Las Vegas’ Winder Farms provides green services

Earth Day, the annual holiday that promotes environmental awareness and green living, is Friday, but according to one local business, every day should be earth day.

The folks at Winder Farms deliver regionally produced (from their farm in Utah or from local growers) dairy , eggs, juices, fruits and vegetables to customers’ doorsteps and have been doing so in Utah for more than 130 years.

The company has had a home base in southwest Las Vegas, at 6420 Cameron St., Suite 203, since 2006.

According to V ice P resident of B usiness D evelopment Bob Smith, the company has been striving to promote green living in small ways for many years but recently stepped up it s game .

“We have made a real effort to look at the bottles that we use and recycle as often as possible,” he said. “With us, all bottles, both plastic and glass, have a life of about 130 uses through the recycling process.”

Smith said all of the bottles, which are dropped off to customers containing milk or juice in a cooler container and picked up empty a week later, are taken to a recycling center, where they are thoroughly cleaned and made ready for re use.

“This company is attempting to make a green impact any way that we can,” he said.

Las Vegas resident Marley Hall said she has eggs and chocolate milk delivered from Winder every week, but before setting the old bottles back on her porch to be picked up, she rinses out the glass bottles in hopes that they will be recycled.

“I think I heard they recycle,” she said. “It takes two minutes on my part. Whatever I can do to try and help things along.”

The company is also trying to help reduce the overall carbon footprint through its delivery service.

According to Winder Las Vegas G eneral M anager Bob Callaway, the average person travels approximately five miles a few times per week to go to the grocery store.

“That can be cut down quite a bit because our drivers have an average of .49 miles between each customer we serve,” he said.

Callaway said people could reduce the overall carbon impact by millions annually by saving one trip every week to the grocery store.

“If you calculate gas prices at 20 miles per gallon, that is $900,000 in savings for Winder customers each year,” he said. “So you’re not just helping the earth stay green, you’re putting a little green back in your own wallet.”

Callaway said that going green and staying green is important to Winder, and the company is always looking for new ways to make an impact.

“Green thinking is important to us because we are members of this community and citizens of this planet,” he said. “Of course, we want to do everything that we can to encourage change for the better. Every little bit helps.”

Callaway said the good thing about his business is that he can provide a convenient service while still doing something he is proud to be a part of.

“We have to be good to our environment,” he said. “We only get one chance to take care of this planet, because if we don’t, everyone and everything living will suffer the consequences.”

Contact Southwest and Spring Valley View reporter Amanda Donnelly at adonnelly @viewnews.com or 380-4535.