Featured Greenies

The Orvis Company was founded by Charles Orvis in 1856. Mr. Orvis was a conservationist and served on what today we would recognize as nonprofit boards. Orvis’ Roanoke office opened in August 1987, and is very much a supporter of the company’s legacy.

“We believe conservation is important to our lifestyle and our business,” says Mike Rigney, Vice President of Operations. “Orvis measures what we’re consuming and identifies how we impact the environment through our use of water, electricity, propane gas, paper, trash taken to the landfill— every consumable product.”

Orvis has set some specific goals for itself as a company to demonstrate its commitment to the environment. For example, they donate 5 percent of pretax profits each year to conservation efforts around the area, and are committed to becoming carbon neutral by the year 2020. The Roanoke facility will implement new warehouse systems in 2009 with less dependency on paper. They are also encouraging customers to use their Web site for service, as well as their Live Chat feature. According to Rigney, this will provide better service for customers without impacting the environment.

Orvis’ Roanoke facility made a $350,000 capital investment to replace all its old light fixtures with T-8s and add motion sensors. As a result, they are saving 39 percent on electricity bills, allowing them to save between $8,000 and $10,000 per month. The company also made the decision to hire a Senior Facility Manager to look at the life of the facility and its sustainability. Other Orvis offices are doing this as well to reinforce the focus on sustainability and conservation.

Orvis models its values to employees and encourages them to look for opportunities to conserve energy, such as carpooling. Another opportunity the Roanoke facility offers is for employees who live in areas that don’t recycle to bring their items to work for recycling. Orvis’ staff has also established a Social Concerns group, comprised of employees who want to volunteer their time to help promote special initiatives, including conservation efforts. Rigney explains, “It comes down to this: We are walking the talk when it comes to putting our values into action.”

Orvis 2020 Vision for Sustainability

Orvis believes that environmental responsibility is not only the right thing to do for the planet, but a key component to our future success as a business. As a result, Orvis is committed to integrating sustainability into our into our core business practices.

Orvis donates 5% of pre-tax profits annually to organizations that protect fish and wildlife habitat. Over the last ten years, we've donated nearly $10 million to these organizations, including Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Coastal Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited, The Conservation Fund, Ruffed Grouse Society, and The Atlantic Salmon Fund.

For some projects, Orvis receives matching funds from other conservation and wildlife organizations that can triple or even quadruple the amount of your donation. Donations are received from mailed contributions, or from our Round Up for Conservation program

Orvis, which has been active in environmentalism for more than 20 years, had up until last year only focused on conservation projects in North America, The company is now starting to take on some global projects. Orvis’ upcoming conservation projects for 2009 include restoring migratory fish to a river in Michigan; protecting gorillas in the Congo; and partnering with Trout Unlimited to raise funds for a variety of projects.

For more information, visit www.orvis.com/conservation.



Clean Valley Council (CVC), a non-profit agency for 30 years, has connected people with conservation and preservation for the five Roanoke Valley municipalities. CVC serves the Cities of Roanoke and Salem, the Counties of Botetourt and Roanoke, and the Town of Vinton as an educational resource.

The organization provides educational programming about litter prevention and reuse, recycling, and reduction of the wastestream for all levels in both public and private schools. These programs are designed to inspire, encourage, and demonstrate responsible waste management. CVC supports environmental events throughout the year including Clean Valley Day in April, the Fall Waterways Cleanup in October, and the Earth Summit, held the first Thursday in November.

Clean Valley initiated the first Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day with the Junior League of Roanoke Valley. They also collected 30,000 used books for Kenya in the Books for Africa project with Cycle Systems, and supported the coming of the “Critters Don’t Need Litter” campaign to the Valley for the schools. In addition, the CVC office wrote three statewide grant proposals that provided the products for their peers across the Commonwealth to take into the classrooms for students. The CVC's executive director is Ann Masters.



Lanford Brothers Co. has announced it is incorporating green building practices in the construction of its new Roanoke headquarters. The building will include recycled materials and low-flow fixtures to reduce water consumption. The company is also considering the inclusion of a green roof.

As a member of the city’s new Roanoke Business Environmental Leadership Coalition, Ken Lanford (president of Lanford Brothers Co.), has agreed to join with leaders in the business community to support the city’s Clean and Green Campaign.

Lanford Brothers Co. was featured in an article titled “Keen on Green,” in the April 2008 issue of Virginia Business magazine. The company, which was formed in 1960 by Jack & Stan Lanford, does bridge and box culvert construction. Over the years they have evolved from building new structures to repairing them.



Fork in the Alley Brick Oven Pub became the first Certified Green Restaurant in Roanoke and the second in Virginia on Jan. 28, 2008. Leading the eco-friendly charge, Fork in the Alley achieved certification of green status upon implementation of environmentally friendly practices in accordance with the Green Restaurant Association’s (GRA) rigorous guidelines. The GRA, a national non-profit organization, was founded in 1990 to help the restaurant industry achieve ecological sustainability.

Fork in the Alley began the process of becoming green last August. As part of the initial certification phase, the restaurant is now Styrofoam-free and took four additional steps in an effort to reduce its environmental footprint. It currently has partnered with the City of Roanoke to use a comprehensive recycling system for all products locally accepted. The restaurant has also removed paper towels from its restrooms where it now uses high-efficiency dryers, and uses motion sensors for lighting. In addition, it uses energy-efficient equipment and most of its food is cooked in a wood-burning brick oven. To date, Fork in the Alley has completed a total of nine environmental steps.

As part of its certification, the restaurant must continue to meet four environmental steps per year over the next five years. Restaurant management has signed a pledge and a contract to this extent as a sign of dedication to improving our environment and making sure the restaurant has as low an environmental impact as possible.

Fork in the Alley is currently partnering with other restaurants in the City of Roanoke and Roanoke's Solid Waste Management Division to add colored glass recycling back to the list of products that the city is able to recycle. As a sign of its longstanding support and relationship with the local bicycle community, Fork in the Alley has announced that, as part of "going green," anyone who rides their bike to the restaurant during the entire month of May 2008 (Clean Commute Day/National Bike to Work Day is May 16, 2008, National Bike Month), will get 10 percent off their entree.


Breakell Inc. is taking a holistic approach to sustainability both in the office and in the field. Breakell sees the future of the construction industry being revolutionized by green building. In order to achieve true sustainability, the organization is evaluating and changing its daily practices in the workplace.



RIDE Solutions is a regional ridesharing program operated by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission in cooperation with the New River Valley Planning District Commission. It is a grant-funded program that provides FREE carpool matching services for citizens of the Roanoke and New River Valley regions and surrounding areas within southwestern Virginia. We work with individuals to facilitate one-on-one carpool matches, and with employers to create company-wide alternative transportation programs.

Though we in the Roanoke and New River Valleys are spared many of the traffic congestion problems that plague areas like Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, we suffer many of the same problems with air quality. Particularly in Roanoke, traffic within the valley and that passing through the valley on I-81 and 220 releases emissions into the air that, due to our unique geography, tend to remain trapped in the valley. These emissions contribute to high ground-level ozone levels in the summer, and high particulate matter pollution in the colder months.

RIDE Solutions is working to improve regional air quality by working with individuals and employers to reduce the number of vehicles on our roads and encouraging people to use alternative transportation as a way to reduce harmful emissions.