Spruce Street Commons Sustainability Programs
Sustainability is a core value here at Spruce Street Commons. With owning a historic property, we understand resources are precious and strive to preserve them as best we can. Outside of preserving the architecture and character of our property, we also implement everyday sustainable practices. Here’s a look into the practices both our employees and residents participate in.
Composting with Bennett Compost helps us keep food waste out of landfills. Residents are given a small countertop compost pail to collect food products they would otherwise throw out. Residents can then bring their full buckets down to the basement of the Touraine, or Annex residents have a small toter by their trashcans.
Our on-site E-Recycling program with Cyber Crunch allows us to recycle old or small electronics, lightbulbs, batteries, and more. All of these items can be brought down to the basement and recycled for free.
We have an ongoing donation box set up for Helpsy Collect. Helpsy collects millions of pounds of unwanted clothing and textiles yearly for reuse, recycling, and upcycling. This collection is also conveniently located in our basements for employees and residents.
We partner with Pro Shred, Philadelphia, to collect and shred any unwanted paper. They then turn the shredded products into recycled paper.
We also install energy-efficient appliances in all of our renovated apartments as well as community areas. These appliances include washers, dryers, refrigerators, and more.
In 2016, our building elevators were updated to support VFD Regeneration. This allows the elevators to return energy back to the grid as they run. With this update, this generated power is able to flow back to the power grid, instead of ending its journey as mechanical power to run the elevator. This reduces the overall energy consumption of the elevators and, in turn, lowers total energy costs.
Our company and community value these practices and will continue to implement more as time goes on.
