Made in the Piedmont: Culpeper is moving to be Green2

By Jim Charapich

© Culpeper Times

Could “Green” be Green$?

Yes if you ask local business. What are some of the local green initiatives in business? Can it be profitable? I met with several businesses to find out the answer to these questions.

I ventured into this discussion cautiously thinking that there would be passive interest in the subject. I was pleasantly surprised that local businesses were as interested in the profitability of “Green” thinking as they are about environmental stewardship. We live in an amazing area. The rural Piedmont at the foot hills of the Blue Ridge has quick access to several major markets in Virginia, making Culpeper a sought after location. The businesses that I spoke with are conscientious of preserving the natural character of our community, while providing jobs to the local economy.

What are some of the initiatives described by local business? Power usage savings is a major issue. They are very interested in finding ways to save power. This includes conservation policies as well investments in green technology.

Investing in energy efficient lighting is a growing opportunity. Lighting options today are advanced enough for mid to large facilities to realize a respectable ROI on lighting change outs. According to Ken West of Independent Lighting Corporation in Culpeper, “certain lighting environments can save up to between 50 percent and 60 percent on power consumption of outdated lighting. In addition, cleaner and improved spectrum lighting colors can improve productivity while also reducing employee absences. The power savings can be tens of thousands of dollars per year depending on the size of the facilities.”

In addition to lighting, many companies are choosing to use “Cloud” computing to reduce power costs. It was very surprising to me that a significant amount of power is used in large computer processing environments. It makes sense that optimized computing environments would include bulk purchasing of power. This allows for more efficient energy use while delivering a competitive solution for computing resources.

Another interesting evolution for business to be more “Green” is in the use of water. One of our major employers offers fresh filtered water dispensers on the floor of the plant facility. At one time they were providing bottled water in small containers. The waste removal was tremendous in water bottles alone. They migrated to the large bottled water in drinking stations reducing the numbers of small plastic bottles but still labor intensive. Now, they simply have the town water connected to an Ion Filtration System that produces clean, filtered, hot and cold water on demand. The labor savings from moving empty large bottles was tremendous and the filtered water quality is excellent. According to Craig Jebson of Country Water Systems in Culpeper, “these water filtration systems can be an easy installation for office environments as well as for the plant floor.” Fresh cold filtered water on demand is another enhancement to the employee health & productivity.

Finally, we are all aware of the need for recycling. Recycling may include collecting scrap metal to be resold to scrap dealers like Wise Services & Recycling, Culpeper Recycling, and Updike Industries in Culpeper. Recycling may also include securing the services of local recycling companies like Culpeper Curbside Recycling who provide residential and office pick up of recycling materials.

Today 'Green' is Green. You might even say that business in Culpeper is Green2 as they approach smart solutions for their business and our environment. In an effort to bring more attention to Green initiatives The Chamber will be partnering with Cintas to hold a community “Shred Fest” on Saturday, November 10. Bring your paper to the Cintas location at 555 James Madison Highway in Culpeper from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and they will shred your documents for free. Cintas offers secure shredding for business. They can even provide remote camera viewing at the time of shredding to show that the documents have been shredded.

Green is good. Join the movement in Culpeper to be Green2.

Jim Charapich is President and CEO of the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce.