Bowling Green

An energy-intensive operation like a bowling alley isn't the first place you'd expect to find a staunch advocate of ecological awareness. But that's exactly where—and how—Jon Perper found his footing in the environmental business.

As the owner of Cherry Hill's Playdrome Bowling & Entertainment Center, Perper had grown accustomed to managing his electrical consumption, the third-largest expense of the thirty-six lane bowling alley. With a bar, restaurant, arcade and billiard center in the same facility, Perper knew he had several obstacles to address.

Perper's initial interest stemmed from a 2007 meeting with former Cherry Hill mayor Bernie Platt at which Lori Braunstein of Sustainable Cherry Hill introduced him to the RecycleBank program. Perper offered to contribute free bowling games for participants, and that small step was the first of a long journey.

Next he tackled lighting at his facility, knowing he could reap a significant savings by switching to then-new LED technology. 

"I thought, 'wow, this could really be a powerful tool to reduce energy consumption'," Perper said. "It's not 10 percent [savings], it's more like 50 to 90 percent.

That decision gave Perper the confidence he needed to seek additional efficiencies, such as the significant amount of bottles and cans discarded at the Playdrome bar.

"I started to look at some of the other habits we had around the business and realized some of these could be changed without affecting our lives," he said.

Pizza boxes piled up in the dumpster, non-recyclable if they contained food waste. Undaunted, Perper worked out a pilot program with his waste management vendor, Republic Services to recycle them, noting that if there were any complaints from the processing plant, the boxes would go into the trash.

After one complaint-free year, Playdrome has kept a vast volume of recyclable cardboard out of landfills.

The bowling boss made sure to include his employees in the process, soliciting their ideas to reduce the carbon footprint of the facility. Other changes included abandoning bathroom paper towels in favor of warm-air hand dryers, cutting back on disposable foam products, and greening the back-office operation. A planned solar installation will offset 75 percent of the electricity consumption of the business.

It's a perpetual process, but one that also saves money and the environment.

"You just keep chipping away at every area," Perper says. "Don't do it all at once, and it brings you closer to the goal."

Eventually, Perper's passion for energy reduction reached its logical conclusion with the founding of his own wholesale supply company, ZLED Lighting. While running both businesses, Perper also works to help other entrepreneurs get started on the path to energy savings, including his fellow members of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America.

Perper also engages community members at the municipal level. His efforts have helped the development of a green business sustainability template available to other businesses throughout Cherry Hill.

Perper is supporting that initiative with a March 10 and 11 bowling promomotion for It's In Our Power, a state partner organization that educates and promotes energy efficiency practices throughout New Jersey. The group will be collecting pledges from residents to commit to a variety of energy-saving projects in their home lives.

"It's a game of inches," Perper says. "You make changes little by little, and if everybody changes their ways, the whole ship will turn."