Mobile, Ala. (WKRG) – Over the past six months, Colleen Peterson and Caroline Carithers have highlighted many Gulf Coast companies that go above and beyond to help the environment. Here is a quick breakdown on what they covered.
In July, they started travelling to Prichard to watch Alabama Power and other partners install rain barrels free of charge to the city’s residents. These help reuse and recycle rainwater in a flood prone area, preventing runoff, while also reducing water bill.
In August, they toured Rich’s Car Wash in Saraland, Ala.. Several Rich’s locations have installed Oxyshark, a system that filters out 95 to 98% of waters pollutants. This device, developed by a local engineering firm, allows car washes to clean and reuse their dirty car wash water, which saves money, but also keeps soap and dirt out of our waterways.
In September they headed to the Alabama Port where an initiative called Green Marine has been put into practice. From recycling materials, to transforming locomotives into the world’s cleanest diesel trains that emit almost zero pollutants into our atmosphere.
October brought them to southern Mobile County where employees at a local plant, Evonik, used their extra time and acreage to make sure birds have a place to live locally by building homemade bird boxes. Two-thirds of the 50 boxes are being used already.
In November they trekked to Aker Solutions to learn about how they are building themselves as a global leader in sustainability by changing out old lights into LED, using electric golf carts and dollies, and using recyclable materials to make their products.
They rounded out the year by travelling two hours offshore to drop an old Alabama Power Plant boiler, that was refurbished to be an artificial reef for fish, straight to the bottom of the Gulf about 8 miles south of Dauphin Island.
To submit a Growing the Gulf Coast story idea, email cpeterson@wkrg.com or ccarithers@wkrg.com.
