Feb. 25, 2011, Kleinburg, Ont. – George Sant & Sons Ltd. co-owners Ron, Rick and Dan Sant recently began the MPS-ABC environmental certification program in their Kleinburg greenhouses.
Ron appreciates how the MPS-ABC program brings the entire team at their company into understanding the goals of the organization and brings better participation throughout the team to these goals. “We have recycled plastic and cardboard for years, but now we are finding that we are recycling so much more that we purchased a cardboard compactor to manage the volume of our recycling. Everyone is involved in the process,” says Ron.
“The process has led to good discussions among the key members of the team, including the growers, of how we can make changes in our growing practices which are good for the environment, and good for our people who are applying the crop protection agents and fertilizers.”
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| Dan, Ron and Rick Sant. |
Prior to beginning the MPS program, they had focused on their energy use as a critical way to control costs, and now with the additional information the MPS system gives them on a quarterly basis, they are looking at additional inputs and challenging their thinking.
The MPS information is entered every four weeks by Mark Sant. As a new member of the George Sant & Sons team, Mark has found the MPS website easy to navigate and the process to be quite manageable.
Canadian growers are using a metric based measurement system for MPS, as this is what they are accustomed to, while U.S. growers are now using measurements in liquid ounces and pounds, which they are more familiar with. MPS tries to adapt their systems to aid the growers, and keep the record keeping functions easy to use by all.
GROWER INQUIRIES
MPS inquiries in North America can be directed to west coast coordinator, Charlotte Smit at 805-524-9685,
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, or to east coast coordinator Sandy Hering at 508-758-3008,
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