Tips From The Top
by Daniel van Starrenburg, President

SavATree CEO

Renewing our commitment to sustainable growth

Like so many of the landscapes we care for, SavATree itself has done a great deal of growing over the last few years. Across the country, we’ve partnered with local teams and integrated with so many wonderful communities. One of our most personally rewarding initiatives, however, has been our commitment to sustainability.

When SavATree was founded in 1978, our main mission was to provide the stewardship and guidance that would help property owners preserve and protect their trees for future generations. We did that by working with customers to save trees whenever possible.

That hasn’t changed, but in the decades since the rise of the green movement, we’ve made some truly wonderful additions to our mission.

We were an early adopter of low-impact, organic strategies for lawn and plant nutrition, and have long been on the front lines of the battle against the many invasive insects that threaten our canopies.

As our reach has grown, we’ve continued to search out new ways to honor our values.

To help offset our carbon footprint and reduce our fossil fuel consumption, we’re in the process of transitioning our chainsaws and other small power tools from gas to electric. As an added bonus, electric equipment is quieter and less disruptive to both clients and local wildlife. This builds on our earlier initiative to reduce the impact of our fleet, resulting in our no-idling policy, a systematic preventative maintenance program, and adoption of software to help route our trucks for maximum fuel efficiency.

And we have no intention of stopping there. Wherever possible, we support the reuse of materials and contribute to creating closed loop systems. Over the last few years we’ve partnered with the Baltimore Wood Project, a unique organization rethinking the way Baltimore deals with the urban wood “waste” that can be salvaged from building deconstruction and tree projects.

SavATree’s own Consulting Director, Mike Galvin, serves as the organization’s Project Coordinator, providing guidance as they seek to assess the city’s resources, divert wood from waste streams, and repurpose and reuse it within the community. We hope to contribute to their goal of building a program that can be scaled and replicated in cities all over the country.

As we head into a new decade, taking the time to evaluate our sustainability goals and look back at SavATree’s trajectory throughout the years has been incredibly rewarding. While our mission will always center around protecting trees for the generations that come after us, there are many new initiatives on our horizon designed to give back in other ways. Now more than ever, we’re proud and grateful to have you along for the journey

Sincerely,

Daniel

 

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