Green Team Volunteer Spotlight: Polaris drives litter-free on the clock
Published on March 26, 2024
Traveling along Greenbrier Parkway, it’s hard not to notice the sprawling Polaris facility that’s just north of Interstate 565. But what you might not notice is something Polaris does to help keep Huntsville sparkling.
Polaris employees conduct quarterly cleanups along Greenbrier as part of the City’s Green Team Adopt-a-Spot program. Polaris puts such an emphasis on the program that employees are on the clock when picking up litter along the road.
Joseph Jones of Polaris said employees have taken ownership of the stretch from the plant’s Gate 1 north to the railroad tracks on Greenbrier.
“Our company as a whole is about the outdoors,” Jones said. “Even our motto is: Think Outside. Our products we designed are meant to be enjoyed outdoors. So sustainability of the environment is one of the big keys our corporate initiative is always about. If we don’t sustain the outdoors, then there’s nowhere for our products to be enjoyed.”
As a business seeking to be a strong community partner in Huntsville as well as wanting to keep the outdoors clean, Polaris is an example of how companies and organizations can get involved and make a positive impact. Green Team will provide all the necessary tools, such as vests, gloves and litter sticks while arranging to collect garbage bags.
But you don’t have to be part of a group to join in. Green Team is always looking for volunteers to help out on cleanup days around the city. You can participate as an individual or with a group of friends and make even more friends along the way.
Jones said the Huntsville plant became the first Polaris facility to join an Adopt-a-Spot program, which began in 2018. The supervisor who launched it has now moved to Polaris’ corporate headquarters.
“DeWayne Howell is now the senior manager for Environmental Compliance and Sustainability,” Jones said. “Now that he’s corporate environmental, he wants to try to definitely push that out to the other sites as well as a way of sustainability and environmental compliance.”
