Stater Bros., is a privately owned supermarket chain in Southern California with facilities in six Southern California counties and has a long standing focus on reducing refrigerant use. Although Stater Bros. is not a small business, small businesses can learn from their refrigerant best management practices.
Harmony is CenterStone Communities' first solar community in the San Bernardino County. CenterStone Communities is committed to designing homes that are increasingly healthy for homeowners, more efficient, and gentler on the environment. Harmony solar homes typically out perform California's Title 24 Energy Codes by 17% to 42%. Each home operates with a reduction of power plant pollutants and dependence on non-renewable energy resources.
Since 1970 Ecology Action has combined municipal, foundation, and private funding to establish conservation programs, prove their effectiveness financially and operationally, and establish each program as a permanent community resource.
Ecology Action's team of experts help schools, businesses, individuals, and government entities implement these programs. Such programs include the annual Bike to Work/School program, Green Gardener program, Santa Cruz County Home Composting program and the Fryer to Fuel program.
After concerned parent Carleen Cullen saw the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," she was inspired to make a difference in her community, starting with K-8 students. In 2006, Cullen and her husband Jeff developed a conservation program, Cool the Earth, that educates K-8 students about climate change, brings them hands-on learning and provides them with knowledge and tools to practice sustainable energy use. In 2008/09 the program ran in 67 California schools as well as 20 schools across the country.
In this caterer's kitchen, creating a feast doesn't have to be environmentally messy. Savory & Sweet's President, Leanne Pomellitto, has been working to make her company 'green' while also helping clients become more environmentally- friendly. Since the business opened in 1993, Savory & Sweet Catering has implemented a few key strategies to help reduce their carbon footprint.
One of 26 businesses in a building complex, Meridian Pacific, Inc. stands out as a leader in environmentally-friendly business practices. As a Sacramento Sustainable Business (SSB), Meridian Pacific set out to reduce their energy use, conserve water, reduce waste, support alternative transportation, and reduce work-related travel. One of Meridian Pacific's main accomplishments includes spearheading a recycling program. When the business discovered their recyclables were being thrown in the trash, they contacted their property manager to build a proper recycling receptacle.
When brother and sister team Ahmed and Reem Rahim began Numi tea in 1999, they made a conscious choice to create a business based on sustainability. Over ten years later, their vision is a strong reality and Numi Organic Tea prides themselves in "closing the loop." All of Numi's raw tea and herb materials are 100% biodegradable, and all of Numi's raw materials are fully utilized in the production process and are transported in reusable cardboard cartons.
For this small business, clean transportation is the key to success. Over the last 20 years,Old Town Trolley Tours has provided sightseeing tours using 27 trolleys and 5 "boats on wheels" vehicles. They give tours to approximately 500 to 1,000 people each day. Old Town Trolley's CEO, Chris Belland, instituted companywide "green" policies, including changing trolleys to run on propane and "boats on wheels" to run on biodiesel. Both changes helped create cleaner transportation methods.
Cheri has taken many actions to reduce her climate impact over the years, some were simple like choosing to compost and others were more complex like home improvement projects. Together with her husband, they have chosen to drive less and drive clean. "My husband and I both bike to work whenever possible, using the bus on occasion and driving in only when necessary. By doing so, we've been able to get by with only one car!" Cheri also notes, "We save many thousands of dollars a year in avoided insurance, car maintenance, gas, and parking costs!
In just two years, Bowman Design Group not only met but shattered California's AB32 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goals for 2020 – and business remains strong. In results verified by the California Climate Action Registry, Bowman slashed its GHG emissions by 65%. This result far exceeds the state of California's goal, which mandates statewide GHG emission reductions of 15% by 2020 and 95% by 2050 versus 2008 levels. Bowman's president, Tom Bowman, set out to see whether a small business could meet the California emission goals and remain financially viable.
The City of Monterey, known for its aquarium and Fisherman's Wharf, has long been committed to preserving and protecting the natural environment. In July 2007, Mayor Chuck Della Sala signed the Urban Environmental Accords and the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
In 2007, John and Barbara, inspired by their neighbors, had solar panels installed on their roof. They now have a 3.2 KW system which should last about 25 years. In two years the panels have generated over 9 MWh of electricity, which is about 70 percent of John and Barbara's electricity usage. As a result, they've only paid a total of 21 cents for electricity in the past 2 years.
On December 4, 2001 the Santa Rosa City Council took the leadership role in the County and voted to become a member of Cities for Climate Protection, a project of the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
East of the town of Winters is Dixon Ridge Farms, where Russell and Kathleen Lester produce organic walnuts on 500 acres of their 1,250 acre farm site. Their innovative use of alternative energy significantly reduces their overall carbon footprint.
Established in 1947, Pacific Motor Service has been an environmentally friendly shop since its inception. Having gone through the "Green Shop" inspection/qualification process, several areas did require attention, and in some cases, wholesale change. The shop decided to take the necessary steps to become more environmentally friendly.
The City of Arcata, home to Humboldt State University, includes one of the only municipally owned forests in the nation. The Arcata Community Forest was certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council in 1998 and is a model for sustained yield forestry. The City has long been a supporter of environmental consciousness and again took action on climate change in 2001 when the mayor signed onto the "Cities for Climate Protection" campaign.