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Crippen Dealership: Driving a green initiative for dealerships
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By Caitlin Cox
Many people think of green in the automotive industry as electric cars and fuel efficiency, but they often neglect to see other green initiatives that car dealers are utilizing. Dealerships like the Crippen Auto Mall Greater Lansing are progressively greening their businesses in ways other than selling electric or fuel-efficient vehicles.
Crippen obtained a green dealer certification from the national consulting group, Green Dealer Support. They are the first dealership in Michigan to receive the award.
“The opportunity to be a green dealership came to our attention as we were already taking steps toward creating a more sustainable work environment,” says Crippen. “We wanted to go that route and be green certified.”
To earn the green dDealer certification, Crippen and his team focused on reducing the consumption of paper, water and energy. The steps toward obtaining the green dealer certification took a year and many items such as new lighting will result in a payback, he says.
“The investment has resulted in energy savings and an increase, we think, in a healthier workforce,” says Crippen. “Even in our paint shop we are able to create a safer work environment by using water-born paint that has a lower volatile organic compound.”
Although the dealership expects to see return on its investment, the certification process has provided some challenges to the operations of the business.
“Some employees openly embraced working in a green environment, whereas others were unsure of how this would help with production and sales,” says Erickson. “This was apparent in the sales department when working with waste reduction.”
As a result, Crippen now incorporates double sided printing, recycling and online advertising and marketing into its daily office functions, which has resulted in a 20 percent reduction in paper usage.
“Waste reduction is a great opportunity for any company,” says Erickson. “We used to have two eight yard containers that would go to the landfill twice a week, but we are now reduced to one eight yard bin that is picked up once a week.”
Crippen proudly displays its green mission statement on a wall in the dealership where customers can see what they are doing to maintain their commitment to the environment.
“Greening our dealership was the right thing to do - not only for sales, but also for the environment.”
Greening of the Great Lakes airs each weekend on News/Talk 760 WJR and around the state on the Michigan Talk Network.
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