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In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Elaine Willis to the podcast to discuss Unilock's focus on sustainability. 

Unilock is North America's premier manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones and segmental wall products. For 50 years, Unilock has been helping people create beautiful outdoor spaces.

Elaine embarked on her career at Unilock over 25 years ago, leveraging her blend of sales and design expertise. In 2023, she embraced a new opportunity as the inaugural Director of Sustainability, steering Unilock towards carbon neutrality while fostering a legacy of beautiful landscapes that enhance our lives and health and champion environmental stewardship.

Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:

• Simple definition of sustainability: meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Areas Elaine is looking at:
  • Water use in the manufacturing process
  • Solar panels installed at Unilock’s plant in Ohio as a pilot project
  • Move toward electric vehicles and forklifts
  • Investigate chemical technologies
  • SCMS – alternative binding materials
  • Percentage of cement in the concrete mix
• Permeable pavers, joint spacers and the benefits of an open graded base to allow water to filter down
• Architects and designers can have a significant impact throughout the construction phase of a residential or business hardscape project by addressing the issues of embodied carbon before construction begins.
• What is the role of designers and architects in this process?
• Unilock was the first concrete paver manufacturer in North America to offer a Transferable Lifetime Guarantee
• Now breaking new ground with their Sustainability Statement
  • They are committed to becoming a carbon-neutral company and have implemented initiatives that minimize their use of fossil fuels, recycle and harvest water and replace cement in our products.
  • By working toward this goal, they are making their products and company more sustainable.

Find more information about Unilock:

• Website: www.unilock.com
• Instagram: @unilock
• Facebook: @unilock

Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca

Down the Garden Path Podcast

On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.

 In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.