Company Eliminates Trash Service for Second Consecutive Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Damon DeVito 434-817-4570 or [email protected]
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – January 11, 2011 – For the second consecutive year Affinity Management (www.affinitymanagement.com) has eliminated the need for trash service at its corporate office through extensive recycling efforts. Affinity’s recycling rate of 95% is more than double the average for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 38%.
Affinity’s Jennifer Wright-Layne provides the backbone of the effort by maintaining a clean and orderly sorting area in Affinity’s kitchen and making periodic trips to the McIntire Recycling Center. Wright-Layne comments, “At first it was a shock and a pain, but now it is routine and a point of pride. Clients like it because it is a sign that we’re careful with resources and not wasteful. Employees like it because it shows the company cares about its community and the environment.”
“Once we started recycling all our magazines we realized how many catalogs we were getting that we didn’t need. Now instead of simply tossing them, we call to get off the lists. Less junk mail means less junk,” adds Wright-Layne.
Beyond recycling, the company seeks innovative ways to repurpose waste like reusing non-sensitive printed documents (sensitive documents are shredded and recycled) as note paper and giving leftover stickers from promotions to the children of employees. In 2010 Affinity began buying letterhead with higher recycled content for itself and its clients. “Even though we’ve transferred most of our communications to email, certain circumstances call for mailings so it adds up,” notes Senior Marketing Specialist Kristine Bourque.
Co-Founder and Managing Director Damon DeVito thinks Affinity is just scratching the surface, “We’re proud of what we’ve done, but there is plenty more that can be accomplished pretty easily. After two years in this office it dawned on us that we are buying bottled water because we don’t like the taste of the tap water so we put in a filter for the tap instead. Not using cases of bottled water is better for the environment than recycling cases of water - and less expensive.” Affinity is also in the process of installing a programmable thermostat to reduce energy waste. “We’re by no means perfect, but a few years ago we were doing zip for the environment, so we’ve made big strides.”
Affinity Management (www.affinitymanagement.com) advises, manages and owns private clubs, golf courses, equestrian facilities and other member-based businesses. Affinity has helped clubs in twenty-four states since 1997, and has a strong and growing practice in providing professional management for lenders post-foreclosure as well as borrowers aiming to avoid foreclosure.
