1 Solar-powered golf carts and cart 8 Correspondence from General
re-charging system Manager and other club
2 Cart paths and interior roadways personnel sent via e-mail to
made from recycled concrete reduce paper use
material (RCM) 9 Compact fluorescent light bulbs
3 Sprinkler system for lawns and and motion sensors in all offices
landscaping using reclaimed and hallways
water 10 Solar panels on clubhouse roof
4 Recycling bins for paper, plastic, responsible for at least half of
and glass bottles total electricity use
5 ENERGY-star qualified windows 11 Sustainable roof tiles certified by
to keep interior climate-controlled Forest Stewardship Council
6 Clothes in pro shop made of 12 Ceiling fans in locker room help
organic cotton and shipped in reduce air conditioning use
green-friendly packaging 13 Vegetable garden cuts down on
7 A restaurant serving locally carbon footprint of food
grown, organic food; purchases
biodegradable containers for 14 Energy-efficient heating system
takeout orders using natural gas
• 12
• 13
look for ways to cut down on waste. At Echo
Lake, manager John Gomez stopped using
styrofoam a while ago and recently began
buying reusable Wypall towels “so [the staff]
is not grabbing multiple napkins to clean up
kitchen spills.” At Aspetuck Valley Country
Club in Weston, Conn., superintendent Rick
Schock uses a Reznor waste oil burner to get
a second use out of the oil used in their
machines. Schock figures it provides about 70
percent of his shop’s winter heating. And at
Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.,
manager Eban Ross has planted a large garden, measuring about 150 feet by 70 feet,
between the first and ninth holes on the
Center course. He expects to get about 60
percent of the club’s fresh vegetables there.
And he’s irrigating it with water passed
through a device called Aqua-PhyD, which
charges the water in such a way that he needs
less of it. Ross is also letting the club’s supply
of old light bulbs run out and will replace
them with compact fluorescents.
But no club seems to have explored being
environmental stewards as systematically as
Whippoorwill. When the club decided to
build a new maintenance facility, it decided to
use the occasion to think long and hard about
becoming more environmentally conscious.
They formed an ad-hoc committee to explore
“green” options in the clubhouse, everything
from upgrading their recycling program to
installing motion sensors to control light
switches and even televisions. They are buying biodegradable garbage bags and replacing
all styrofoam cups and containers with new
ones made from biodegradable alternatives.
And for picnics and the snack bar, they have
found utensils that appear to be plastic but in
fact are also biodegradable.
The club even considered wrapping a water
tower on the property in solar energy-yield-ing panels. And they’d like the new maintenance building to meet the Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
standards, though Kirkwood is honest in
admitting that he isn’t sure that will prove
compatible with its function. “But it’s a goal
to strive for,” he says, adding that in an
increasingly environmentally conscientious
world, this is a good marketing tool, especially
for clubs like Whippoorwill, which hope to
attract younger members. “When we announce the new recycling program, a third of
