Making Our Products

When Justin Hickman needs to fill up his Volkswagen with fuel, he drives past the gas station and pulls into the Heritage Store parking lot. It may seem odd getting fuel from a health food mecca, but not so. Justin’s Volkswagen doesn’t run on gas; it runs on vegetable oil. Justin, a therapeutic massage therapist, bought a vehicle conversion kit. Installing the kit himself, he uses a hose coming from the radiator to heat up vegetable oil in a separate tank he installed on the vehicle. Once his engine is warm, Justin just flips a switch. And like magic, it runs on vegetable oil.

The Heritage Store has always been about nature. We have touted natural, organic, earth friendly products for over 35 years. So, it’s only natural (no pun intended) that the Heritage Store would partner with like minds, supplying free vegetable oil to Justin when he comes to visit. The Heritage provides vegetable waste oil from manufacturing to fuel multiple local vehicles.

The manufacturing and shipping departments of The Heritage have also instigated a system of reusing and reclaiming used pallets. To date, we have not purchased a single pallet in all the shipping of goods. We furthermore use only 100% recyclable Enviro-Fill packing peanuts. Well, with one exception – we do reuse Styrofoam peanuts sent to us from other vendors. But hey, we are recycling them.

Alan’s Corner

And now a few words from our recycling guru, receptionist, and prince of Green – Alan: “I love to reuse copy paper used only on one side. I cut it in half and use it for notes. We distribute it to other staff members for the same purpose. Sometimes, I save some to be made into scrap pads by a printing company for store use. Other times, I use the blank sides for printing memos and such. We recycle ink and toner cartridges from fax and copy machines by sending them to 'Planet Green.' We, in turn, receive money, which goes into a general fund for our employees. We recycle old cell phones from customers in the same way.

We have three large recycle bins in the building, two for paper and one for glass and plastic. Cardboard boxes are broken down and placed into a large outdoor recycling bin. We save some of the boxes for customer use and shipping. But our recycling philosophy extends beyond the office. We have an area where staff and customers can drop off items they no longer need like books, clothes, and small appliances. I gather up the leftovers and take them to shelters and thrift stores. Prescription glasses are saved, and once a year taken to the central library where given to low-income residents.”

The Café

The Heritage Café is big on recycling glass, plastic, and cardboard. But that’s is not the whole story. The café has implemented an effective food inventory control system to minimize waste. We have a first-in/first-out inventory policy. Purchases of furniture and equipment are evaluated not just on cost; we look at durability. Long lasting equipment is good for the bottom line and the planet. We make use of “Green” cleaners as a way to be both earth-friendly and good to our customers. Leaks and drips are not allowed, as part of our preventative maintenance program. The café saves energy by making use of ceiling fans, thermal-rated windows and window tinting. Pulp from our organic juice bar is used as compost. We also look for ways to use less toxic materials. For example: when you purchase items “to go,” they are placed into cups and containers that are biodegradable. The café is proud to have qualified as a Virginia Green Restaurant as supported by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association.

But wait, there’s more

The Heritage Store has gone “Green” in some most unusual ways. In this case, the green is not earth-friendly, eco-conscious per say. This green is over three hundred pounds of sea turtle.

The Heritage partnered with the Virginia Marine Science Museum’s Stranding Center to help a turtle named Tiki. The Heritage donates vegetables for Tiki to eat, along with financial help. Well now, that’s a green of a different color.

And more…

There are so many things our company does to be Green. Periodically, our food store gives away reusable shopping bags to reduce the use of plastic and paper bags. We converted our source of heating from oil to natural gas to reduce our effect on the environment. And there are so many more examples. Green is not a fad for us. It is who we have been for a long time. We are committed to continue finding new ways to be conscientious.

Most recently, The Heritage has partnered with NativeEnergy to offset the estimated 1,098 short tons of CO2 emissions resulting from The Heritage’s use of electricity in 2007 and 2008. We are helping to build a new wind farm – the Owl Feather War Bonnet Wind Farm. The Heritage acquired the rights to the environmental attributes (“renewable energy credits,” or “RECs”) of the energy to be created by a 15,874-kilowatt (kW) share of the Owl Feather War Bonnet Wind Farm’s generating capacity over the first 25 years of its commercial operations. The Heritage donated its rights to this stream of REC’s to Clean Air-Cool Planet, an independent 501©(3) environmental organization, which will retire the REC’s (meaning that CA-CP will not use or transfer them for any purpose).

The Heritage helped bring to this wind farm a portion of its above-market development and construction costs, helping it achieve economic viability and proceed to construction. The farm is scheduled for completion in 2008 and is located in the town of St. Francis on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. For more information look online at: www.NativeEnergy.com