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 At Newport Auto Inc we are committed to reducing our impact on the environment by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. We acknowledge that the automotive business is not a “green” business, but we also have one of the greatest opportunities to reduce impact on the environment by assisting motorists to be environmentally aware. We manage used tires, fluids, filters, fluid containers, coolant, batteries, mercury switches, parts packaging, metals, parts, and thermostats for our clients so they do not have to deal with the environmentally hazardous materials left over from repairing and maintaining their vehicle. We can assist motorists by maintaining their vehicles to operate with lower environmental impact and, when appropriate, for more kilometers. This reduces the footprint of replacing their vehicle before its expected life cycle.
Think globally, act personally
Reduce
Through personal experience and through our web site we encourage our clients to buy fuel efficient vehicles found on this website http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/personal/choose_vehicle.cfm?attr=8
We offer to maintain and modify vehicles to improve their fuel economy so clients can spend less money supporting big oil corporations. Maintenance history is tracked in our http://www.mitchell1.com/ shop management software to ensure servicing is performed at the correct intervals, thus preventing over servicing and the excessive consumption of fluids. We recommend that fluid leaks be repaired to prevent contamination of soil and water. When appropriate we encourage the use of long life http://www.amsoil.com/ synthetic or semi-synthetic fluids. Newport Auto Inc is a stocking dealer of http://www.pulsetech.net products, because they can increase battery life while reducing replacement frequency.
Vehicle modifications can include installing narrow fuel efficient tires like the http://www.michelinman.ca HydroEdge to reduce rolling resistance and using winter tires only during the cold weather months because they have more rolling resistance than summer tires. Removing roof racks, roof top boxes, oversized mud flaps, oversized mirrors, brush guards, off road lights, running boards, sun visors, fender extensions, tall canopies, lift kits, and other accessories that cause aerodynamic drag also improves fuel economy. Removing winches and other heavy items will reduce wear and help fuel economy. Installing a truck bed cover like a http://www.rollnlock.com/ helps fuel economy on pick up trucks.
Installing a cold air intake like http://www.knfilters.com/ or http://afepower.com/ and a free flow exhaust like http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/ or http://www.mbrp.com/ or http://www.magnaflow.com/ can help fuel economy when enhanced with a tuner like http://www.edgeproducts.com or many other brands that we offer.
To reduce water consumption and contamination a car wash coupon for a ten dollar discount at a facility in Squamish that filters water is included with each service. We do not wash vehicles onsite. Rags, coveralls, shop coats, and uniforms are laundered at http://www.cintas.ca a facility that has an oil separator to filter out petroleum products and prevent contamination of grey water. We do not do laundry onsite.
 A water cooler is supplied for team members and clients to eliminate bottled water and everyone has a personal water bottle at work. We do not stock our vending machine in our customer comfort room with bottled water.
To reduce fossil fuel consumption the main shop is equipped with natural gas infrared radiant tube heaters that heat the objects and people instead of the air and ceiling fans are fitted to push the heat that is radiated into the air from objects back down.
The heat is set with automatic programmable thermostats to ten degrees Celsius during business hours, and five degrees Celsius after hours. Team members wear cold weather clothes in cold weather instead of burning more natural gas to increase the temperature of the shop. We do not heat the shop with a used engine oil furnace because they burn a reusable resource and create poor air quality. Natural gas is a cleaner alternative. We have installed an insulated garage door.
We are located in the Squamish Business Park close to other automotive businesses to reduce the amount of driving required to acquire parts and to allow for parts pickup by walking. Our two main parts suppliers have a delivery route to prevent special trips for one part. When road testing vehicles, parts are picked up and clients are given courtesy shuttle service to eliminate the second trip. We always buy local if possible and Canadian made products too.
Anti idling reminder decals are on the courtesy cars and office window. A bus stop is located in front of the shop and clients are provided with a bus schedule upon request. Our well maintained 1990 Pontiac Firefly courtesy cars have one litre, three cylinder engines and are rated at 32 MPG city, 33 MPG combined, and 35 MPG highway and only use studded winter tires only during cold weather months.
We modified our well maintained 2004 Nissan Frontier shop mini truck for better fuel economy by installing a cold air intake from http://www.knfilters.com/ and have installed narrow Light Truck 33” tall X9.5” wide on 15” wheel http://www.bfgoodrichtires.ca All Terrain T/A KO tires for winter lowering rolling resistance. Newport Auto can provide on site service for larger equipment to prevent trucking to the shop.
To reduce electricity consumption our hot water tanks are turned down to minimum. Our bathrooms have motion sensing switches for the lights and timers for the fans. We have modernized our lighting to compact and T-8 florescent lights. A large tank three-phase compressor was purchased to reduce cycling and electrical consumption. The client bathroom and office also have automatic programmable thermostats. Computers are wired so one switch turns off power to the entire workstation. The heat and lights are turned off in storage areas. Reminder decals to use natural light and to turn off lights are affixed to light switches.
All products are bought in bulk to reduce packaging and in reusable or recyclable packaging when possible. Our invoices are printed using the duplex printing method on 100% recycled copy paper made in Canada.
Reuse
Air conditioning refrigerant is reused in house with our CPS AR2788H Recovery/ Recycling/ Recharging Equipment that is SAE J2788 Hybrid compliant.
Automotive batteries are tested with our http://www.pulsetech.net Digital Battery Analyzer and then recovered in house with our http://www.pulsetech.net XTREME PULSE charger to minimize the size of Lead Sulphate Crystals. Newport Auto Inc is a stocking dealer of http://www.pulsetech.net products, because they work and can recover batteries for reuse.
When appropriate we encourage the use of semi-synthetic oil, or oil and coolant refined with recovered product.
We offer http://www.mrenviro.com Eco-Freeze safer formula coolant with a bitter agent to prevent ingestion by animals.
Technicians are supplied with reusable cardboard floor mats and washable seat covers to protect your investment. The dry cleanup method is used for accidental fluid spill clean up reusing sawdust from local woodworking businesses.
Recycle
We recycle every product possible through the following policies and limit our bi-weekly garbage pickup to one household size tote. We are a member and registered recycling centre with the Recycling Council of BC.
- Automotive batteries are recycled with http://www.napacanada.com
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with http://www.call2recycle.org/ for the Return to Retailer program to collect used household batteries for recycling.
- Beverage containers are recycled with http://www.encorp.ca Cardboard, plastic, newspaper, paper, glass, and some air filters through the Squamish Curb side Recycling Program and aerosol cans with http://www.carneyswaste.com
- Electronics are recycled through http://www.encorp.ca
- Metal and lead wheel weights are recycled with a local metal recycler.
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with http://www.usedoilrecycling.com for the Return to Retailer program to collect coolant for http://www.mrenviro.com that makes re-refined Eco-Freeze safer formula coolant with a bitter agent to prevent ingestion by animals.
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with http://www.usedoilrecycling.com for the Return to Retailer program to collect engine oil filters, fuel filters, transmission fluid filters, power steering fluid filters, oil containers, with http://www.mrenviro.com
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with http://www.usedoilrecycling.com for the Return to Retailer program to collect engine oil, transmission fluid, gear oil, brake fluid, suspension fluid, and power steering fluid for http://www.mrenviro.com that pass it on to http://www.newalta.com to make re-refined base fluids.
- Printer cartridges are recycled with Squamish Inc and Laser Recycling and we buy back reconditioned cartridges too.
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with the http://www.switchthestat.ca program for the Return to Retailer program to collect mercury switches and thermostats for recycling.
- We are a Registered Public Drop off Facility with http://www.tirestewardshipbc.ca for the Return to Retailer program to collect used tires for resale or recycling. http://www.western-rubber.com/ picks up the tires when we have collected fifty or more
All of these actions at our business inspire our Team members and our clients to implement sustainable practices at home and throughout the rest of their lives. Part of the interview process is a familiarization with our environmental stewardship program and a signed agreement that our standards and environmental values are adopted by Team members.
Noel Koehn
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