16
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
May/June 2020
VISION
A GREENER SALES FLEET
This year has brought a positive change to Davey's fleet
of more than 240 sales vehicles. Davey is switching to
2020 Toyota Rav4 LE Hybrids from older Ford Escape SUV
models. The hybrid cars are now available to all Residential/
Commercial services offices, Davey Resource Group and
Commercial Landscape Service operations.
A top safety pick, the hybrid Rav4 is all-wheel drive with
a combined average gas mileage of 39 miles per gallon,
a huge savings compared with the average 24 mpg of the
Escape. That equates to more than 100,000 gallons of fuel
expected to be saved per year. Environmental impact was
a huge factor when it came to upgrading, said Paul Milano,
director of operations, Fleet Services.
"When it comes to corporate responsibility, shaving off
100,000 gallons from our fleet was a big opportunity for
positive growth," Milano said.
Part of Davey's overall goal is reducing the company vehicle fleet's
carbon footprint. "With a fleet of mostly utility trucks and off-road
equipment, it's difficult to shave that down. But our light-duty vehicles
were a perfect opportunity to make a difference," Paul Milano said.
NEW LIFE FOR URBAN LAND
At the urban heart of Cleveland's Slavic Village lies 4.5
acres of reclaimed green space – a former brownfield site –
recently dedicated as Morgana Bluffs Nature Preserve,
an educational park managed by the Boys & Girls Club
of Cleveland.
Dave Goerig senior associate consultant, and Ken Christensen,
senior associate consultant (now retired), Davey Resource
Group Environmental Consulting, developed a piece
envisioning an urban green space at the site. The Club,
running with the idea, set off to raise funds, hire a designer
and build the project. DRG Environmental Consulting
won the bid for an initial phase, which included invasive
vegetation removal. Corine Peugh, associate consultant,
DRG, served as project manager. Davey's East Cleveland
Commercial Landscape Services territory re-seeded athletic
fields disturbed during relocation of a stormwater drain,
and the Davey Nursery planted trees donated by Davey
Corporate that enhanced the overall project.
When completed, the entire project consisted of reclamation
of an emergent wetland area fed by stormwater runoff and
a new native pollinator meadow, giving the urban site a new
purpose after years of neglect and mixed industrial use.
In the revitalized space, visitors have spotted deer, coyote, hawks and
bats. Newly planted milkweed should also attract and host monarch
butterflies that migrate through Ohio.
