When the Gas Company Calls...

We were very surprised to hear from the local Gas company. Our local gas company WE in the Paper Valley in Wisconsin called to find out if a problem existed. They were concerned because our gas usage plummeted. They figured something was wrong. However everything was right.

We reduced our warm weather usage of gas through a new equipment purchase and by using common sense to better manage our usage.

Here's how we did it.

Utility Savings Project

Project: Decrease monthly gas costs during warm weather months

Proposed: Eliminate high natural gas heating bills during summer months

Scope: Adjust environmental control to maintain proper humidity and temperature levels without using supplemental heat, and reduce costs.

Process: We identified the natural gas usage problem as improper calibration of two separate systems to control temperature and humidity in the manufacturing area. Both systems were controlled with a sophisticated real-time computer-processing program that would turn heating and cooling on at the same time. Adjustments were made to the control system by increasing the set temperature to turn on cooling at 76 degrees and adding a two-degree dead band, and turn on heating at 67 degrees with a two-degree dead band, so we were able to control the environment in the building at proper temperature limits. In conjunction with temperature, the humidity control is programmed to turn on dehumidification at 60% relative humidity and turn on humidity at less than 45% relative humidity.

Results: Natural Gas savings of 250 therms of natural gas usage that is not required to provide heat to the manufacturing area. 250 therms of natural gas is equivalent to 2925 pounds of carbon dioxide gas (1 therm = 11.7 pounds of carbon dioxide) (Doe, 2007) in one month. If we conservatively figure five months of savings, we eliminated about 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere by readjusting the environment control in the manufacturing area eliminating the natural gas consumption.

There will be an added benefit in the reduction of total electricity, due to the environmental changes that will result in saving KWH per month. At this time, there is not substantial data to provide an accurate savings due to reduced KWH, but keep in mind besides the dollar savings, the power company produces electricity with natural gas, so the total greenhouse gas savings will be more than this report identifies.

New 50% Recycled Shipping Boxes

We were really surprised at how hard it was to secure these 50% recycled boxes. We knew we wanted new shipping boxes with the most recycled content possible. As a paper company executive I thought, mistakenly, that most brown corrugated boxes would certainly be recycled. Not so.

We also needed boxes with double thick walls to make sure that we were protecting our paper and envelope shipments to the best of our ability. We know that nothing is more frustrating than to receive an order you've waited for only to find it damaged. Anyway, to make a long story short we now have these great boxes and use this as another example of our ongoing commitment to sustainable practices.

I am personally very serious about this process and I have instructed our managers to examine all of our processes and vendors and to make real changes to our business with the goal to lessen our impact on the environment. I believe that many small initiatives like ours will make a meaningful impact and help to maintain a healthy planet for future generations.

I hope you agree.

Finch Paper forest sale

As is well known by now, and written about here, Finch Paper recently sold an amazing piece of property located in the Adirondack Park in upper New York state. The sale of what was previously the largest piece of privately owned property by Finch to the Nature Conservancy will result in the preservation of this 161,000 acre property.

I have just returned from a visit to the Adirondacks last week. During my visit to New York state I dropped in to see our friends at Finch Paper and to touch base on the progress of the land sale. Such a huge sale, valued at $110 million, requires creative thinking to make the numbers come together. The Nature Conservancy is resourceful and has access to large sums of money. Even for this great organization the price tag and the 6 weeks it took to put this together is an amazing feat of creative thinking.

One important part of this sale is that Finch Paper will retain logging rights to the property and help the Nature Conservancy support this land with fees it will pay for the lumber harvested from the property. The forest will remain a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest and provide generations of responsibly managed timber for paper making.