Environmental Stewardship
At Village, we care about the earth, not just cars.Environment First
Putting environmental concerns at the forefront of our business plans is a foundational aspect of Village. Not only do we strive to help bring about positive change to a world increasingly buffeted by the effects of climate change, we also quite simply want to give our kids a better world than was given to us. Environmental governance also makes perfect economic sense on many levels: from saving money by conserving and using less, to the fact that an electrified world is where our industry and our economy are unalterably heading.
Our Efforts
Our environmental efforts begin with the vehicles we sell. Starting with the very first Nissan Leaf we retailed many years ago, to becoming the first New England dealer for the all-electric Polestar line, electric cars are increasingly the focus of what we do. In just a few short years Volvo will be a fully-electric manufacturer, and as the largest Volvo retailer in New England that will have a significant impact. We get excited - seemingly every day - as our brands propose and/or roll-out exciting and cutting edge new electric cars, from Audi e-Trons to Porsche Taycans to Nissan Ariyas to GMC Sierras. Plus, we sell more and more hybrids, such as the hugely popular Honda CR-V. Given that about 42% of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts come from the transportation sector, reducing the number of cars that rely solely on internal combustion engines (ICE) is essential.
We focus on the energy we use at our dealerships. We’ve added dozens of charging stations across our dealership properties, as our manufacturers focus on upgrading the charging infrastructure of their brands. We have started to use less energy across our Group by incorporating energy saving features such as high-speed garage doors, adding reflective elements to exterior windows, replacing light switches with auto on/off sensors, adding hands-free faucets and fixtures and more. And we are incredibly proud of the solar arrays installed at 4 of our dealerships, which produce significant amounts of clean energy. Electrifying our cars is important, but it is just as important to increase the supply of clean energy so that the power we use to charge our new cars comes from clean sources.
Less is More
Using less is always the best first choice, and then you try to recycle. At our dealerships we embrace recycling: tires, scrap metal, used oil and car batteries. And we’ve greatly reduced the use of single-serve plastic bottles in favor of filling stations.
Partnering with like-minded businesses and organizations is important as well. You won’t find a more committed advocate for the environment in the transportation sector than Volvo, for example. But we also have companies such as Honda, which averages over 42 mpg across its fleet of vehicles. And just as we try and choose suppliers which mirror our values, we also believe in supporting environmental concerns via our stores – e.g., The Newton Tree Conservancy – and our charitable foundation - e.g., The Environmental League of Massachusetts.
Ten years ago, almost every car we sold would have run solely on gas. Today more than 50% of our new car inventory is either electrified or hybrid. There is so much more to do, but our commitment to a cleaner future will only accelerate from here.