The Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program (MTESP) is designed to maximize environmental protection practices for businesses. Partners in this program include: Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program, Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, Department of Environmental Quality, Golf Association of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture. The MTESP does a detailed Environmental Assessment and, from that assessment, they provide an Action Plan that details the steps required for certification. The time frame from the original assessment to receiving our certification was only one year!
AAA Lawn Care, Inc. the first lawn care operator to apply and become certified in Michigan. We are still the only lawn care operator to receive this certification (although there are golf courses, colleges, and municipalities who are also certified). Certification requires a review of Michigan Department of Agriculture regulations to verify compliance, Emergency Action Plans, and Pollution Prevention training for all personnel annually.
Besides helping to improve our business operation systems, the MTESP has led us to many environmental improvements. Updating our lighting fixtures to reduce energy use and recycling our product containers and paper are good examples. We also utilize GPS on our vehicles and have a significant investment in computer routing for efficiency and to reduce fuel use. We will continue to search for new ways to improve. We want to continue to be the industry leader in West Michigan!
To read more about the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, visit https://www.mtesp.org/.