Agricultural Efforts
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are making efforts in their business practices to keep areas open to wildlife and encourage habitat growth. Examples: leaving part of office parcel undeveloped for wildlife habitat, planting vegetation for wildlife near office, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that produce food for sale or donation without harmful growth hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified ingredients, pesticides, herbicides, and/or un-naturally balanced and/or toxic fertilizers. Examples: no BHT or other growth hormones contained in locally produced milk, non-GMO corn used in tortilla production, natural pest control used in vegetables at farmer's market, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are raising livestock in an environment that allows them free-range; encouraging happier, healthier animals. In ranching, free-range livestock are permitted to roam without being fenced in, as opposed to fenced-in pastures. Examples: Cattle are allowed to roam over many acres, chickens have plenty of space outdoors to feed on insects and other protein-rich diets, dairy cows have graze able pasture on multiple acres, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that consciously manage how long livestock graze on a particular area, moving the animals to enough land areas that erosion and land depreciation is avoided. Examples: smaller herd of cattle roam across 40 acre spread, bison are rotated from field to field after they have eaten enough, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that incorporate practices that reduce the erosion of soil. Examples: planting pine trees along driveway to office to help hold the soil together, using sunflowers to clean and hold soil, timers control when sprinklers come on to avoid over-watering, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations who control noxious weed issues with un-harmful practices such as: hand-picking. Examples: farmers collaborate to pick all weeds in produce areas, groups who donate time to clearing areas of land of noxious weeds, any group who uses natural weed control, etc...
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Conservation Efforts
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing renewable sustainable energy supplies for their daily business operations. Examples: solar powered workshop, geothermal heated & cooled offices, purchasing from "green" energy co-ops, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are utilizing building materials that are sustainably produced, created without detriment to environment, for remodeling, renovation, building on or new construction of areas where business is conducted. Examples: office windows are double-pane energy-star rated, building placement takes advantage of natural sunlight, grey water catch systems, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are promoting renewable sustainable energy sources and supply in their surrounding communities and/or the world. Examples: engineer firm is educated and skilled in the designing of solar power systems and refers clients to go this route when possible, publication company educates the public on the benefits of using renewable energy, construction company educates their clients on the benefits of wind power and installs these systems regularly, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are producing and/or using alternative fuels in their business operations. Examples: fleet of trucks fueled by locally produced biodiesel, recycling used oil to power vehicles or to heat a shop building, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that have made efforts to keep space open in their business design and/or practices. Examples: land developer places homes in a way that uses the space efficiently leaving ample backyard and living space, parks or wildlife areas are incorporated into companies new building design, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that have implemented time management techniques into their operations that preserve the natural resources surrounding their area of business. Resource monitoring is the quantification of how much of a certain resource is saved over a period of time. Examples: low-flow water fixtures are installed and for the first six months of operation a savings of 35% is realized, two trees are planted for every one harvested pine tree, water use is managed properly to insure precise requirements without over-watering, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations who are putting forth efforts to conserve resources that are found in a local natural environment. Examples: planting trees in lot next to company warehouse, water usage in facility plant has been cut by 30 percent through modernization of equipment, soil removed from excavation site is donated to local nursery, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations whose operations use less non-renewable fuel sources than typical for the industry. Examples: office errands are ran across town using a hybrid vehicle, the office's hot water is heated with solar panels instead of natural gas or electricity, corn-based instead of plastic (petroleum-based) utensils, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are using locally produced raw materials in their business practices. Examples: furniture craftsman uses local woods from reclaimed barns to create pieces, company uses local compost company to supply nutrient-rich soil to grow produce, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are using vehicles in their daily operations that either don't use fuel or get 24+ MPG. Examples: using bikes to run errands, hybrid vehicles in company fleet, using high efficiency vehicles to work and back, walking, motorcycles/scooters, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations whose office or business equipment is energy star rated and/or highly efficient. Examples: energy star rated laptops and printers, refrigerator in break room is energy star rated, washing machines & dryers with the rating, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations who implement energy saving practices or mechanisms that achieve conservation immediately or over time. Examples: Program throughout the office where lights are turned off after leaving a room, office equipment is on a power strip that can simply be switched "Off" at the end of the day, a firm's internet servers are 75 percent more efficient than the typical server on the market, etc...
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Environmental Efforts
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are making efforts to offset the carbon that is released during their daily operations. Examples: purchasing carbon credits equivalant to driving delivery truck around for a year, planting trees to balance out carbon output of production plant, donating to non-profits that work on reducing carbon, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are only using organic farming and ranching practices to raise their wares. Examples: apple orchard uses organic fertilizer and natural oils as pest defense, products that meet the Government's 70 percent organic content requirement and have received the USDA Organic Seal, compost is created out of 100 percent local & organic ingredients, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that choose products for their business operations that protect the present and future quality of our natural resources such as: air, water, soil and life. Examples: Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC) paper used in practice; sells fair-trade organic produce, bamboo flooring in office, wheat board desks, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations whose business processes use only ingredients from natural sources; no man-made synthetic compounds are in any substances used throughout business practices. Examples: office has all natural non-toxic cleaning supplies for regular maintenance, locally produced produce has not been subjected to any man-made fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, only bio-degradable organic materials, hydrogen peroxide is used instead of bleach to disinfect dishes at restaurant, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing organic products in their business operations. Examples: Seventh Generation Cleaning Products used in office building maintenance, organic fair trade coffee served in office, hand soaps in bathrooms are organic, etc...
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Humanitarian Efforts
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are offering childcare or credit for childcare to employees. Examples: company designates part of office building to offer childcare to employees, childcare reimbursement offered to employees, daycare employees can watch their own children, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that offer employees pay or offer funding for educational purposes, whether related to the occupation or to the goals of the employee. Examples: company pays for college education for full-time employees, skilled employees are put through company-paid training program to learn more about the industry, employees earn scholarships from performance and attendance records, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that offer programs that enhance employees lives; personally and/or professionally. Examples: offering full health coverage for employees, marriage counseling for full-time employees, company chiropractic care, employee discounts, company Christmas party, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are offering benefits to families who have children under the age of 18. Examples: children eat free with accompanying adult, half-off child's entrance ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket, insurance agency has children's play area to keep the kids busy while the parents take care of business, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that have programs in place that give benefits, resources and/or value specifically for 65+ year old citizens. Examples: seniors receive ten percent off everyday, enjoys assisting seniors in specific helpful ways to improve their quality of life, seniors can order from special value menu, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are putting forth efforts in their business operations to improve the mental, emotional and/or physical well-being of our community. Examples: chiropractic care relieves back pains allowing a pain-free happier life, a fishing guide helps people get out where they can relax and enjoy themselves, therefore, improving their mental health, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are giving resources to charities, non-profits and not-for-profits; the results are benefiting our community. Examples: board member of non-profit, donates funds to charities, gives old office furniture to non-profits, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing special products or services specifically to honor our veterans. Examples: discounts, extra features, knowledge in assisting veterans, programs for vets, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing features and incentives specifically for riding bicycles. Examples: employees who ride bikes to work receive extra vacation hours, installing a bike rack to encourage riders, offering a discount to people that bike to your store location, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are compensating their employees with income suitable to live comfortably in relations to the cost of living associated with the employee's home town. Examples: new hires start at $10+ hour depending on experience, Christmas bonuses & other bonuses, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are registered with the Internal Revenue System(IRS) as profit or non-profit organizations and are current on tax dues. Examples: business is registered as S-Corporation requiring quarterly tax dues, any group that is registered with the IRS and contributes regularly, etc...
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Waste Management Efforts
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are choosing to use post-consumer materials in their business operations. Examples: printing business collateral on post-consumer recycled paper, laying carpet made of recycled plastic bottles in new office, making products out of reclaimed wood, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing processes to reduce the release of toxic and harmful substances into our environment. Examples: not using bleach, disposing of batteries & CFL's properly, using non-toxic low VOC or no VOC paints, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that institute programs to reuse or recycle post-consumer products. Examples: cans, paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, clothing, furniture, appliances, TV's, monitors, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing methods into operations to reduce, minimize or eliminate the use of paper. Examples: digital forms used for contracts, e-mailing rather than mailing business messages, installing cloth hand towel dispenser, all recycled paper used in practice, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are using materials made of post-consumer recycled content to market their business. Examples: brochures printed on 80% post-consumer recycled paper, company water bottles made of recycled pop bottles, pens made of old cardboard boxes & popsicle sticks, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that minimize use of or choose not to use packaging. Examples: restaurant delivers food in reused produce boxes; retail store has policy of asking customer if they want a bag to reduce on waste, patrons are encouraged to use reusable cloth bags for shopping, etc...
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 | Awarded to individuals or organizations that are implementing steps into their daily business operations to conserve resources and reduce waste output. Examples: recycling Styrofoam packaging, donating material from office renovation to non-profit that can reuse it, using both sides of paper, going paperless, etc...
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Billings Weather
- Mostly Cloudy
Temp 67.0 (F) / 19.4 (C)
Wind from the West @ 15.0 gusting to 21.9 MPH (13 gusting to 19 KT)
Forecast Details - Billings, MT
