Valentine's Day Treat: Hershey's Working Towards Zero Waste

In honor of Valentine's Day, we decided to recognize a holiday favorite: Hershey's!

We love when manufacturers work to reduce their environmental impact, and especially love it when they defy the stereotype of waste-creating, chemical-using, energy-wasting polluters. Sound harsh? Well, the average person likely doesn't understand the sophistication of today's manufacturing plant. Or the genuine efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials. It's not a tree hugger thing. It's a lean manufacturing, resource-reducing, efficiency-boosting thing. We love it even more when they show leadership amongst their peers.


We read a recent Environmental Leader article that Hershey is adding four facilities to the portfolio of manufacturing companies working to significantly reduce waste-to-landfill. This combines recycling, reuse of materials into new products or into other processes (i.e close-loop processing), energy efficiency, use of landfill gas, renewable energy, and more. The article also hails General Motors and Kraft for their additions to the landfill-free movement (80 and 36, respectively).

From the article, "The zero-waste strategy at the three plants has prevented more than 1 million tons of material from going to landfills...Ninety percent of the waste from plant operations is recycled." Other food waste is used in biomass energy processes to produce power. Perhaps they could send a little of the chocolate 'rejects' to their friends over here at Springleaf. We'll help make sure it doesn't go to waste!


Pretty impressive!

We hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and find your own way to celebrate your favorite waste-reducing chocolate producers. I know my day is a little sweeter with Hershey's leading the way!

And, just to plug our local favorites in time for this Valentine's celebration: Videri and Escazu. I think this means we need to line up a tour sometime soon so we can highlight these hometown favorites!

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

2400 Calories, 12 Doughnuts, 5 Miles, 1 Sweet Race: The 2012 Krispy Kreme Challenge

This past weekend was the nationally-recognized Krispy Kreme Challenge. For the un-initiated, it's a dine-and-dash like no other. This year, my husband and I decided it was time to join the thousands of crazy road racers on the quest for the ultimate sugar high (keep in mind there's also a good cause attached to this).


The challenge: Run 2.5 miles from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme store in downtown Raleigh, eat a dozen doughnuts, then run 2.5 miles back to the Bell Tower. Sound painful? Here's the biggest hurdle: runners have to finish in one hour.

So, why would we be posting about such a race that could be viewed as eclectic (there were plenty of costumed racers), nutty (err, sugary!), and completely crazy?

You may remember the recent post we did on this, but here's a little history: the race started in 2004 as a dare between a few NC State students. It has now grown to an annual tradition, drawing runners from across the nation. In 2009, ESPN did a great piece on the race (skip to the 1:30 mark on the video), raising the profile of the race to a national level. It is now a top 100 things you MUST DO by Sports Illustrated. Pretty cool for a race that started on a dare!

Last year, the Krispy Kreme Challenge raised over $122,000 for NC Children's Hospital. This year, they have raised over $100,000 once again--the third year in a row of breaking the $100K mark. Talk about creating a totally local, totally organic, totally authentic event that has a great impact on the community--wow!



Mmm...doughnuts!

This year, they capped the race at 7,700 runners. Let's do the math...12 doughnuts per racer x 7,700 racers = 92,400 doughnuts they have ready for the race. If all runners downed the full dozen, that's almost 18,500,000 calories!!

Granted, not everyone was racing with the intent to eat a dozen doughnuts, although my husband was determined to down the full dose of glazed goodness (see above picture of total determination and doughnut domination).

Yours truly was a 'casual' runner, meaning I wasn't required to finish the entire dozen. I wasn't the trooper that my husband was, but I was excited to support the event and take part in other ways.

Some of the more tame costumes

We ran in the race to experience this community tradition. We also provided some support to the students organizing the event to help with publicity and social media. Our friends at Odd Fellows helped create some very cool, very funny 'training' videos. But mostly, we just supported the event by being big fans, participants, and all-around race-and-doughnut nuts!

I hope to see more of you out there next year. We had several clients and colleagues running on Saturday - maybe next year we can have team Springleaf and raise some money for a great cause. Race on!

70 Degrees Before Groundhog's Day? Time to Get Outside and Explore the Triangle!

Indian summer? Sure, I’ve heard the term, but I haven’t really had an opportunity to use it—that is, until I moved to Raleigh. Now I can certainly use the term, albeit later than normal, since it’s February 1st, 70 degrees, and I’m planning an afternoon trip to one of my favorite outdoor destinations.

February 1st and 70 degrees? Hellooo, Raleigh!

While February does not usually conjure up images of hiking in the sun—ice storms tend to come to mind instead—I wanted to share some of the places my family and I have found that help make the Triangle such a great place to be.

Some of our favorite Triangle spots where we go to escape into the outdoors:

• What better way to start off this list than with Triangle Land Conservancy, an organization that makes it so easy and fun to explore local lands and connect with nature. We love making treks all over TLC's Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, with its stony creeks and winding trails. If planning your own excursion seems like a lot of work or you think you've seen everything TLC has to offer, visit their Backyard Adventure page for more inspiration. Also, be sure to check out their updated website—we are honored to have helped pull it together! 
• The Eno River has become one of our favorite spots; even the occasional snake sightings are fun…at a distance! You can wade in the river, play in the woods, set out on a hike, explore some forts, wander across a swinging bridge…plenty of options to make for a full day! Also, the Eno River Association hosts the incredibly popular Festival for the Eno, as well as events throughout the year from history hikes to bird watching.
• Just as it opened, we had the chance to explore the newest stretch of the Capital Greenway, the Upper Neuse off Falls of Neuse Road in North Raleigh. In addition to the wonderful biking trail, there is a spot to launch a canoe. Checking out the Greenway is worth a trip in itself, and the Upper Neuse section is definitely a well-used addition!
• I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to attend a native plant and gardening course at the North Carolina Botanical Garden at UNC. Since that course, I have spent lots of time exploring their course offerings, walking trails, and investigating the nuances of the LEED Platinum building. While there is plenty on site to keep you busy, I particularly love taking trips to Mason Farm Biological Preserve.
• While it may seem strange to think about outdoor adventures in the middle of winter, spring will officially be here before we know it!

I know there are plenty more great outdoor spots around the Triangle that either didn’t make the list or that I haven’t explored yet. I would love to hear what some of your favorites are!