Ken Moore, Alderman, Franklin, Tn

Thrift trumps eco-awareness as ‘sustainability’ spreads

By Kevin Walters • THE TENNESSEAN • March 19, 2010

FRANKLIN — Richard Perko says he’s no poster boy for the green movement. 

So, how is it then that the president of Franklin-based Lee Co. came to find himself supporting Franklin’s Live Green Partners initiative kickoff this week?

Simple: Any ideological debate over the environment was left at the door of Puckett’s Grocery Wednesday morning. But the financial impact of using two-sided paper, recycling or turning down thermostats won the day.

“I don’t think we have to have the climate discussion first, which is the polarizing issue behind the green movement,” Perko said. “To me, this movement, from a business perspective, is just about being a good business person.”

The Lee Co., which is a home services/facilities solutions company, was among the 126 companies to inaugurate Franklin’s Live Green Partnership during a kickoff news conference this week. It’s a simple program that promotes companies using any of a number of steps to reduce things such as paper and electricity use. As a reward, companies are rewarded with a certificate and a window sticker to build awareness of what they do.

Though it’s a small step, the Live Green Partnership is the latest in a growing number of green-related efforts Franklin has launched. This summer might be the biggest, as Franklin’s first blue-bag curbside recycling program gets a tryout.

At a time when national debate about the environment is more sharply divided than ever, Franklin officials are stressing the economic worth of taking on sustainability-related steps, not the environment itself.

“Right now, no one knows if we’re having global warming or not,” said Mayor John Schroer. “You can’t argue (that in) a 100 years from now, our landfills will be better . . . though I think there’s truth to that. But you can really say ‘do this today and it will make a difference to your bottom line.’ It may not be great, but it will make a difference.”

One factor that might also be driving more interest now than ever before is that there’s growing interest in the community.

“The movement was already here in Franklin,” said Alderman Ken Moore.

Moore led a task force of more than 30 people last year to craft a citywide sustainability plan that includes a host of measures such as reducing waste sent to landfills and cutting energy use, among other things.

Companies large and small found similar ways to reduce waste.

At Mars Petcare in Cool Springs, employees recycled enough plastic bottles to create 2,700 small-breed dog sweaters, said Angela May, community affairs manager. Teams of employees created a plan to spur greater environmental consciousness, May said.

Meantime, the smaller family-owned Puckett’s Grocery restaurant in downtown Franklin did its part by turning off kitchen equipment at night, lowering thermostats and using more local farmers for some produce and meat

“You don’t have to be some high-end restaurant,” said Claire Marshall, manager. “It’s the little things, too.”

Contact Kevin Walters at 615-771-5472 or kewalters@tennessean.com.

City Administrator Eric Stuckey, Sustainability Commission Chairperson Ken Scalf, Alderman Ken Moore & Mayor John Schroer

Williamson Herald

By Mindy Tate, Editor
mtate@williamsonherald.com

With St. Patrick’s Day as the background, the city of Franklin and its Live Green Business Partners celebrated Wednesday at Puckett’s Gro. and Restaurant, a gold level participant in the program.

By the time the 10:30 a.m. program commenced, 126 businesses had agreed to adopt greener business practices that included recycling, energy efficiency and the use of earth-friendly products. Of that number 65 had attained platinum status, 23 gold status, 28 silver, 9 bronze and one partner.

“The Live Green Partnership is all about putting the community Sustainability Plan into action, into daily acts that we can do every day in our lives and businesses to show how sustainability works, not only to make a better community but to help the bottom line of successful organizations and businesses in our community,” said City Administrator Eric Stuckey.

“Plans are great, but action is better and that is what the partnership focuses on, is the actions that have made it happen,” said Stuckey, who worked on the program as part of a Leadership Franklin study group as well as as city administrator.

He said the most popular ways chosen by businesses to “go green” were to turn off lights, fix leaks, recycle, sign up for the city’s green tips, and to practice double-sided printing, all relatively minor changes in a business.

“The small things add up to make a big difference,” Stuckey said. Other members of his Leadership Franklin class were Rita Dozier, Hugh Harris and Daryl Hill.’

“This was just a great opportunity to do something that actually helps,” said Hill, who works for GAP Community Resources, which attained a bronze status. “We can see the fruits of it.”

Alderman Dr. Ken Moore, who is often credited with bringing the sustainability issue to the forefront with his desire to make Franklin one of the nation’s top 25 green cities, deflected the attention.

“I was asked to tell you how this whole thing started … I don’t deserve any credit because the movement was already here in Franklin to live a greener life, to live a more sustainable life, make it a more sustainable community,” Moore said.

“I am always impressed with how Franklin responds to challenges.”

Seeming to prove Moore’s points are people like Richard Perko, Lee Company president, who said his company’s interest in sustainability started in 2007 because it made business sense in dealing with emerging business issues.

“It really is about good business and good community involvement,” Perko said. “It started with practical business issues. In 2007, we were coming off two years of drought and while they were talking about new water sources, we looked at it internally.”

Lee Company installed efficient plumbing fixtures and waterless urinals in June 2008.  The result: by June 2009 Lee Company saved 243,800 gallons of water. To date, Lee Company has saved 312,700 gallons of water, Perko said.

“We followed that up when fuel prices were $4 a gallon and we have a fleet of 200 vehicles all over town,” Perko said, adding they downsized the fleet, chose some hybrid vehicles, installed GPS and reduced fuel usage.

In 2008, Lee Company began purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles. Today, seven Toyota Prius and one Ford Transit Van are in service with plans to add additional fuel-efficient vehicles. Lee Company has saved 113,385 gallons of gasoline and $288,000 since 2008.

In addition, Lee Company became Tennessee’s first Associated Builders & Contractors Certified Green Contractor and are one of 12 in the country.

“The message I want to get out is a whole group of people go green for a variety of reasons. I want to appeal to business owners – be good stewards of your resources and at the same time, you can decrease your impact on the environment.”

Claire Marshall, Puckett’s manager and daughter of co-owners Andy and Jan Marshall, said she was inspired by the huge turnout and buy-in in the community.

“When I started bugging my Dad about changing some of our bad habits, I never dreamed a whole community would come together this way,” said Claire Marshall, restaurant manager. “If a business like Puckett’s, a conventional, traditional business, we base everything on value, we can still do this. It is all about the littlest baby steps that get you there as a community.”

She thanked Mayor John Schroer for his support of the project.

“We deserve no credit,” said Franklin Mayor John Schroer. “This is a community effort. The key word in this is partnership. I think you will hear the word partnership in years to come. The city and elected officials understand that to make this place the place we want it to be, we have to do it in partnership with the community.

“It has taken hold, I think, better than anyone expected. It is amazing how many people are interested in this,” Schroer said. “We are rrying to not enforce this or push it down anybody’s throat but that it is completely voluntary and there is an economic and financial reason to do sustainability. If you research it you learn that sustainability is an economic advantage to communities and the more we push it, the better we will be and the better we will be environmentally for years to come.”

To learn more about the Live Green Business Partnership or other aspects of the city’s Sustainability Action Plan, go to www.franklintn.gov. The city’s Sustainability Commission meets the third Tuesday of the month at City Hall and its meetings are open to the public.