Recognition for thinking green
FAIRMONT MIRAMAR Companies in and around Santa Monica were recognized here Tuesday for their commitment to protecting the environment and improving the quality of life of their employees during the 12th Annual Sustainable Quality Awards.
The awards recognize local businesses and organizations that voluntarily enact policies and make renovations that result in cleaner air and water; less waste, pollution and traffic; higher levels of conservation and a more vibrant economy.
“This is about our future, our children, our city and our culture,” said John Bohn, president of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event along with City Hall and Sustainable Works, a nonprofit promoting environmental practices to residents, college students and businesses.
“This is about how our children and future citizens will be able to survive,” Bohn added.
City officials and members of the business community arrived in hybrids, bicycles or on foot to dine on salad that would later be used as compost as actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. handed out awards made from 100 percent recycled glass.
Begley, who has been known to arrive at Hollywood functions on a bicycle or in a Eco-Limo, served as the emcee, encouraging the crowd to do whatever they could to promote sustainability, be it replacing light-bulbs in their homes with more energy efficient ones, or purchasing solar panels and a wind turbine to generate clean energy.
“This is a time of opportunity,” Begley said. “It is up to us how we use this opportunity... Everyone can do something... Go out and spread the word.”
Protecting the environment is of the utmost importance and something that can be done without hurting the business community, said guest speaker Cindy Tuck, assistant secretary for policy with the California Environmental Protection Agency.
“We can have a clean environment and a strong economy at the same time,” Tuck said, quoting from her boss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appointed her in 2005, around the same time he enacted emission reduction targets and a plan to address global warming.
This year’s grand prize winners are Eco-Limo, The Phelps Group, reDiscover, RMC Water & Environment, Wilshire Restaurant and Yoga Works.
Excellence winners for 2007 are London Sole, excellence in stewardship of the environment; California Recycles, excellence in stewardship of the environment and excellence in economic development; Ramer Architecture, environment and excellence in social responsibility; and the Venice Family Clinic, environment and social responsibility.
PET PERKS, NOT PET PEEVES Kristen Thomas, a public relations specialist with the Phelps Group, a marketing and communications firm, said her company has recently completed a lighting retrofit that resulted in 93,000 less pounds of carbon emitted annually, or $8,000 in savings, and is currently installing solar panels. The company is also employee-owned and provides pro bono services totaling $50,000 a year to organizations such as Junior Blind of America.
“We are really excited about being recognized for our effort,” said Thomas,who also mentioned her office is dog friendly.“We try to create a really enjoyable atmosphere. It’s nice to go over and pet a puppy when you are having a bad day. It does make a difference.”
Larry Price with Yoga Works credited Sustainable Works and the Business Greening Program for helping the company identify ways to be more environmentally friendly. Yoga Works not only offsets its carbon emission by purchasing credits through Prana’s Natural Power Initiative, they have also forced their office supply company Staples to carry permanent lines of biodegradable cleaners, making the products available to any commercial customer.
“It’s really awesome,” Price said about the awards. “We are really excited and hopefully our next step is to go for green business certification so we can be listed as a green business and proudly display that symbol in our window. It’s what we want, what our students want and basically what the people want.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 16, 2007. Read the original PDF.