What’s Green in Northwest Arkansas?

By Janie Pritchett-Clark

What’s Green in Northwest Arkansas?

Adopting a green lifestyle at home, at business and in your community may be easier than you realize. Companies from one end of NWA to the other are focusing on the green issue, learning to change their choices to help you change yours. Here’s a sample of what we found to be green in Northwest Arkansas.

Green for Your Home

You have the most control over your home environment. These companies and their products can help you make greener choices for your family.

The Home Energy Audit
Jim Jones Construction

Saving 25-50% on energy is a strong motivator behind the Home Energy Audit offered by Jim Jones Construction. Added benefits are many. Homeowners may find a more comfortable living environment, with a safer indoor air quality, and increased home value. An energy efficient home is the quickest and cleanest way to extend our energy supplies. A professional audit will detail the improvements needed to create the energy efficient, green living home.


Green Your Home Loans
IberiaBank (formerly Pulaski Bank)

Financial institutions have traditionally been known as anything but green, but IberiaBank is taking action in Northwest Arkansas to change that perception.

“Consumers and businesses alike share the responsibility to recycle, eliminate wastefulness and minimize resource consumption, but banks have the unique opportunity to combine these efforts with community investment,” says Retail Development Officer/Sustainability Coordinator Keaton Smith.

To help homeowners save money on energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint, IberiaBank now offers “Green Your Home” home improvement loans, along with expertise on the incentives available from government and utilities.

“There are so many ways you can improve the energy efficiency of your home,” Smith says. “Simple things like sealing and caulking around doors and windows or adding more insulation to your walls, attic, and ductwork can reduce energy bills up to 50%.” And with the new federal tax credits (30% of total costs), homeowners see ROI for improvements like solar, small wind, and geothermal systems in less than 10 years.

“Green Your Home loans allow the homeowner to make several types of efficiency improvements, with only one monthly loan payment. We try to structure the loan so you can make loan payments with the money saved on your utilities each month. As energy prices continue to rise, using less energy will become even more important, and efficient homeowners will see even greater savings.”

Come Home to an Organized Garage
NWA Garage Solutions

Did you know the garage is one of the largest, most under utilized rooms in the home? Energy efficiency begins with a look at how well you use what you have. That includes all that clutter in your garage. One solution is NWA Garage Solutions, which specializes in turning a cluttered mess into an organized and efficient room.

The approach is to custom design storage to fit your family’s needs with a variety of cabinets, slat wall, flooring options, accessories and bins. The cabinets are made from recycled materials and the floor coatings are zero VOC. And, unlike others, they don’t use muriatic acid to clean and prep the floor.

With a solution like this, the house you thought too small becomes bigger – just from opening up the storage inside the home because now it fits in the garage. Now you can find it!

NWA Garage Solutions’ service is a four-part process. They start with a consult to identify your needs, measure, and inventory your items. They help with the de-clutter as you sort for reduce, reuse, recycle. They will even make the arrangements needed to haul off discarded and charitable items or schedule storage while the work is being done. Installation is done by a professional team equipped to complete the job in one to three days depending on the size of your garage and the extent of the work to be done. And last but not least, they know you will enjoy the results.

As one customer in Fayetteville says, “NWA Garage Solutions are true professionals in every step of the process. They took the time to develop a plan to not only organize my garage but also take it to the ‘next level.’ Rarely does a week go by that I do not receive a positive comment on my garage.”

Enjoy the Green Inside and Out
Spavinaw Stove Company

Now that warm weather is finally here your family will be enjoying the outdoors with backyard barbecues and gatherings. Spavinaw Stove Company wants you to know there’s a green solution to gas and charcoal grills. Traeger barbecue pellet grills uses the same eco-friendly concept used in pellet wood stoves.

The benefits are many. Using a natural biomass fuel means no fossil fuels of any kind are used in the combustion process. The pellets are made from 100% recycled hardwood sawdust and burn at an extremely high combustion efficiency rate. This means low emissions and a lower carbon footprint. And that means it’s the environmentally responsible way to cook outdoors.

It’s healthier, too, because the in-direct cooking system reduces the fat and charring thought to cause cancer. The hardwood smoke created by the pellets produces anti-oxidants similar to Vitamin E.

By partnering with hardwood furniture manufacturers, Traeger adds economic value to materials that were once considered “waste” and in the process creates new business, products and jobs.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, it’s time check out your options. Spavinaw Stove Company is a well-established dealer for stoves, fireplaces and vents from high-quality manufacturers like Harman, Traeger, Lopi, Buck and FPX. They use NFI certified installers and service technicians and have earned a reputation that garners them happy, loyal customers.

Green for Your Health

Take care of the planet. Take care of yourself. There are many ways to do both, many of which we are learning first-hand and for the first-time at this event. Eat, sleep and be well may well be the Green adage of the 21st century.

Sleep Better, Sleep Healthy, Sleep Natural
Mountain Air Natural Beds

Did you know most mattresses have a planned obsolescence of five years? Most people will toss and turn uncomfortably on it for another four and half years before they give in and shop. In the meantime, their mattress could be adding to a myriad of health issues such as allergies, arthritis, stiffness or knee, back and hip pain.

Mountain Air Natural Beds has a green solution you may want to consider. They are the only place in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri to carry an all-natural, organic, latex mattress. Toxin free, the SavvyRest mattress is better for people with health issues, and is designed to provide unmatched comfort for decades. The label reads 96% natural rubber, 2% organic cotton and 2% organic wool. You can’t get much greener than that.

Joyce Robertson is the owner of Mountain Air Natural Beds. “We spend 20 to 25 years of our lives in bed. Why spend two-thirds living healthy and one-third on a toxic synthetic mattress?” she asks. “Latex provides a healthier and more restful sleep environment. Your pillow is 20% of your sleeping comfort. Organic pillows are incomparable in quality and comfort.”

Latex is a natural hypoallergenic, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, dust mite resistant material that comes from the sap of the rubber tree. The SavvyRest brand carries the coveted “Rated Greenest” from National Geographic Green Guide and the Confidence in Textiles standard tested for harmful substances.

As a trend Robertson sees more people moving to organic and natural bedding, and matching it with green and organic items for the bedroom as well as the entire home. From pillows to toppers, sheets and robes, organics are taking hold – and Mountain Air Natural Beds carries them.

Customer satisfaction is key, says Robertson. “Our attention to the health needs of our clients is a relationship, not a transaction.”


Green for Your Business

Making green choices in the workplace can be an economic consideration that proves sustainability equals profitability. Global leaders like Wal-Mart have recognized the value of sustainability on every business front – from pleasing consumers to gaining profits -– and are proving such practices as advantageous rather than a burden. No matter your business size, consider adopting sustainable practices wherever you can. You can start by forming a group of dedicated employees, loyal customers and company leaders to serve as your sustainability committee to research and recommend green practices for your business.

Choose Green Hospitality When You Travel
Holiday Inn & Suites

The Holiday Inn & Suites in Pinnacle Hills is one of the prototype inns designed to be the perfect convergence of tradition and innovation for the 21st century business and leisure traveler. The hospitality industry has begun to encourage hotels, resorts, motels, and bed and breakfast facilities to implement environmental initiatives and cost-saving green practices to conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, reduce waste, and participate in environmentally preferred purchasing.

Holiday Inn & Suites has taken the challenge and has an on-going sustainability approach, starting with all fluorescent lighting, hotel and room recycling, and low water usage.

The new Holiday Inn & Suites is the NWA Green Expo Hospitality Sponsor and features all two-room suites, complimentary WIFI throughout the property, onsite restaurant and lounge, indoor pool and spa, excellent location, versatile meeting space and many more amenities.

Bring Your Peanuts to PostNet
PostNet Village on the Creeks

Every year, millions of pounds of used packing peanuts end up in landfills. The solution in NWA? Designated an approved collection center, PostNet at the Village on the Creeks in Rogers can now accept those unruly peanuts from customers ready to reduce, reuse, recycle.

“We’re always looking for ways to be more green and we know our customers are, too,” says Manager Chad Burghart. Peanuts are reused in the their day-to-day shipping operations.
Be sure to sift through them thoroughly before you bring them in to make sure you haven’t missed something valuable. “Like the heirloom ring Aunt Gertrude sent you,” says Burghart.

If you want to be extra helpful, separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable peanuts before dropping them off. Don’t mix the two, even though both types are reused. To tell which is which, float a sample in water. If the sample dissolves, it’s biodegradable – made from a vegetable derivative; non-biodegradable otherwise.

“At PostNet, we see it as part of our social responsibility to promote a healthy and environmentally balanced business community,” says owner Phil Swope. “PostNet is constantly striving to reduce the impact of our business on the environment.”

PostNet encourages good stewardship of natural resources at its HQ and stores nationwide by recycling paper, toner cartridges, packing supplies and office electronics.


Going Green in the Tradeshow World
Big Hats Consulting

Promoting your business at tradeshows with an eye on green is getting easier. The 2009 exhibitors show in Las Vegas was testament to the industry’s efforts, where new and sustainable products are emerging. Tradeshow expert Ken Abernathy attended and came back to Northwest Arkansas with a bevy of eco-options.

Among his favorites were:
• eco-friendly banner stands made from bamboo, with recyclable graphics
• corrugated exhibit frames made from recycled materials
• eco-crates for environmentally friendly shipping to the expo site
• mini brochures designed to highlight information but use one-quarter of the standard-sized brochure
• flash drives that eliminate printing and shipping altogether, and put copious amounts of information right in the attendees’ pocket
• LED lighting options to replace heat-hog halogens
• creative designs in lightweight aluminum frames and fabric graphics
• expo bags made from recycled juice boxes
• booth-sized carpets made from recycled soda bottles
• eco-friendly rental programs for infrequent show-goers. Rentals could save one-third to one-half the cost, which means going green also saves you green

Technology and Computer Solutions for Northwest Arkansas
Dozier Technologies Group, Inc.

Software is one of the easiest ways to improve your company’s sustainability scorecard. Automating simple tasks and putting them on the Web can save paper, time, labor and energy, all of which save you money.

If you are looking for software specific to your industry or company’s needs, Dozier Technologies can help. “We work by listening and understanding your needs, then translating our understanding into an application that accomplishes everything you ask for at an affordable price,” says Business Development Manager Nicole Lynch.

“Our flagship software applications include Atlas, a retail analytical tool for vendors and suppliers; Orbit, a point-of-sale solution for franchise and small- to medium- sized business owners; Orbit Life, a simple, easy to use e-commerce solution for anyone; ampTickets, an e-ticketing solution for entertainment venues; and Portal, a construction document management and distribution solution.”

Dozier Technologies Group, Inc., was formed in 2001 with the vision of offering enterprise level custom software development and technology at a small business price. All of their applications are Windows-based for an intuitive user interface, and Web-based for mobility and sustainability.


Green for Your Community

Taking green to the municipal level is an exciting endeavor of leaders from everywhere in the community – from patriots and politicians, to retired CEOs and youths fervent about protecting the world they live in. Take time to participate in activities that educate, build and promote better community.

‘Green’ Bank Blooms
Arvest Bank

Arvest Bank broke ground on its first LEED-certified bank branch in March 2008, and celebrated its opening on Earth Day 2009. This new 8,080 sq. ft. branch on Joyce Street in Fayetteville is the first LEED-certified prototype branch for Arvest, although its predecessor’s have many of the required sustainability practices in place. The branch utilized many LEED practices with regard to water, light, site landscaping, construction, building systems, compliance and training, air quality and construction waste recycling.


Sustainability Spotlight Promotes “Live Green”
KNWA

If you haven’t seen the “Sustainability Spotlight” on KNWA, detour to their website at nwahomepage.com to catch up on some incredible innovation right here at home.

The feature airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. and spotlights – with award-winning caliber production – local, national, and global sustainable initiatives from Wal-Mart and its vendor and supplier community.

“What we really enjoy talking about with these companies are the innovations. Every day a new idea is born that can grow into something that changes the way we look at the industry,” says Mike Vaughn, KNWA General Manager.

“One of the unique and amazing aspects of living in NWA is how many people in our community make decisions that have large environmental impact,” says Brook Thomas, KNWA News Anchor. “Something that can be seen through this series is how small steps can have big impact. A decision about a few millimeters of plastic can equal tons of waste not winding up in a landfill.”

The Sustainability Spotlight, presented by Walmart, stemmed from the station’s Live Green series that began in April 2008. According to Sarah Hickman, Innovative Projects Coordinator at KNWA, they wanted to help educate, advocate and activate viewers to do their part in taking care of the environment, and live in greener, healthier communities.

“As we contemplated the success of the program, we began to look for ways to extend the initiative,” says Hickman.

The Sustainability Spotlight series serves to educate viewers on what local, national, and global companies are doing to be green; how even the smallest acts can achieve monumental results; and bring corporations a platform where they can use sustainability to educate, inform, and serve the community.

Go Green: Working to Produce a Five Star Environment
Names and Numbers

Recycling your outdated phone books is great way to participate in greening our community. Just take them to your city’s recycling center. Names and Numbers is an active participant in the recycle, reuse, reduce approach and partners with companies that also serve similar goals.

In creating their phone books, Names and Numbers uses low basis weight paper to reduce fiber consumption. They used recycled materials, including recycled paper and soy-based inks. They recycle their aluminum printing plates and use non-hazardous solutions and glues.

At Names and Numbers, plastic wrap and boxes are reused, as are office supplies that can find another life. They reduce their impact on the environment by proofing their job on-screen, eliminating paper use and ink, and printing close to the market to help conserve fuel in transportation.

Conservation from Arkansas to Africa
The Nature Conservancy

You may not know their work, but you’ve been influenced by it. The Nature Conservancy is the world’s largest non-profit conservation organization. It spans 50 states and 34 foreign countries, pulling together more than one million like-minded members.

Since its founding in 1951, the Conservancy has worked to create a sustainable planet where natural habitats and human communities coexist. Their drive is a world where natural resources are renewable, plentiful and secure.

Since opening an Arkansas office in 1982, the Conservancy and its supporters have helped protect more than 250,000 acres of natural lands and waters in the Natural State. Today the Arkansas program owns or manages 36 nature preserves of more 22,000 acres.

“The Nature Conservancy is committed to working with a wide array of partners in conserving the natural landscapes of Arkansas – places that provide habitat for plant and animal species and places that keep the environment healthy for people,” says Tim Snell, Associate State Director for Water Resources based in Fayetteville.

“In Northwest Arkansas, the Conservancy is particularly active to keep the streams of the Ozark Highlands clear, clean and healthy. The Conservancy has a team of experts in karst – or cave – conservation, which includes the protection of groundwater. These programs combined help keep the state's water clean for present and future generations.”

The Nature Conservancy is the organization responsible for what has become the Hobbs State Park-Conservation area, along with many other favorite spots throughout Northwest Arkansas. Take a look at nature at nature.org/arkansas