Description:
EcoZoo Lawn Management is an environmentally-friendly grounds care company located in Cary NC. Utilizing sustainable business practices and the newest technology available in the lawn care industry, EcoZoo Lawn provides commercial and residential customers with a cost effective alternative to the high polluting choices of the past.

Executive Summary:

EcoZoo Lawn’s business principles are based on its tag line, “Your Planet. Your Choice.” The company believes that without education and alternatives, there isn’t a choice. EcoZoo’s founder, Tim Bannister, is a long-time advocate of sustainable business practices. A Cary resident since 1975, he has been awarded on many levels for his environmental initiatives in the printing industry. As his career path moved in a different direction, he looked for an industry that had not embraced green business practices and that was poised for new thinking.

EcoZoo Lawn is born.
After months of research, Bannister found the Lawn Care industry ripe for change. There were some startling facts that supported these findings. According to the EPA:
- Standard lawn care equipment was responsible for over 5% of the nation’s air pollution
- Homeowners spill over 17 million gallons of fuel each year, more than the Exxon Valdez
- One hour of mowing with a traditional push mower is equal to driving a car for 11 hours

Opportunity to make a difference was found!

EcoZoo Lawn thinking.
With this information in hand, Bannister found an industry that needed help. EcoZoo Lawn put as much green experience into its business practices as possible.

Equipment.
EcoZoo Lawn has spent many hours researching, purchasing and implementing the most state-of-the-art lawn equipment possible. It purchased the first sustainable riding lawn mower on the east coast. The Arien’s AmpRider (www.ampbyariens.com) is the first battery powered riding mower available in the U.S. Recharged with power purchased from ncGreenPower, it will mow up to 2.25 hour of continuous cutting. The maximum usage has been five residential lawns in one day. Other ancillary equipment, such as trimmers and blowers, consist of rechargeable units from Black & Decker and Workx. Companies such as Stihl have expressed interest in EcoZoo’s business plan and are working on commercial solutions at this time.

Transportation to jobsites is fueled by Bio-diesel. The B-20 blend is the most economical way to power a commercial vehicle without incurring driving time to higher blend sites.

Business Practices
While employing the more common “green” practices such as recycling office paper and using electronic means of communication, EcoZoo Lawn uses:

- Qualified green printing companies for all of its printed communication
- FSC certified or 100% recycled paper for all of its office paper and brochures
- 100% of all invoicing is done electronically
- Eco-savings reports are available to all customers. Utilizing data compiled from the EPA and municipalities across the US, our spreadsheet allows customers to see the amount of environmental savings they accumulate from using an eco-friendly grounds maintenance company

Consumer education is on the forefront of EcoZoo’s initiative. We are continually asked about our equipment - What is that thing? Why is it so quiet? How much grass will it cut?

All of our employees are educated on EcoZoo Lawn’s business plan, what the equipment is and why it is different. Public education has been a large part of our business and employees are encouraged to inform the public on any subject concerning the eco-friendly lawn industry.

What specific results have been achieved?

EcoZoo Lawn accomplishments.
Specific results (emissions savings) are documented by keeping detailed time logs at each jobsite. Time of use is recorded by type of equipment (ie: mower, push or ride, trimmer, blower, etc) source of power (ie: battery, electric, hand or 4 cycle gas). EcoZoo Lawn places this data in a spreadsheet, or eco-savings report. This report uses benchmark emissions data gathered from sources such as the EPA, City of Louisville Cleaner Air Program and other public resources. Time of use is then compared to standard lawn care equipment practices, and an emissions savings is calculated. At this time, we track CO2 savings only. The plan is to expand this to greenhouse gases as more emissions data becomes available. In order to communicate these emissions savings to the public in a manner easy to understand, EcoZoo Lawn compares the savings to emissions from a typical light duty truck, and relates the savings to miles driven.

For the last two months. EcoZoo Lawns customers have accumulated the savings equivalent to driving 94,726.12 miles in a Ford pick-up. Multiplied by six (for a full year) EcoZoo Lawn’s current customers will achieve a savings of 568,356 miles. This would equate to appoximatly 47 cars being removed from the road each year.

In what ways are the efforts of this organization/individual unique and innovative?

EcoZoo has taken a mature industry and infused new thinking. This implementation of new technology, processes and mindset presents an alternative choice to the traditional grounds care company. The visibility of a quieter, cleaner option is both a reinforcement of a company’s or homeowner's commitment to the environment and a public relations tool in its marketing efforts or neighborhood commitment.

With outside-the-box thinking, EcoZoo Lawn purchased and placed into service many tools otherwise thought of as weak or not of commercial quality. Simple planning and maintenance of equipment has erased this thinking. Research, scheduling and planning of battery recharging times has made the case for clean-air lawn care a realistic alternative.

Although there are cases in which battery power is not a feasible source, there are cleaner alternatives such as 4 cycle equipment which up to 5 times cleaner than typical 2 cycle lawn equipment. In this rare instance, EcoZoo Lawn uses only the most efficient tools available.

How has the broader community been impacted?

In addition to the stated emissions savings, EcoZoo Lawn believes that the larger impact on the community is the visibility of battery powered equipment, recharged with alternative energy, is for the greater good. As the public experiences the implementation of emissions-free equipment into an area known for years as a gas only environment, the typical homeowner will embrace the cleaner tools available as “able” to do the job. When this is multiplied by the number of individual applications in any given area, the results of clean-air lawn care are astounding.

It is the hope of EcoZoo Lawn Management that we have an impact in our day-to-day operations by providing an alternative to the standard, polluting, lawn care services, but also in the fact that we serve as an example to how cleaner equipment does work in residential and commercial applications.

All you need to do is make the choice.