Sustainability Profile: Bow Point Nursery

1. What is your company's brand promise, vision or statement of values, and how does it relate to sustainability?

   Our main focus is the production of native woody plants of southern Alberta. Our vision / mission statement is "Survival of the Fittest" - which relates to the production of plants for reclamation , urban landscape and re-naturalization of disturbed areas - the best plants are those which evolved here. We provide plants which will survive under Calgary / western Prairie weather conditions - without heavy demand for irrigation, fertilizers, or pest control chemicals.

2. How are your products or services environmentally and socially sustainable?

   We grow our plants in a soil sustainable method - field grown plants which are bare-root harvested and containerized - which results in long term sustainable farming. We do not ship our soil. We have 12 acres of nursery production without irrigation. We do not fertilize the field crops, nor do we apply any chemical pest control materials. We compost landscape waste and horse stable waste for soil conditioning and nutrition. We also provide mulch - ground wood chips from several arborist companies - which would normally be sent to the landfill.

3. How do your suppliers create positive social and environmental benefits either through their products or through their community partnerships?

   We associate, supply and purchase from like-minded individuals and companies. Because we produce our product on site from our own materials (seed and cuttings) there are very minimal input materials into our product. We have a plastic container recycle service which supplies the bulk of our containers for our plants, which is the most unsustainable aspect of the business for most growers.

4. How does your business minimize the environmental impact of its operations through some or all of the following activities?

   We not only grow and provide plants produced in a sustainable manner, we take waste from several landscapers, a horse stable, and several arborists. We provide compost, wood chip mulch, firewood, and dimensional lumber produced from materials which would normally be dumped in the landfill.

   We do some production in unheated greenhouses (cold frames) - these are very low impact production facilities. We do water our containerized plants - all of the container areas are built as flood irrigation beds and collect and re-circulate our water. We do buy water for the operation - trucked in, but with the recycle beds, rain water capture and low water needs of the plants we are about 1/5th to 1/10th the usage of mainstream growers.

   We live and work at the nursery, so our personal travel/commute is minimal. We use only a tank of fuel every several months. We use diesel Volkswagons for delivery of our products - when we do deliver – because we have found these to be the most efficient for size and fuel usage. Our seasonal staff does make it to work here under their own power, but they take advantage of car-pooling as much as possible.

5. How does your business demonstrate ethical business conduct?

   We stand by our standards - a native plant is one which is grown from an indigenous seed source only. Any issues are handled by us, the owners.

6. What strategic community partnerships does your company have in place?

   In the past we have been members of different organizations, but have ended these relationships due to the lack of ethics they demonstrated. There is limited contact within our industry and we are sometimes viewed as the lunatic fringe, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

   Pam has been on the Calgary Arbor Day Board for 20 years. We support Cross Conservation area and our local Rocky View School Division. We offer free advice to any community or school based naturalization project, which includes tours of the nursery, landscape design, planning advice, compost, mulch and maintenance planning.

7. What policy or guidelines exist to support charitable contributions?

   We provide multitudes of gift certificates for local organization fundraisers. We hire Olds College students as interns for Horticulture Production. We do tours for Jr. Forestry, Waldorf School, various Scout groups, and horticulture groups - the Calgary Zoo, and Calgary, Cochrane, and Airdrie Horticultural Societies. We do not have a formal policy - this year to date we have donated $200 worth of gift certificates to Cross Conservation Area and Naturally Fair. We have donated plants to several school projects - Chinook Winds and Waldorf School.

8. How many people do you employ locally?

   We have 4 - 6 seasonal employees. We also trade labour with several landscapers, helping to keep their help busy in the early spring and providing assistance on larger projects.

9. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee health and safety?

   We try to instill a strong sense of common sense when working. We review machine safety as the need arises, and the employee must read the manual of any mechanized tool used. We do primarily use hand tools - all employees are trained to use these tools in the most ergonomic methods possible. For example, a hoe is to be used as a slicing tool with a straight back. We have yet to have any WCB claims.

10. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee development and job satisfaction?

    We are in the process of starting our own school - training others to grow in the same manner as we do. The nursery is the lab and the model we will follow. We only hire those who have an interest in learning. We will teach and train to whatever degree we can. None of our information is proprietary, all is freely shared.

11. How does your business support employees to lead balanced lives and be active participants in their communities?

    We have no formal employee activities - we have seasonal employees. There is a sense of comradeship when at work, they are welcome to live their lives as they feel when not at work.