As the world becomes increasingly environmentally conscious, it is more important than ever for businesses to adopt eco-friendly practices and reduce their impact on the environment.
Ocean Friendly Establishments (OFE), a community-based certification earned by businesses that reduce their plastic waste and seek out sustainable options in serving their community, was launched out of concern about the overwhelming amount of plastics polluting the Earth, saying that researchers have predicted there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by the year 2050.
The alarming number of plastic straws found on the beach by Ginger Taylor, who organized a beach litter pickup effort in 2009 for sea turtle volunteers in southeastern NC called “Wrightsville Beach Keep It Clean,” spearheaded the idea. With support from the community, the NC Marine Debris Symposium, and non-profits like Plastic Ocean Project, OFE grew from an idea to a grassroots organization, and was launched in 2015. It has since spread all over North Carolina, up the east coast, and even as far west as Oregon.
The primary goal of the OFE campaign is to reduce plastic pollution around the nation. As part of this effort, owners and managers of certified OFEs have agreed to reduce plastic waste in their businesses, advocating for sustainability and ocean-friendly practices, such as providing recycling or composting containers for employees and encouraging electronic documentation.
A few of Sun Realty's efforts towards reducing its environmental impact are all digital guest and owner communication, including lease agreements and contracts, recycling implemented at all locations, changed all light bulbs from incandescent to CFL, installed energy-saving timers on our HVAC thermostats, and much more.
The Outer Banks chapter of Ocean Friendly Establishments is sponsored by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Aquariums, Jennette’s Pier, and The Plastic Ocean Project. Sun Realty is proud to be named an Ocean Friendly Establishment and is committed to eliminating wasteful practices while educating our employees, as well as our community, on the importance of environmental sustainability.