How do we maintain sustainable and environmentally-friendly business practices?

In our rapidly-changing world, it has never been more important to pay attention to the effect that our actions have on the environment. At  Marsten Equipments, we believe in being as eco-friendly as possible in all our business practices and, as such, have modified our business to be sustainable and environmentally compliant. Here are five ways that we offer eco-friendly snow blowing, environmentally efficient snow-plowing, and sustainable snow dumping services in Ottawa:

Maintaining our Vehicles:

During snow maintenance operations we utilize construction equipment with numerous attachments to minimize the amount of equipment used to perform multiple job tasks. By using these attachments, we are able to upgrade the vehicle itself, without the attachments, saving the environmental construction of the attachments in addition to keeping them out of the waste disposal sites for a longer period of time. A more recently upgraded vehicle also means keeping up with the newest emissions regulations, which keeps our fuel consumptions at the lowest levels and leaves our vehicles safer and cleaner for today’s environmental legislations.

Fuel Efficiency for our Vehicles:

The fuel efficiency rates for our pick-up fleet averages 10L/100km. These pick-up trucks are used to tow our lightweight equipment trailers and our small powered landscape equipment, such as our Stihl trimmers and mowers. Our trimmers and mowers also operate on a four-cycle low emissions system requiring 40% less add mixture reducing carbon emissions. All of our mowing equipment utilizes low sulfur diesel with newer emission exhaust systems reducing carbon emissions.

We minimize the amount of vehicles on the road by using larger capacity crew cabs to transport our teams to and from job sites. By utilizing 6-person crew cabs over 2-person pickup trucks, we can limit the number of excess vehicles on the road.

Time-Saving Technology:

We use GPS and satellite tracking systems in our vehicles to give our teams the shortest and most cost-effective routes to the job sites throughout Ottawa. We require our employees to use Exact Time data entry when on the job sites to ensure sufficient time is spent on site to achieve the maintenance goals for the contract. Employees are able to go online and check in and out from site to site without having to drive unnecessarily to a shop, which would be a waste of time and fuel.

The Use of Recycled and Reclaimed Materials:

At Marsten, we actively purchase recycled and reclaimed materials for use in our roads construction division. We recycle granular materials that are not contaminated from excavation jobs (suitable and approved by engineers) and re-mix them into virgin aggregates. Additionally, we use recycled concrete and asphalt grindings as engineered-approved backfill, thus reducing the amount of mining impact within the environment, as well as reducing the carbon emissions created in producing the new materials.

Salt and Liquid Brine:

At Marsten, we manufacture our own liquid brine with salt which is a solution to 30% salinity, resulting in a 70% reduction in the use of pure salt. This is a process which has been used by both municipal and federal governments in both Europe and Canada. When used during the moderate asphalt surface temperature of -12C, the product makes use of the sun’s heating effect on the asphalt to allow the liquid to penetrate the surface, preventing slippery surfaces and reducing snow accumulation.

Additionally, we use Clearlane salt which provides a lower environmental impact because there is less scatter when using it. This means that 20-40% less salt can be used, compared to bulk de-icing salt. The inhibitor in this salt has also been proven to be three times less corrosive than regular road salt.
Everything from our salt to our vehicles to our GPS is designed to align with environmentally sustainable business practices and contributes to an eco-friendly Ottawa. If you are interested in learning more about our services or environmental processes and how they can help you and your business, contact our team of experts today.