MIDLOTHIAN, Va.—Who knows when, or why, inspiration will strike? Dr. Brian Spittle and his wife, Dr. Norma Spittle, found this out while visiting Costa Rica in June of last year. The Spittles, and about 20 other ECPs, traveled to a CooperVision manufacturing facility in Alajuela, where the lens company produces its clariti 1 day contact lenses. The couple returned home from the short trip with much more information and inspiration than they had signed up for.

Indeed, the CooperVision manufacturing facility in Alajuela is one of the most environmentally friendly production sites in the optical industry. It recycles more than 95 percent of the materials used during the production process and repurposes 99 percent of plastics into new products. The Alajuela facility, which is located just a few miles from the San Jose airport, was expected to produce about 380 million clariti 1 day lenses in the company’s most recent fiscal year.


Dr. Brian Spittle
“I live in what I would call the south, and stereotypically we are people who run through the woods,” Brian Spittle explained in a recent interview. “That doesn’t necessarily impart itself to being ‘green’ and a conservationist type. But I have always been an outdoors guy…. and you try to take care of mother nature.”

As the Spittles walked through the manufacturing facility and heard more about CooperVision’s commitment to sustainability, it further encouraged their sentiments toward becoming more earth friendly and bringing sustainability ideas to their practice here in Midlothian, Va.

Spittle also said he believes emphasizing sustainability within the practice may eventually provide a competitive advantage.

He noted the practice had begun looking at sustainability efforts about 10 years ago when it moved into its new standalone location. For example, the office was built with a “tankless water heater” and designed without carpet (no replacing worn-out carpets down the road). “So, we have already done a lot of those things, in part because it saved us money and saved time and effort. And we could feel good about it,” Spittle said.

Upon returning from Costa Rica, the Spittles added new recycling bins in the main area and within the exam rooms so patients could see how serious the practice feels about recycling. “When we came back, we decided to make the contact lens recycling program more front and center,” he said.

“Our goal is to put a sustainability message at each stage of the patient experience,” Spittle said. The practice also moved to eliminate paper towels in the restrooms by adding more efficient air dryers from Toto. “We spent about $1,000 last year on paper towels,” Spittle said. “And we think we will spend about $300 on paper towels this year…. It cuts the bill down, and also reduces the carbon footprint [from hand-washing and drying] by about 80 percent.”

 
The Spittles wanted their recycling efforts to be placed “front and center” for their patients to see. The sustainability focus is present at each stage of the patient experience. A Costa display near the entry reinforces the sustainability image of the practice.

But the big move the practice made was to invest in solar panels for the roof of the building. “I did some homework on that … and got a lot of quotes,” Spittle said, noting that the “permitting phase” of the installation is well underway and he expects the panel installation to be completed in March. (They are installing 253 of the 310-watt size panels, about 6 square feet apiece.)

Once fully installed, the panels should generate about 88 megawatt hours per year of electrical power. The practice will use all that power and more, so it will continue to be tied into the power grid, but will be taking significantly less energy, Spittle said.


A rendering of how the 253 solar panels will look once installed on the roof of The Eye Place Optometry practice.
The overall investment will be about $132,000, but it also will produce a $40,000 tax credit and about $25,000 in depreciation charges. This reduces the net bill to $65,000, and the solar energy will save about $800 per month in electricity charges.

The bottom line, Spittle said, is that the solar panels will produce 10.1 percent return on investment. (“I have a lot of spreadsheets,” he said.)

He added, “Our goal is not only to help people chose us over someone else… [But] we think that the marketing [of this effort] is going to draw people in. And we’re hoping that maybe even long term we can condition people to miss [the sustainability effort] if they happen to go somewhere else,” he said.