Blog: Sustainability

We all enjoy nature and want to do what we can to protect it. So, when The Nature Conservancy calls, we usually say "yes."

On October 20, our firm received the 2011 Business Conservation Leadership Award at a luncheon at the Oregon Zoo. We helped create an "I believe in conservation" ad campaign, led a bond measure to buy more parks and open spaces in Eugene, prompted the Conservancy's board to get involved with Lane County to acquire the Willamette Confluence, and even let our president serve on the conservancy's board for nine years.

Liz Cawood (president), Cari Ingrassia (art director) and Melinda Dille (media director) traveled to Portland to receive the award. On the way up, they reminisced about working on the ad campaign with Gert Boyle, Dave Frohnmayer and other leading Oregonians. At CAWOOD, we live by the motto: There's no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit. We agree that receiving recognition is pretty special, too.

We are humbled and honored to play a small part in helping to protect more than half a million acres of valleys, rivers, lakes, mountains, beaches, forests, grasslands and deserts in Oregon. We love living in here.

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Market of Choice's kitchens offer high quality foods made from scratch. They use only the best ingredients, right down to the cooking oil. So what happens to all that oil after it's used?

As part of its sustainability efforts and support of local vendors, Market of Choice partnered with Encore Oils, a subsidiary of SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel, which now collects about 140 gallons of used oil per month. It is then transferred to the SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel plant in Salem, Ore.

From there, it is processed into biodiesel and distributed around the state. Creating biodiesel in place of petroleum diesel reduces the production of carbon dioxide by 89 percent.

Essentially, this used cooking oil helps reduce dependence on foreign oil and decreases greenhouse gas emissions. Further, the biodiesel produced contains 89 percent less CO2 than petroleum diesel and helps reduce the negative health impact from automobile tailpipe emissions.

The best part? Market of Choice's partnership with Encore Oils ensures that all transfer processes and resulting fuel remain in the state, keeping dollars in the region and helping the local economy.

This effort is significant because most used cooking oil is controlled by large corporations that ship the product overseas for use in makeup production or livestock feed. The unused portion is often placed into landfills, contaminating water supply.

To support this full-circle effort, you can fuel up at your local SeQuential station or shop your Market of Choice knowing that many of the products on its shelves are delivered by trucks powered by biodiesel - now that's full circle!

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We’re certified as a RE:think business – only one of eight companies in the Eugene/Springfield area to have this distinction. And, we want to encourage other businesses to become certified, too.

This great program provides free, confidential advice and support on practical ways to trim waste and save money. You can easily learn more at www.bringrecycling.org. There’s even a Recommendation Checklist you can download to see how you’re doing.

Let me share my story: While I’ve been interested in sustainable living for a few years now, I didn’t realize how rewarding it would be to work with like-minded people. Here at CAWOOD, I was welcomed into a remarkably aware environment. While our staff willingly and continuously accepts the challenge of being eco-conscious, we decided to take it a step further and go through BRING’s RE:think process to get even better.

After completing an eye-opening checklist that included ways to improve recycling, energy and water efficiency, and much more, Carolyn from BRING came by to do a visual inspection and audit our company’s efforts to reduce waste. The process was so simple, yet extremely thorough in terms of itemizing ways to improve our efficiency and minimize our waste. I hope you’ll decide to become certified.

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The Business Commute Challenge has inspired our whole team this week. All 14 of us committed to making plans, giving ourselves a few extra minutes, or sometimes braving the weather to bike, walk, bus or carpool, and we were all successful.

The biggest story may have been Kurt's, as he and his wife went out and bought bikes over the weekend. The weather proved to be a formidable foe, making it really hard to ride every day like Kurt wanted, but he did succeed on a few of the days. He says this event has inspired him to plan for a summer of riding his bike to work.

Many of us took the bus this week, too. And being so close to the downtown station, it makes riding LTD a very efficient option for many of us. Carpooling had a good go this week, too; it allowed for some of our more flexible schedules, and with just a bit more planning we could incorporate this into a more long-term regime. Telecommuting also works at CAWOOD. We had a few days logged, staying and home working. We didn't have anyone who walked all the way from home, but that is only because none of us live close and biking is just so easy to do here in Eugene.

We are a group that embraces change, especially change that makes our lives, our work and our community better. It took a little more work, but the benefits more than paid off.

This event has given all of us something to shoot for. The benefits of leaving our cars at home has been an experience, and it left us all smiling and breathing a bit easier.

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We recently created an identity for BRING's Re:think Business program, which offers free, hands-on assistance to help companies reduce waste and save more. An efficiency advisor will come to your office and determine the type of assistance that will be most useful to you. You'll get customized recommendations.

Re:think Business focuses on:

• Waste prevention and recycling
• Energy efficiency and conservation
• Water conservation
• Water quality protection
• Incorporating efficiency into business activities

Your business may be doing more than you realize. Go through Re:think's recommendation checklist to learn more about what you're already doing and opportunities to increase your savings by further reducing waste.

For more information on the program, email rethink@bringrecycling.org or call 541-746-3023.

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