Earth Day may have come and gone. But for some businesses, Earth Day is everyday.

Here are two examples of businesses — one large and one small — now incorporating green practices into their daily operations.

MeadowView

The MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center began implementing conservation efforts when Marriott launched its green initiative a few years ago. But since then, MeadowView — which includes a 305-room hotel, conference and convention center, restaurant and 18-hole Cattails Golf Course — has expanded on the green idea and looked for new ways to conserve energy, save water, recycle all it can, and encourage guests to do the same, said General Manager Andy King.

“We are trying to go as green as possible,” said King, who serves as this year’s chairman of Keep Kingsport Beautiful. “It shows the community that we’re not here just to create a large footprint just to make money. We really want to engage the local community and the local wildlife and give back to the area — not just take away or just be here using everything.”

Visitors can see evidence of green practices before even entering the MeadowView buildings. Outside at Cattails Golf Course, the facility has established a butterfly garden along with special birdhouses to attract local species along the fairways. Fewer chemicals and fertilizers are also being used on the golf course.

And MeadowView uses only recycled rain water collected throughout the year to irrigate the grass and golf course greens during the hot summer months.

“We never have to turn on the city water supply to irrigate the golf course,” King said.

The practices have earned MeadowView Audubon certification from the National Audubon Society, an organization whose mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the Earth’s biological diversity.

King said the MeadowView staff worked for nine months to meet all the criteria to become Audubon certified. The facility also had help from the city of Kingsport and local bird watching organizations.

“The Audubon Society has a great history and fine tradition of protecting wildlife and creating spots for wildlife so that they have habitats to live in and breathe in. They’re very careful who they certify. They actually came out here and looked at everything we did to get that certification,” King said.

Conservation efforts continue inside the MeadowView facility. On the hotel side, guests are asked on arrival if they’d like a newspaper the following morning. In the past, the hotel delivered a paper to all guests, whether they wanted it or not.

“Hopefully we can save on paper and get it into the hands of people who want it rather than doing those mass drops that we used to do,” King said.

The hotel has also launched a linen reuse program, in which guests who stay for more than one night can choose whether or not they want their sheets and towels changed each day.

“You don’t necessarily have to have everything in your room cleaned everyday and have all the sheets and towels go through the washing machines and dryers everyday,” King said.

MeadowView fitted its washing machine for towels with an ozone machine that allows towels to be washed in cold water instead of hot. The machine also reduces the amount of chemicals needed per wash, King said.

In addition, 100 percent of hotel and guest room lighting fixtures now use compact fluorescent lighting to save energy. And all guest rooms are equipped with high-volume flush toilets that operate on 1.5 gallons of water per flush.

On the convention side of MeadowView, 80 percent of the lighting fixtures use compact fluorescent lighting, and all service areas and storerooms have motion sensors installed on lighting systems that automatically switch lights off when no one is present.

MeadowView also participates in a fluorescent bulb and ballast recycling program.

King said the entire physical plant is monitored with an energy management system, which is reviewed and adjusted twice per shift to maintain optimum HVAC efficiency.

“If we have sections of the ballroom or hotel that we’re not using and we know we’re not going to use, we can program the system to maintain a higher temperature there in the summer and a lower temperature in the winter so that we’re not just wasting energy,” King said.

Recycling bins are used in all meeting rooms to encourage guests to recycle. King said MeadowView is also reducing the amount of plastic it uses in the first place by setting out water pitchers and glasses in meeting rooms as opposed to individual water bottles for guests.

“Folks can help themselves when they want it, and we don’t have to throw away half empty bottles of water,” he said.

MeadowView also recycles an estimated 20-plus tons of office paper and cardboard each year through the city’s recycling program.

The convention center doors have automatic openers so doors no longer stay open for extended periods, saving energy.

And MeadowView now recycles its kitchen grease, which is picked up by SYNERGY Bio-Fuels of Pennington Gap, Va., and turned into biofuels. King said MeadowView just started the grease recycling program about six months ago.

“It (kitchen grease) used to get picked up and dumped somewhere, but now that’s getting reused,” King said.

And MeadowView modified the entire design of its new conference center now under construction to ensure the work didn’t disturb the wetlands in the vicinity, King said.

He said MeadowView is always on the lookout for new ways to incorporate green practices.

“We started with conservation and trying to conserve as much energy as possible, and now it’s transformed into a lot of different things we’re doing that are environmentally friendly,” King said.

Classy Clawz and Pawz

Small businesses are joining the green movement as well. For instance, Classy Clawz and Pawz, a pet-grooming salon in Colonial Heights, incorporates various green practices, said owner Nancy Ward.

The salon also makes much of its own organic pet foods from fruits and vegetables grown on the premises.

Ward said the business grows blueberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, and recently planted a plum tree and apple tree.

“We cook for our guests. They need fruits and vegetables just like we do,” she said.

And dogs love them, she said.

“I have a fence around my garden at home to keep my English shepherd out of it because I wouldn’t have a cucumber or a tomato or a green pepper left,” Ward said.

The salon uses only natural soaps and cleaners, and prefers to line dry its towels and other linens, she said.

“It’s better for the environment,” Ward said.

On rainy days when it must use a dryer, the salon doesn’t use dryer sheets or add other chemicals for softness, she said.

The business makes some of its cleaning products onsite using essential oils. Cleaners it must purchase are all natural organic varieties, Ward said.

“It’s much more costly to do business that way, but in the long run, we feel it’s what’s best for us and what’s best for our guests,” Ward said.

And when the business remodeled, it used low or no VOC paints to cut down on fumes.

“And we recycle, reuse and re-purpose as much as possible,” Ward said.

She said she grew up with a grandmother who taught her how to be Earth-friendly before the term “green” became popular.

“We ate what we grew, and she thought if it didn’t grow around you and didn’t grow in this part of the country, you didn’t need to eat it,” Ward said. “She was way ahead of her time.”

She said her grandmother only used vinegar and baking soda to clean, and she didn’t own a clothes dryer.

“I’ve always had a clothesline,” Ward said. “I grew up that way. It’s who I am and what I am.”

She said she believes in protecting the Earth.

“God has blessed me so richly and I need to be a good steward of what he’s given me and one way to do that is to take care of the Earth and the animals around me. That’s what I try to do,” she said.

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