Philosophy on Sustainability

The Teufel Philosophy on Sustainability

There are many accepted definitions of the word “sustainability,” but perhaps the most concise one is “Intelligent Resource Planning.”  Here at Teufel  Landscape and Teufel Nursery we don’t pretend to have all the answers to the many challenges we are facing today, but we can share some great ideas and insights that can only come from working with the land for over one hundred years.  Sometimes the best solutions come from a well thought out practical approach that has been tried and proven over the years.  Other times we need to utilize the latest scientific discoveries, figuring out how to put them to immediate use. 
 

The following are principles that our business was founded on in 1890 and followed to this day:
• Recycle / reuse everything (we collect all yard debris generated from our commercial maintenance operations, compost, and then incorporate as organic soil amendment for our nursery and construction operation).  Every nursery pot is taken back to our production nursery to be used over and over again.
• Water is a finite resource that must be valued and protected.  We use it sparingly and work diligently to improve water quality whenever possible.  We capture all surface runoff water at our nurseries to re-use in irrigation.  Because of this, we carefully monitor our use of chemicals.
• Use only what is needed – no more!  Starting with water, followed by fertilizers, pesticides, and on to fuel to run trucks and equipment.  We work at reducing our use of consumables 3% year over year.
• Design is the key.  Whenever we have the opportunity to influence design, we contribute our expertise for low input build and maintenance.
• Local is almost always best.  That is why we are a local, not a national company.  We choose to do business with local vendors and service providers who hold similar values.  If it was grown or produced locally, we know it took less to get it here and more than likely has commonality with the site.

Teufel Nursery and Landscape.  Environmental Solutions since 1890.