Ways to Go Green and save some Green
April 7, 2013
Buying Local….Get the Facts!
April 26, 2013When David Waits first opened his automotive shop in 2000, having an environmentally sustainable business plan was never a second thought.
The owner of Japanese Automotive Service immediately built partnerships with recycling agencies to pick up old filters and scrap metal, and in December, he installed an oil burning furnace that repurposes used oil.
“I could never just pour oil out,” Waits said. “It’s terrible for the environment and it kills the grass and pollutes the ground.”
He’d previously hired a company to take away the thousands of gallons of oil from oil changes that accumulated in barrels each year, but when he learned that he could use it to heat his shop, he began researching options. “It’s something I’d always wanted to do, but it took me a few years to give in because I didn’t want to spend the $12,000 to install it, but I’m glad I finally did it because it truly is amazing,” Waits said.
The 270 gallons of oil that can be stored in the shop’s two tanks travels to the furnace in the back of the building where it is pressurized and mixed with air to generate heat. Waits said the furnace worked so well in its first winter that the mechanics working in the 4,000-square-foot shop had to tell him to turn it off. An additional perk for Waits was saving an average of $500 per month in heating costs.
The shop continues to recycle more than six tons of scrap metal each year along with the oil filters taken out during oil changes.
Waits said he’s looking to go even greener and is interested in pursuing the possibility of erecting wind turbines or solar panels behind the Wayne Street shop that will provide and store energy.
