Onsite Conservation and Sustainability Activities

Here at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, it's important for us to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and conservation through our operational policies and onsite activities.  Recently, as part of our participation in the Loudoun Green Business Challenge, we made a list of actions that we have taken onsite to conserve resources and to spread the sustainability message to other people.  Here are some of the items on our list. Perhaps you can use some of these techniques at home or in your business.

1. Food waste generated at the Blue Ridge Center by staff members and the farming operation is fed to the pigs at the onsite farm rather than being thrown away.
2. The Blue Ridge Center strongly encourages visitors to abide by the Leave No Trace principles, which are displayed on a large banner on the wall of the Education Center:   1) Plan Ahead and Prepare; 2) Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces; 3) Dispose of Waste Properly; 4) Leave What You Find; 5) Minimize Campfire Impacts; 6) Respect Wildlife; and 7) Be Considerate of Other Visitors. 
3. The chickens at the onsite farm are pasture raised, free-range birds that are not fed antibiotics.
4. Manure generated by the farm animals is managed onsite by composting.
5. A domestic cat is used for rodent control in the Education Center instead of pesticides.
6. Our meadows are mowed or cut for hay at the proper times to avoid disrupting the activities of migratory birds and small mammals.
7. The row crops in the onsite farm are cultivated without the use of pesticides or herbicides.
8. The onsite farm supplies fresh, healthy, local food to our neighbors through Farmers Markets and also a Community Supported Agriculture program.
9. We maintain approximately 10 miles of hiking trails onsite for public use, and they are open at no charge from dawn to dusk every day.
10. An educational hiking trail with permanent interpretive signage about birds has been installed onsite.  Binoculars and field guides are available at no charge for use by visitors on this trail.
11. The Blue Ridge Center serves as the host for monthly bird walks and an annual butterfly count, both of which are open to the public at no charge and are led by volunteers with the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.
12. Bluebird houses have been installed along the edges of several of our meadows.
13. The Demory-Wortman House, a historic home dating from the 1840’s, was carefully restored rather than being demolished.   Green building features and techniques (spray foam insulation, ENERGY STARÒ appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures, bamboo floors, etc.) were used during the restoration.
14. The home that's occupied by our onsite farmers was constructed using Structural Insulated Panels.
15. The Blue Ridge Center cooperates with wildlife biologists on the study of our onsite creeks as fish habitat.
16.  To help maintain a healthy forest and viable deer population, the Blue Ridge Center’s Wildlife Management Committee conducts an annual deer hunt for proper management of the herd size.  Without this hunt, many deer would starve each winter, and the deer would overgraze the understory plants that are needed as cover by small animals.
17. The pavilion at our campground was constructed using Glulam (glued laminated timbers) --  an engineered wood product that saves resources and is also strong and durable.
18. The Blue Ridge Center works with the United States Trail Rider members to protect water quality by installing erosion-control features on our network of onsite trails.
19. We have created an internal "green team" to discuss the ways in which we can improve our operations or decrease our energy and water use.
20. It is our normal procedure to replace burned-out incandescent lightbulbs in our buildings with CFLs.  We currently estimate that at least 80% of our bulbs are energy-saving fluorescent or CFL bulbs.
21. One of our employees is allowed to work at home two days per week, thereby saving gas and commuting time; another one of our employees drives a Low Emitting Vehicle (Honda Fit) to commute to work.
22. Runoff from the roof of the Education Center is collected in gutters and then delivered to two rain gardens, also known as bioretention areas.  A sign has been installed next to one of these areas to explain the function and benefits of rain gardens.
23. The water heaters in the buildings onsite have been wrapped with insulating blankets.
24. Termites found near the Demory-Wortman house were treated with in-ground bait stations under an integrated pest management program, rather than being treated with sprayed-on pesticides.
25. The toilets in our buildings are low-flow fixtures (1.6 gallons per flush).
26. Honeybee hives are maintained onsite for improved farm pollination.