The 2009 Green Washington Awards

filtration system," says Monica Lake, the zoo's capital projects manager. "The only water we add is [to replace that depleted] through evaporation loss."

To keep the temperature of the pool at the optimal 50 to 60 degrees for the penguin exhibit's 20 flippered residents, the zoo also employs an innovative geothermal system that taps the earth's heat energy from 300 feet underground.

The new penguin exhibit alone saves the zoo 3 million gallons of water per year and about 75 million BTUs of energy, Lake says. Total savings throughout the park due to green design adds up to "well over $100,000 per year," she adds.

 

Natural Resources

Healing Hooves LLC           

Edwall | Employees: 2 humans, 240 goats | healinghooves.com

 

Nature's lawnmowers: Healing Hooves employs 240 goats to control invasive weeds and apply other "targeted grazing" techniques.

 

 

For companies that harness the power of natural resources, it's hard to beat Mother Nature. That's what the judges found in the elegantly simple business model of Healing Hooves.

Located near the tiny community of Edwall, near Spokane, Healing Hooves provides "natural vegetation management," meaning it uses no herbicides or machinery to maintain properties. The company, founded by Craig and Sue Lani Madsen, employs a herd of about 240 goats, who love nothing more than to tear into a thicket of invasive weeds at a rate of about an acre every two to three days. Healing Hooves applies "targeted grazing" techniques on properties ranging from an overgrown electric substation in downtown Seattle to the rolling hills of Oregon and Idaho.

Sue Lani Madsen admits that she can't compete with mechanical lawnmowers for clearing a lot on flat ground. But if there are steep hills, large trees or sensitive riparian environments that need a trim, her four-legged weed whackers have the upper hoof. King County's Tolt River Dam turned to Healing Hooves after its work crews suffered an accident a few years ago while mowing the angled earthen dam face.           

And what about the "output" from a well-fed goat? "That's just our way of helping to return the plants' nutrients to the soil," Sue Lani Madsen says.

Runner-up:

Booshoot Gardens LLC

The runner-up, biotechnology firm Booshoot Gardens (booshoot.com), also manipulates the power of nature with its method of accelerating the rate at which renewable bamboo plants can reproduce. The resulting bamboo can be used in construction and in the horticultural sector to absorb CO₂ four