Believe it our not, Handy Toyota of St. Albans, VT, your local new Toyota, used car dealer and Toyota service and car parts center, is the first car dealership in the entire United States in one very important arena.  We are America's first cow-powered car dealer; we are a green dealership.

But what does it mean to be a "green dealership?"  In short, we get 100 percent of our electricity from the methane derived in cow manure, a process called Cow Power® from Green Mountain Power.

Green Mountain Power's (formerly known as CVPS) Cow Power® is a method that greatly improves upon the old ideology of manure equaling waste.  Before Cow Power® was established, there were several environmental issues stemming from the collection and disposal of said manure that caused not only grief for the local Vermont farming community but a great deal of waste in other areas.

The Cow Power® method is really quite simple straightforward - once the components and processes are all set up of course.  The cows create waste naturally, and the waste is sent to an anaerobic digester where it's heated to a point at which the methane gas separates from the rest of the waste.  That methane is sent through a pipeline where it spins a turbine specially designed for the purpose of becoming energy, and the energy created from these spinning turbines is extracted thusly.  The excess "waste" is then used for the cows' bedding on the manufacturers farm or another, and it can also be used as weed killer.  This is truly sustainable energy, as seemingly every part of the process yields a useful result.

As you may have seen on the Handy Toyota awards page, our dealership was honored at the Cow Power Awards for 2009 hosted by Middlebury's Farmer's Insurance Cooperative Building in Middlebury, VT.  Not only did we get an award, we were enlightened on some of the finer points of the Cow Power® program.  Here are a few important issues that make this an obvious choice for our store's electricity source:

• Before implementing the Cow Power® program's anaerobic digester and power lines, one farm, Blue Spruce Farms, used over 1,200 gallons of diesel fuel a week exclusively for trucking cow waste to a nearby lagoon.  After starting with Cow Power® their fuel consumption dropped to 240 gallons per week.
• An average truck load of sawdust, formerly one of the cheapest and most widely used sources for cow bedding, costs over $2,450.  Blue Spruce Farms, being one of Vermont's largest family owned farms, went through a load of sawdust a week before the Cow Power® program.  As mentioned above, after the anaerobic digester burns the methane out of the manure, the remnants can be used as bedding, thereby eliminating this cost.  As an added benefit, Blue Spruce Farms makes enough of electricity and manure-derived bedding that they can sell the extra, offsetting other projects and upkeep costs.
• Not only was the diesel fuel needed to move the manure to a lagoon incredibly expensive, it also releases methane naturally just as it does in the anaerobic digester.  The problem?  Methane is a greenhouse gas.  When the Cow Power® program got moving at Blue Spruce Farms, the lagoon was no longer necessary and that former greenhouse gas became money-making electricity.

The bottom line folks is that Vermont is our home, and it's a great place to live, raise a family, work, and play.  We at Handy Toyota of St. Albans, Vermont will do anything within our means to keep it that way and hopefully make it a better place.  That's why in 2007, the first year Cow Power® was introduced, Handy Toyota donated $60 from every Toyota Prius sale to CVPS' program.

Please feel free to read more about our participation in this proactive efficient energy movement by clicking the links below, or send us an email for more information.

As some of you may know by now, Handy Toyota is soon moving next to our sister store Handy Chevrolet, at which point we'll be a more complete Handy Family of Dealerships with new Toyota vehicles, new Chevrolets, and used cars of all makes and models at one central site.  Further, customers will have access to world-class car wash and vehicle reconditioning, GM Certified Service, Toyota service, and car parts of both makes all at one location!

But not only will we enjoy our new facility (and we know you will too!), but we are going to be a leader in the fight against pollution, rising fuel and energy costs, and global warming.  Take a look at some of the ideas our owner has kicked around, many of which will be implemented during various stages of development.

Solar power
Solar power has been around for quite some time, so we won't get into a huge explanation as to what it is.  Further, the idea behind solar power is kind of summed up in the name, inst' it?  It's energy/electricity/power that is made from sunshine/our star/the sun!

Though the concept is nothing new, can you imagine what kind of impact our dealership could have with a set of solar panels sucking up the morning and afternoon sun and powering our computers, telephone systems, network, lights, and more?  Not only could it power all these features but it would be able to power the soon-to-come Prius Plug-in, making it a vehicle that runs on solar power by extension!  To take it a step further remember that our 2009 involvement with the CVPS Cow Power program reduced greenhouse gas emissions to the same extent as if 30,000 gallons less of gasoline had been burned.  Over time we will let you know more about our solar power ideas, although when the time comes you'll now we've implemented them!

Non-potable water in restroom facilities
Have you ever used a restroom and noticed the water is of a non-clear color, probably either bright blue or green, and you weren't sure what this was all about?  Maybe you even thought someone was less than polite and tried to flush the receptacle only to find new wate - not fresh mind you - come out of the same hue?  This is called non-potable water or reclaimed water.

Non-potable water is not for drinking, and thus is used exclusively for toilets and such.  What it is is purified water but not completely purified in the same way that our drinking water is.  Though it's still relatively clean and sterile, it is not for drinking, and most reclaimed water gets this colored dye to indicate it as such.  This cuts down on cleaning time, byproducts, and also keeps minerals in drinking water like chlorine and fluoride from running into the sewer systems.

Wind power
Just like solar power this isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but what is new is our venue.  For those of you who have spent any amount of time at our sister store Handy Chevrolet and specifically in the used car lot of said store,  you know full well that the wind really gets whipping through the fields in the surrounding area.  Can you imagine how much potential power that wind is generating?

Unfortunately I cannot give you a definite guarantee as to whether we'll be able to join the wind power revolution.  You see, for a full year a company must setup a machine to read the amount of wind in order to justify the structure.  I haven't a doubt in my mind that it's windy enough around the new Handy Toyota lot to earn the turbine status, but only time will tell.

Green Mountain Power's Cow Power® and Handy Toyota of St. Albans, VT proudly announced a partnership (in May of 2009) for the promotion of the Cow Power® program, electricity fueled by the methane derived from cow manure produced on Vermont dairy farms.  This partnership has added meaning for Handy Toyota since four out of the six power plant farms are located in its home, Franklin County, Vermont, the largest dairy producing county in the United States east of the Mississippi River.  Support of Green Mountain Power's Cow Power® helps reduce agricultural environmental impact on water and air quality as well as reducing operational costs for farmers.  Cow Power® is a renewable energy important to Vermont's economy.

Key features of this partnership include:

• Handy Toyota's commitment to be the first new car franchise dealer to use 100% electricity fueled by Cow Power will have an environmental result equivalent to removing the greenhouse gases created by burning 29,966 gallons of gasoline per year.
• In addition to purchasing all of its energy through CVPS Cow Power®, under the partnership Handy Toyota will donate $60 to the CVPS Renewable Development Fund for every Toyota hybrid (Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, and Prius) sold during the remainder of the (2009) year, and will co-market the program in dealership advertising.  The fund provides incentives for dairy farmers to build new Cow Power® digesters as part of the Cow Power® program.

Prius Owner Loyalty Event:

• A forum for Prius owners to discuss current Electric Hybrid developments, ways to improve fuel economy, and to generally share enthusiasm for the current and next generation Prius such as the Prius Plug-in PHV.
• A "miles per gallon" competition where each participant will have the opportunity to show their miles per gallon skill.

Green Mountain Power and Cow Power® presence:

• A Green Mountain Power representative [still called CVPS as of 2009 - Ed.] will be available to share information about the program.  Several local Cow Power® producers will be on hand to discuss their operations in detail.  Interested guests will have the opportunity to sign up for further information regarding becoming a Green Mountain Power's Cow Power customer.

Vermont Clothing Company - an organic clothing company:

• Jay Cummings, owner of the VT Clothing Company, will be on hand to share information about the company's newest organic clothing line.  Jay is a Cow Power® advocate and proud Cow Power® customer for the past year.  He was instrumental in getting Handy Toyota on board.  Jay will be the first to tell you:  he is not in the business of selling shirts; he is in the business of selling Vermont.