Evergreen Nursery of San Leandro Wins 2017 StopWaste Award
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Evergreen Nursery in San Leandro received a 2017 Business Efficiency Award for Excellence in Waste Prevention & Closing the Loop from StopWaste. Evergreen, an independent nursery and garden center with professional landscape and design services, is among five Alameda County businesses that were recognized for outstanding environmental performance and business efficiency this year.
Evergreen has been an active and engaged partner of StopWaste for almost ten years, promoting sustainable landscape-related programs ranging from “Bay-Friendly Gardening” to “Lawn to Garden.” The nursery hosts frequent talks and workshops on gardening techniques like sheet mulching. Using this method, the lawn is covered with cardboard, compost and mulch, so the turf decomposes and returns nutrients to the soil instead of ripping out the lawn and sending it to a landfill. In just two years of promoting sheet-mulching, Evergreen sold enough compost and recycled mulch to convert over 19,000 square feet of thirsty lawn into beautiful drought-tolerant gardens. Along the way, they helped “close the loop” on recycling, as all that compost and mulch used to be food scraps and yard trimmings from Alameda County communities.
General Manager Doug Swint accepted the award on behalf of Evergreen Nursery. Swint credited the support from employees and interest from customers for Evergreen’s unique inventory. “During the drought, people were looking for alternatives to turf with high water requirements, so we started to carry more native and drought tolerant options and sheet mulching supplies,” he recalled.
Jeanne Nader, Program Manager at StopWaste, praised Swint for his leadership. “Doug was an early adopter, joining the nursery advisory panel years ago to share industry insights with StopWaste staff. He has been very proactive and supportive of educational opportunities for staff and the public. Evergreen is a model of sustainability, always ahead of the curve.”
For more information about the 2017 StopWaste Business Efficiency Awards, visit www.StopWaste.org/2017awards
To learn more about Evergreen Nursery, visit www.theevergreennursery.com