KC Guitar Works has gone green! With the change to Powweb Hosting, my site is now powered completely by wind energy! This is because Powweb gets 100% of their power from wind. That’s like planting 2,390 trees! This environmentally sound decision has got me thinking… What else can I do to make my business more green?
It was hard to find ways to reduce my carbon footprint. I run a mobile guitar repair service, and the very root idea of my business revolves around consuming crude oil. So, I started there, and purchased a vehicle that meets my needs for space while still being as fuel efficient as I can afford.
Then I got really into it. I started looking for other places where I was using energy, and here’s where I’m at so far:
Lights – I retrofitted my workbox, my shop and my apartment with super high efficient LED lighting instead of energy consuming incandescent and halogens.
Tools – I decided that one of the biggest uses of energy is the use of power tools for guitar repairs. To my forearms dismay, I hand shape all of the nuts and saddles when time permits. When I do need to use power tools, I opt for energy efficient battery powered tools.
Batteries – In the touring world we go thru batteries like a hot knife thru butter. More often than not, a battery that is of little use to me on the stage still has quite a lot of juice left. I now save all of my used batteries and donate the good ones to Goodwill, and dispose of the bad ones thru proper channels.
Recycling – I try to stay on top of my recycling. Most of the waste that I produce is recyclable, from the paper and plastic that strings come in, to the metal in old strings. It’s all recycled.
Paper – I have chosen to do e-receipts instead of paper invoices. I also no longer use paper towels for clean up, instead I am using old t-shirts that I get from thrift stores.
Packaging – Wherever possible, I ask for very little packaging when ordering supplies for my business. Take strings for example. Dean Markley normally sends out strings with a folded paper label inside a plastic pouch. I have asked them to send me only the paper label and the strings themselves, which saves hundreds of plastic sleeves per order. Some string companies will ship me bulk strings with no packaging whatsoever.
Supplies – If there is a green option for a supply I need, I will spend the extra money to get the green option.
I buy local - For example, I now buy my cases locally at Backstage Custom Cases
