lawn clippings, excess soil, sod, sand and concrete. We pay to get rid of the waste and in return buy back three way soil mix, compost, and crushed rock we have previously recycled as green waste. The landscaping industry has diligently been recycling for many years. This helps to reduce the amount of landfill and enables us to use recycled products. Soil, concrete and green waste was for many for years nothing more than something to fill up land fills. They are now vital to our needs as landscapers. Soil mix is used to insure that landscapes have the proper soil preparation. Compost is used as a top dress of plantings and soil preparation. Crushed rock serves as our base for pavers, segmented retaining walls, gravel paths and as a base for road construction. Chips from larger branches are used for play grounds, informal paths and as mulch around trees and planter beds. The amount of material that is recycled by the landscape industry is huge. Just take a look at a local recycler and see for yourself what is brought in as waste and what is sold back to us products we use every day.

How does the landscaping industry reduce waste and pollution in house? Most of us only order the exact amount of material we need. When we over order it would end up hitting our pocket book and then we waste time and money to dispose of the material. This helps to lessen the amount of material we put in land fills. When maintenance people fertilize and spray for pathogens or pests they rarely use more chemicals than are necessary. They calibrate exactly the amount of chemicals needed and apply to specifications. Any more chemical usage adds to pollution, is wasteful and very costly. Integrated Pest Management Systems have been in place for many years and help to insure that we use the least possible amount of chemical with the best result. The argument can be made that homeowners in fact are the major contributors to over usage of chemicals in their gardens. Most homeowners have the mind set that if a little works well then more works even better. This is not the case with professional Green Industry Companies.

There is a new program in Oregon that landscape companies are now enabled to become environmentally certified. DeSantis Landscapes has been the states first commercial ecological landscape contractor awarded this certification. The Portland Regional Pollution prevention outreach Team made up of eight Portland-area agencies, recognize landscape design, installation, and maintenance contractors that “reach the highest standards in minimizing environmental impact. DeSantis said environmental certification will become more commonplace as landscape companies around the country look for ways to lesson their impact. Even though most of us are not certified environmentally at this time, we have programs we are trying to implement. Many landscape companies offer carpooling. Bio diesel is being used more for our trucks and tractors. Many of us design projects that require less maintenance and are environmentally friendly.

What can landscapers do to help our clients reduce energy and water use? Water features are very expensive to operate on a monthly basis. The energy use can be very high. There are pumps that use much less electricity and are about half the cost monthly of older types and produce the same volume of water. Another new innovation is satellite base irrigation controllers. They keep accurate records of weather in the exact area and actually run your irrigation only when needed.. This saves 20-50% of the amount of irrigation water that is normally used by presetting to come on 3 times a week, versus watering when water is needed according to the satellite. These kinds of controllers can also reduce runoff up to 70%. This technology is spreading very fast and will be widely adapted in a few short years.   Professional Green Industry Landscape Contractors recycle, reduce and reuse on a daily basis. Many of us are aware how important this is to make the earth more environmentally friendly, and are quickly implementing new programs and ideas that help our world be just a little bit greener and pollution free. We are the True Green Industry.

Check out some other landscaping blog posts Landscapers Are The Green Industry.