Actively Green 2015 ambassador profile: Ronny Smith
Editor’s note: This is a weekly spotlight that celebrates a local person who works for an Actively Green 2015 participating sustainable business.
Name: Ronny Smith.
Job: Store manager, West Vail Liquor Mart.
Why become Actively Green certified? We realized the benefits to overall operations, waste reduction and being a part of something that is a valley-wide effort.
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What challenges do you face with energy management as a retail business? As a liquor store, there are always lights on, doors left open and coolers whose fans run on engines. These drains are costly and wasteful.
What steps have you taken to address these drains? With replacing the lights to LEDs, we save on energy and eliminated indoor fan use in the summer. We have our neon signs on timers and are looking into a new fan system for our coolers that’ll save 70 percent in refrigeration costs.
Last thoughts? We stock all of the local breweries and distilleries and have a section near the entrance where we display Colorado spirits. Don’t forget to shop local.
The Actively Green 2015 Sustainable Business Certification program is a community-driven partnership supported by the town of Vail, Vail Valley Foundation, Sustainable Travel International and Walking Mountains Science Center. To get involved, go to http://www.activelygreen2015.com.