Prioritizing the Environment – Wilkes Businesses Making a Difference

Prioritizing the Environment – Wilkes Businesses Making a Difference

Find your back road. It’s not just a slogan it’s a way of life for Wilkes County. We’re proud of our beautiful Brushy Mountains, Yadkin River, greenways, trails and waterways that make Wilkesboro and Wilkes County a great place to live, visit, work and play. That’s why so many people here in Wilkes County make sure to care for the Earth and the environment in every way they can, whether it’s recycling in the home, picking up trash along our roadways or finding ways to conserve energy.

It's not just individuals who find ways to make the world a better place. We’re spotlighting just a few of the Wilkes County businesses that have made sustainable practices a top priority.

ASJ Mathis Farms

In 2016, the partners at ASJ Mathis Farms made the move to install solar panels to provide power to the 15 poultry houses on the farm. It’s just one way the family-owned business is making moves to improve the productivity of the farm. It takes a lot of energy to provide the light, heat and water for the more than one million broilers raised on this farm each year. Using solar energy has helped cut costs, but it’s also in line with the values of the farm. “Our business depends on things like clean water for the chickens and clean soil for the row crops,” says Tiffany Anderson of ASJ Mathis Farms. "We understand how important it is to care for the environment, and incorporating solar energy into the farm operation was one way to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Carolina Dozer

One of the things that enticed Kyle Michaud to relocate to Wilkes County from Florida was the natural beauty of the Brushy Mountains. Soon after his arrival he started a business, helping others build beautiful places to live and enjoy the area with his grading expertise. However, clearing land and grading property for development also means taking down trees. “Growing up my family was always big on protecting the environment, and leaving things as you found it,” Kyle says. That’s why he’s partnering with One Tree Planted, a non-profit company that plants trees where they’re needed most in places all around the globe. “Buy purchasing credits from them, we know that a tree is planted for every tree we take down in our work,” Kyle says.

GFL Environmental

Anyone who has done their part to recycle plastic water bottles and milk jugs knows the logo of waste management company GFL Environmental. The North Wilkesboro facility is one of many throughout the United States and Canada that make up the fourth largest waste management company, but the values of the company make sure to keep local priorities top of mind. The facility on Boone Trail pushes about 400 tons of recycling a month from Wilkes and surrounding counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Alexander. That means they’re keeping more than 1,600 tons of trash out of our landfills.

At GFL, we strive to provide our customers with constantly evolving, innovative, diverse trash services that help keep streets clean and safe. Visit https://t.co/zyS9dVWFMu to learn more. pic.twitter.com/mJwhdRGoDR

— GFL Environmental (@GFLenv) March 24, 2023

Once the trash gets to the facility in North Wilkesboro it is sorted and forwarded to mills to be processed in various types of recycling, from making paper to filling for dog beds. “Everything we can keep out of the landfill, whether it’s by re-using or recycling, helps improve the waste management cycle for future generations,” says Michael Taylor, general manager, GFL Environmental.

Sun Ovens

Imagine a camp stove powered not by a generator or propane, but by the clean energy of the sun. The Sun Oven, a concept developed by Tom Burns in 1986, does just that. You can cook, bake, dehydrate and even boil food in the Sun Oven, all with the sun as the power source, no matter what time of year or temperature the outside air. In 2020, Trip Critz, owner of the company, decided to move manufacturing operations to Wilkesboro, not only because the climate was more favorable than the previous headquarters in Illinois, but also because the values of the area line up with those of Sun Oven. “I wanted to do something that really mattered, and this company gave me that opportunity,” says owner Trip Critz. Not only does Sun Oven manufacture camp stoves, it also produces larger ovens that can feed up to 1,200 people per day. These have been installed in 73 different countries around the world, bringing life-changing equipment to remote locations powered by sustainable resources.