His new facility has been open for 6 months now and requests for rescues are ever growing, so much so that they are already at capacity.

Here’ s Mike and a few Rotarian’s getting up close and personal with some of his friends…

This week at Rotary we were treated to another great presentation, this time from Travis Drew, Plant Manager at Lucerne Foods – Clearbrook.

Travis (along with Plant Superintendent Colin Hutchinson) was the recipient of the Green Leader Award at the Abbotsford Environmental Leadership Awards held earlier this year and I can see why.  They are doing some amazing things over there.

Their goal is and has been to reduce costs through waste reduction.  A few of the measures they have taken:

• Wood, such as pallets, that would have typically been thrown out and sent to a landfill is now being diverted to local businesspeople who are making them into wood chips to be used in planters. This has accounted for a 33% reduction in waste.
• Through equipment upgrades and awareness, they have been able to reduce gas costs by 17%.  They have gone from using roughly 8000 gigajoules in 2008 to under 6000 in 2012.  To put this in perspective, one gigajoule of natural gas is approximately equivalent to 27 litres of fuel oil, 39 litres of propane, 26 litres of gasoline or 277 kilowatt hours of electricity.
• They have seen a 21% reduction in energy costs through lighting upgrades, sensors, motor upgrades, and monitoring systems.  (the light sensors were an eye opener for me as I seem to be the only person in my house who knows how to turn off a light……a trip to home depot seems to be in order!)
• They donate “product fines” to Gleaners who then make soup for people in need around the world.
• They were the first business in Abbotsford to use the blue bag system for recycling.
• Through recycling measures they’ve implemented, they’ve seen a 30% reduction in plastic waste and a 44% reduction in metal waste.
• They have reduced water usage by 47%….all through monitoring, creating awareness and changing practices.
• The amount of paper/scraps they now send out  for composting has increased an amazing 252%.
• And the amount of cardboard they now recycle has increased a whopping 285%.

All of the above combined has led to a reduction of total waste going to the landfill….an 87% reduction.  This equates to over 300 tons LESS waste into the landfills each year.  An absolutely amazing accomplishment.

As Travis pointed out in his presentation, they are always looking for win-win relationships and practices to achieve their goals.  Lucerne wins by reducing costs significantly while growers and other local businesses win by being able to manufacture these waste products into something useful.

Other Lucerne plants are now following in the Clearbrook plants lead and rightfully so.

Great work guys!

Newly appointed Abbotsford City Manager George Murray spoke to our club this evening.

We sure have the privilege of sitting in on some excellent presentations as Rotarians and this was no exception.

Only 11 weeks into his appointment and it is clear to see he is a man with a plan.  The transparency he is showing (and has shown thus far) is refreshing.

He shared some of the successes and failures he’s already been through as well as some of the ideas and processes he is implementing to be able to get to the “deliver” point in the process.  There are lots of challenges to be sure but he is optimistic and has reason to be, what with some great people already in place.

It should prove for some interesting times moving forward.  Stay tuned.