Garth's is going green. It has a wonderful alliterative effect, doesn't it? Well, Garth's is going green for many reasons other than lyrical quality. In fact, the list is so long, we may take a few posts to share.
The inspiraton for positively affecting Garth's carbon footprint came after a cosmic collision of anecdotal experiences. On or about the same day (ok, maybe the same week, or even month - time is flying by in our old age), our third-grader came home with a science project and we read an article by antiques dealer / magazine editor, John Fiske.
Apparently, third-grade science teachers are living to lay guilt on parents (sorry, Miss Hayden, maybe that's just how it feels). When Jacob came home with a trash journal, we scoffed. We aren't wasteful people. I had already been purchasing bulk products, in order to cut down on packaging waste; already been torturing Jeff by washing and drying plastic baggies for re-use. I didn't even buy paper plates, because I felt terrible about wasting the paper. What's the big deal with emptying a dishwasher once a day?
But, the fact is, without a recycling program, we were dumping a trashbag a day into our local landfill. A trashbag, shamefully, that included loads of recyclables. Our trash collection company charges a fair amount more for recycling containers, and what a terrible inconvenience it felt like to sort and haul plastic vs. paper vs. metal, etc.
At the end of Jacob's assignment, the facts were staring us in the face. It was time. We are committed to raising good citizens, and talk with our children about voting, volunteering, living with honesty, integrity and compassion - but, environmental stewardship? We had dropped the ball. So, with the help of the kids, we set-up a recycling program at home and at Garth's. Sure, it was easier to throw away the yogurt container than to wash it out; but, give a 4-year old some soap and water, and it actually kills two birds with one stone - occupy her, save a landfill. Perfect.
Around the same time, we read the "Antiques are Green" article created by John Fiske, of Fiske and Freeman antiques and the New England Antiques Journal. John's article "spoke" to us. What a concept! Antiques are green. Sure they are. There is absolutely no harm to the environment when you buy an antique. It is the ultimate in reduce and reuse. However, utilizing antiques as a green alternative for marketing purposes seemed only half the issue for us. We are big believers in "walk the talk", so we decided to take a look around our company before promoting our product as a green option.
What we saw was a lot of opportunity to make a positive impact. First, we improved the recycling efforts we had recently begun: eliminated styrofoam cups and paper plates in the office, made sure the programmable thermostats were set correctly, etc. Then, we looked to our marketing materials. Wow! We use a lot of paper. It is a necessary evil in the auction business: catalogs, flyers, postcards. And, we always over-run for promotional purposes. There had to be a better way.
We started by asking a lot of questions, which resulted in the first change: FSC certified papers. Sure they cost more, but well worth the investment to purchase from sources who practice responsible forestry and utilize recycled materials. Then, we looked at the dimensions of our catalogs and flyers. Moving to a (roughly) 9.75 x 8.66 book would save enough paper to cover more than half an acre of ground every time we printed catalogs for an auction. Wow! It was a no-brainer to us. The change in size also requires less effort from the press, since we can print more pages per sheet - resulting in 30% less energy usage per run.
We also decided to enhance our digital offerings for each auction - allowing folks who don't need a printed catalog to view the auction in its entirety - as a pdf version of the book, or as individual lots with multiple photos and extra condition information.
We are continuing in our efforts to "go green", and to educate others about green opportunities, as we, ourselves, get educated. Check back often as we share what we find.
