SHARON, MA⦠Long before it was hip to be green, Crescent Ridge Dairy embraced green practices by selling its milk and juices in recyclable half-gallon glass bottles. Unlike plastic milk jugs, which must go to the recycle bin after one use, the specially produced glass bottles in which Crescent Ridge milk and juice products are bottled can be washed and re-used before finally heading off to the glass recycle bin.
âWe believe our milks and juices taste better coming from a glass bottle and thatâs why we sell it that way. A wonderful byproduct of that, thanks to the high-powered washing and sterilizing process we have at the Dairy, is that these specially produced bottles have a shelf life of 150 round trips, which covers a couple of years. That means the 900,000 half gallons of milk and juice we sell in bottles each year saves some recycling plant or landfill the time and expense of recycling 450,000 gallons in plastic containers,â said Mark Parrish, president and third generation of the Parrish family to run Crescent Ridge Dairy.
In addition to using recyclable glass bottles, Crescent Ridge Dairy preserves 45 acres of open space at its headquarters in Sharon, Massachusetts. Instead of additional office space or other development, Crescent Ridge Dairy preserves this land for the cows that make the annual pilgrimage from the Howrigan Farm in Vermontâadding greatly to the customersâ enjoyment of a trip to the dairy.
âOur dairy makes an overall effort to run a greener operation. Paper used by our corporate offices is recycled, as are the cardboard boxes we use. The motor oil used by our trucks is recycled and we even collect the metal from the trucksâcopper, aluminum and other odd scrapsâand give it to a metal dealer. If our customers are recycling the plastic tops to the milk and juice, weâre running a fairly green operation from beginning to the end of the process,â said Parrish.
Crescent Ridge Dairy provides home delivery of all natural, rBST hormone-free whole, 1%, 2% and non-fat milk and more than 150 other top quality food items to more than 100 communities in the Boston area. All milk is pasteurized, homogenized and bottled in environmentally friendly glass bottles.
Crescent Ridge Dairy also sells its world-famous ice creamsânamed one of the 10 best ice creams in the world by The National Geographicâat its âdairy barsâ in Sharon, Massachusetts at 355 Bay Road and 176 South Franklin Street (Route 37) in Holbrook, Massachusetts and via home delivery. Dairy bars are open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Holbrook dairy bar is currently closed but will reopen on April 15.
Crescent Ridge Dairy has been named a âDairy of Distinctionâ by the Massachusetts Farm Bureau and was the recipient of the 2007 Massachusetts Family Business award given by the Northeastern University Center for Family Business and the Family Firm Instituteâs New England Chapter.
For more information, contact 800-660-2740 or visit the website at www.crescentridge.com.
Quality, Convenience & Extreme Customer Service
Serving more than 100 communities throughout the Boston area, Crescent Ridge Dairy provides the convenience, quality and customer care demanded in todayâs busy lifestyles. In addition to their home delivery service of milk and 150 food items, Crescent Ridgeâs âDairy Barsâ in Sharon and Holbrook, Massachusetts. Located at 355 Bay Road in Sharon and 176 South Franklin Street in Holbrook, the Sharon dairy bar is open year round, seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; the Holbrook dairy bar will reopen on April 15, 2008. For more information, contact 800-660-2740 or visit the website at www.crescentridge.com.
Enjoyed this article?
More information on Go Green Tips!