In the past, consumers viewed sustainability as a “nice-to-have” trait of the companies they purchased from, but this perception has shifted over the past few years.
According to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey, consumers are willing to pay 9.7% more on average for sustainable products and services, despite concerns about the cost of living and inflation, as more of them experience firsthand the disruptive effects of climate change.
This increased focus on sustainable brands is a prime opportunity to further invest in eco-friendly practices for your operations.
“The very nature of our work is nature,” says Roscoe Klausing, CEO of Klausing Group, Inc., based in Lexington, Kentucky. “I’d argue it’s not just ‘important,’ it would be antithetical for a landscape company not to pursue sustainability. If we’re caring for natural systems, we should be actively working to minimize our impact on them.”
Changing Your Power Source
One major change your business could invest in is diversifying your energy source for your fleet and equipment.
BrightView, based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, is currently converting their fleet of about 2,400 management vehicles to electric and hybrid models, with the goal for 90% to be switched over by 2030. Adding these EVs has lowered their carbon footprint, provided fuel savings and reduced maintenance costs.
Switching to propane or electric equipment can also reduce your emissions. Propane reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent, NOx emissions by 19 percent and SOx emissions by 16 percent.
Meanwhile, electric equipment has zero emissions, reduced operational costs and is significantly quieter than gas-powered tools.
Andy Hawley, regional branch manager for Cagwin & Dorward, says since rolling out their battery-powered equipment, their customers have been pleased to work with a company that utilizes electric equipment.
“As stewards of the land, I would say it’s the right direction to go,” Hawley says. “Whether or not you’re required to go that direction, I would certainly look at it and consider it. I would use it as a sales tool with your clients to show you’re looking ahead and you’re conservation-minded.”
Upgrading Your Facility
Investing in your headquarters’ overall energy efficiency is another path you can take to pursue sustainability. For instance, Sebert Landscape, based in Bartlett, Illinois, created a LEED Gold-Certified building, which had to meet stringent construction and energy-saving requirements.
“I have always been supportive of minimizing our consumption of energy,” says Jeff Sebert, CEO of Sebert. “It is probably the costliest of all our expenses. I have always admired the architectural and aesthetic design of these structures and agree with the idealism and compliance of the certification of Gold LEED.”
Even if your company isn’t looking to earn a LEED certification, installing bioswales or rain gardens to manage the stormwater on site can be beneficial. Utilizing solar panels or motion-controlled light fixtures can also help conserve energy at your facility.
Don’t let the concept of upgrading your facility overwhelm you. You can implement improvements one at a time versus trying to do it all at once. What matters is being willing to evolve and improve.
Recycling Green Waste
Choosing to compost your green waste not only saves it from ending up in a landfill, but it can also save your company on dumping fees.
Sun Valley Landscaping, based in Omaha, Nebraska, sells their green waste compost from their supply yard and use it on their own projects.
“It saves tons of time and money for our landscape division since our crews do not have to take extra trips to a dumping facility so it saves quite a bit on the bottom line,” says Eric Walker, Sun Valley’s supply yard manager. “Once we have the final product, we are able to monetize it by selling it. What we’ll do is source a loamy soil from various enterprises and have that brought in to our facility. We’ll then mechanically screen the compost and mix it with the soil in-house for our topsoil with compost blend. So we’re able to stretch out our costs and multiply our revenue on the top line.”
To compost your green waste successfully, create a dedicated space and have specific staff who can properly maintain the piles. Depending on the size of the piles you may need to utilize compact equipment or rent equipment to process some of the waste into usable material.
Going Paperless
Another easy win is going paperless in your operations. Approximately 1 billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown away every year in the U.S., according to statistics collected by St. Charles County of Missouri. According to Forbes, paper usage increases by 22% each year for the average business, doubling within four years.
Utilizing different types of software can allow your technicians to work off tablets and send invoices electronically.
Blades of Green, based in Edgewater, Maryland, became paperless when they switched to a subscription service model. Instead, they email clients about the services they received, and they can access their account information through an online portal.
Some states may require paper invoices, but you can still ensure the remainder of your backend processes are paperless if this is the case.
Promoting Sustainable Landscape Materials
As the subject matter expert, you are doing your clients a disservice by not educating them on the more environmentally-friendly landscape options available, such as installing more native plant material, incorporating permeable pavers, and upgrading to smart irrigation controllers.
Rossen Landscape, based in Great Falls, Virginia, has become more sustainability-minded and pledged three years ago to use at least 20% native species in all their property plans, eliminate the use of invasive plants, plant pollinator species, fertilize responsibly and plant the right plants in the right place.
“It was our duty to do that,” Rossen says.
GreenWeaver Landscapes, based in Media, Pennsylvania, approaches each property holistically, so projects tend to include components of environmental design, stormwater management and native plant installation. Lack of awareness or misconceptions is one of the biggest roadblocks to ecological landscapes.
“Climate change, localized flooding, biodiversity, bird and insect population decline, and human health can all be positively affected by how we manage the land in our care,” says Jennifer Nichols, president of GreenWeaver Landscapes. “And since 60% of the land in the United States is privately owned, we need to approach these problems one property at a time.”
