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May 1, 2008 - Clean Air Lawn Care goes platinum

Fort Collins, CO - Clean Air Lawn Care hasn’t sold a million records but the local company that provides environmentally friendly lawn service has in fact gone platinum. The business which began franchising nationally in 2008, was recently awarded platinum level status with the City of Fort Collins Climate Wise program.

Climate Wise is an award-winning business outreach program that encourages greenhouse gas reductions by promoting energy efficiency, pollution prevention, solid waste reduction, and travel reduction among businesses on a voluntary basis.

It isn’t easy to achieve platinum level status but Clean Air Lawn Care was started in order to provide an environmentally friendly alternative in a service industry that is extremely dirty. The EPA estimates that 5-10% of all air pollution comes from lawn equipment. Clean Air Lawn Care uses quiet and clean electric lawn equipment. During the workday, the mowers are powered by solar panels mounted on the trucks. The company recommends 3” turf height to their customers to decrease weeds and the need for water, pesticides and herbicides. They also compost all grass clippings and yard waste. The entire business is carbon neutral.

In 2008, Clean Air Lawn Care added organic fertilization to its list of services. “Less air pollution is a good start, but I felt we had to offer our customers a healthy alternative to conventional lawn treatment programs as well”, said Kelly Giard, C.E.O..

While the idea driving Clean Air Lawn Care is green, there are a lot of basic things that any business can do to green up their operations and Clean Air hasn’t lost sight of those either. To achieve platinum status Clean Air Lawn Care has:

• Recycled 408 lbs of glass, plastic & cardboard and 720 lbs of office paper.
  
• Recycled everything else – ink, glass, batteries, etc.
  
• Purchased eco-friendly promotional items and recycled office products.
  
• Purchased RECs/verified vehicle emissions offsets to ensure carbon neutrality from Juice Energy.
  
• Formed partnerships with like-minded companies that value environmental sustainability in an effort to clean up their supply chain.
  
• Worked on outreach programs to educate the community on the environmental issues associated with lawn care.
  
• Created programs with employees to reduce environmental impact by using email for interoffice and customer communication, turning off lights & computers when not in use, using direct deposit, using reusable kitchen items, bringing lunches in reusable containers, and encouraging employees to ride their bikes or carpool to work.

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