Springfield furniture store goes green
11.10.11
Scott Nation wasn’t willing to accept that filling a store with beautiful furniture required creating Dumpsters full of packaging waste.
So he began looking for ways to keep the trash out of the trash can at Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Springfield.
“We were looking at how much waste we were going through, especially when we first opened in 2006. I couldn’t believe it,” said Nation, general manager of the store, which is at 2325 Chuckwagon Drive in the Prairie Crossing development. “So we started to look for ways to cut back.”
Today, cardboard and plastic waste is baled and recycled. No office paper or newsprint goes in the circular file. And that bulky shaped foam that keeps wood furniture from suffering dents and dings is shrunk down to a manageable size and sold to recycling companies to be used again and again.
Through these efforts, the furniture store has reduced trash that used to be destined for the landfill by up to 80 percent, Nation said. Ashley’s sister company, Barney’s Furniture at 2410 South Grand Ave. E., follows the same recycling practices.
Source: The State Journal-Register
LPGA Classic could seek interim sponsors for 2012
23.09.11
Supporters of Springfield’s annual women’s professional golf tournament may try to line up a group of Springfield-area businesses as interim sponsors for 2012.
Representatives of several local and area businesses say they’re willing to listen, but they haven’t been formally approached by tournament officials.
Kate Peters, executive director of the Central Illinois Charity Golf Classic, said the ultimate goal is still to find one or two major sponsors willing to put up about $2.3 million to keep the 36-year-old event in Springfield.
But short of making such a breakthrough in the next few months, Peters said, the alternative is to assemble a consortium of local sponsors. The arrangement would buy time to find major sponsors for 2013 and beyond.
The tournament began as the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Classic in 1976, became the Rail Charity Classic in 1978 and, with sponsorship from State Farm Insurance, was known as the LPGA State Farm Classic from 1993 until this year. State Farm dropped out as sponsor as of this year’s tournament.
Source: The State Journal-Register