Environmental Sustainability

Turtle Fur Green (Green Turtle)

At Turtle Fur we feel being green isn’t a shell game. It is an evolving collaborative effort that starts at home and expands throughout the world to those involved in all aspects of our business.

The Green Team

In 2007 Turtle Fur created the Green Team committee to continually review the environmental practices of the company, our products, and packaging and recommend changes for our improvement. The Green Team is made up of individuals from all areas of the company. The Green Team also organizes the company’s participation in Vermont's Green-Up.

Recycling Program

Turtle Fur’s zero-sort recycling program with Casella Waste Management is a process which enables paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, and metal to be collected together in one bin eliminating the need to separate recyclables. This allows our waste to come full circle with the boxes we use for shipping to the fleece we use for our products. The Green Team implemented a free personal recycling drop off program at the Turtles’ Nest to promote recycling at an individual level.

Our Paper Trail

Since we instituted the Green Team we have looked at ways in which we can reduce our paper trail. To date we have reduced product packaging by almost 65% and replaced existing packaging with a higher content of post consumer material. Currently our shipping boxes and hang tags are made of a minimum of 35% post consumer content.

Our Building

We are always looking for ways to make the Turtles’ Nest a more environmentally friendly home. We have replaced all old inefficient windows and doors, repainted the interior of our building with low VOC paint and carpeted with low VOC carpet. We swapped all light fixture ballasts and light bulbs in our building with new energy efficient models. Motion sensor light switches and programmable thermostats were installed which increased our efficiency by over 30%. Low flow commodes were installed throughout the building to reduce water consumption. Sun tunnels were installed within windowless interior spaces, new energy efficient heaters were installed in the warehouse, and all old computer equipment was recycled. We have also installed three drinking water filtration systems which eliminated the need for drinking water to be delivered to our building.

Environmental Partnership

In 2008 Turtle Fur was recognized as a member of the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership program. We continue to be committed to implementing business practices that comply with all state and federal environmental regulations. Our company commitment is to protect and lessen our impact on the environment both locally and globally by conserving energy and other natural resources, reducing waste generation, recycling and purchasing recycled products, and reducing our use of toxic products.