Stewardship

Our Environment

We are very fortunate to live and work in the Pacific Northwest; home of towering mountains, crisp, clear air, and pristine snow fed streams. With this blessing follows a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of our natural surroundings. And at Dovex this is a mission that influences everything we do in our business.

A Gentle Hand on the Land.

As an industry leader in organic tree fruit farming, we tend to our farms as if they are our own back yards, which they are. Visit a Dovex organic orchard and you will immediately be struck by the difference:

dove_bullet.png Lush, nitrogen-fixing rows of clover straddle the rows of trees

dove_bullet.png Crop residues such as tree prunings are returned to the soil minimizing the need for off-farm inputs

dove_bullet.png Judicious use of micro-sprinklers conserves our precious water, reduces runoff and the leaching of nutrients into the soil

dove_bullet.png Riparian areas around our organic orchards are cared for and enhanced in order to encourage the natural insect enemies of pests

dove_bullet.png Biological (rather than chemical) pest control such as mating disruption for two of our most serious pests; codling moth and leaf roller

Conserving Energy for a Better Future

Farming, storing, packing and shipping tree fruit can be an energy intensive endeavor. Yet imbued with our ethic of environmental stewardship, we diligently work to be frugal consumers of energy in all our activities. Dovex is a local pioneer in the Chelan County PUD’s ResourceSmart program.

dove_bullet.png Fast acting refrigeration doors

dove_bullet.png Energy conserving CO2 scrubbers

dove_bullet.png Variable fan drives save power

dove_bullet.png A 100% electric fleet of forklifts

dove_bullet.png We are prioritizing local material suppliers to reduce transportation resources of the goods we use.

dove_bullet.png From the orchards to the offices and our warehouse- all departments are opting for green eco-friendly materials.

dove_bullet.png We have an on-site recycle center for used packaging, office materials and employee break room use.

dove_bullet.png Disposable dishes and utensils in lunchrooms have been replaced with hardware items for employee use.

dove_bullet.png Office paper is being re-used by being re-printed on both sides before being recycled.

dove_bullet.png Ink cartridges are also recycled.

Clean, Renewable, Non-Polluting Power.

In the Pacific Northwest, our existence inextricably linked with our natural environment. Our towering, snow-clad volcanoes are the source of both our rich volcanic soil and our cold, clear snow fed streams from which our orchards draw their liquid sustenance. This natural bounty is also the wellspring of another precious resource; clean, renewable, non-polluting hydropower. This means that 100% of the electricity used by Dovex comes from renewable resources that cause no greenhouse gases.

And the more that Dovex is able to conserve in the abovementioned ResourceSmart partnership with the Chelan County PUD, the more of our non polluting power can be shared in the wholesale market meaning less demand nationwide for non-renewable power generation like coal and nuclear.

Investing in the Future.

Dovex believes that the responsible environmental steward rests not just on past laurels, but with a firm hand on the rudder heading into a brighter future for our children and us. It is in this spirit that we are enthusiastic contributors to our local Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) plan. This award winning program funds solar and wind power projects in Chelan County for schools and other nonprofits. Even with all our bountiful hydropower, programs like SNAP have enabled Chelan County to become the leading grid-connected solar power producer in the entire state of Washington. That’s something we can all be proud of!