Green Ways

Our Green Ways…Where Enlightenment Thrives

How we are walking our talk, reducing our carbon footprint, and helping the planet in our everyday operations!

Reduce:

  • Photovoltaic grid tie system: We sell electricity back to the grid. We may be the only off the grid manufacturing place in Pagosa Springs.
  • We minimize our phantom loads by routing all computers through power strips and turning power strips off each night.
  • Extra insulation has been installed on the shop ceiling: foam board with foil paper.
  • Solar powered shop heater: hot air & antifreeze in a radiator. Cuts our heating bill from $300 to $160 using free energy!
  • Solar powered forklift is a big deal in manufacturing, it isn’t a wimpy one…it lifts heavy loads.
  • We use high mpg vehicles when possible.
  • Our domes are entirely solar powered by design, including: solar cooling fans, undersoil fans, solar water fountain, and passive solar water tank.
  • Low impact/cost storage spaces.
  • Cottage industry: lumber kits cut at home locations to reduce the size of the facility needed.
  • Some employees bicycle to work.
  • Carpooling by owners and employees as often as possible.
  • The bulk of our promotional and instructional materials are handled electronically rather than paper copy.
  • Employee planting beds provide “locally grown food”.
  • Lunchroom has real dishes, cups, glasses and silverware to avoid use of paper plates, plastic silverware, etc.
  • Lunchroom has a water filter on the tap to avoid the use of bottled water.
  • Lunch provided one to two times a week, reduces employee expense and car use to go get lunch. Many ingredients for the lunch are from the domes.
  • Salad greens grown in the on-site domes are used for employee lunches.

Reuse:

  • Composting our vegetable and plant waste on site.
  • Feed the fish bugs and slugs.
  • We use cloth hand towels as an option over paper towels.
  • Office furniture is secondhand wherever possible, buy locally and reuse.

Recycle:

  • Attended a recent Green Festival and instead of paper brochures, we handed out small pea seed packets with our website address.
  • Recycling crates received for shipments going out and recycling crate materials in other construction projects.
  • Recommending to customers potential uses for the crates we ship to them.
  • We practice recycling (not offered on a residential basis in our town) on site.
  • Two sizes of our Growing Domes® are available in recycled glazing option as offcuts are available.
  • Brochures are printed on recycled paper.
  • The printer bypass tray is filled with recycled paper at all times, for non customer documents.

Join the community of satisfied dome owners world wide by purchasing your own Growing Dome Greenhouse!