Business Success Stories
Our collection of success stories are designed to give you ideas on how to implement your own climate success story. Use the filters on the left to narrow down your search by location, industry type, or action type. Many of our success stories are also Small Business Award winners, your business could be next!
Nori’s Eco Salon is the first hair salon to be certified by the City of Los Angeles as a green business because of their use of sustainable building materials, commitment to recycling, lowered energy consumption, use of non-toxic products, and reduced carbon footprint.
The Refill Shoppe is an eco-conscious store offering quality bath, body, home and cleaning liquids in bulk. By allowing customers to refill their own bottle, or purchasing one of the many bottles that the store carries, customers can do their part to reduce waste in a fun way. The Refill Shoppe carries shampoo, conditioner, lotion, bath gel, bubble bath, dish soap, laundry detergent, window cleaner, castile soap and more. Fragrances and essential oils can be added to most of the products and re-useable water bottles, coffee mugs, lunch containers, and utensils are also offered for sale.
Daisy Rose Floral Design creates floral arrangements to fit the customer’s style, and keeps their process natural, organic, and sustainable. The company strives to minimize their impact on the environment through ultra-low energy usage, water conservation, and near zero waste practices.
Way To Be Designs’ motto is, “We don’t give lip service to sustainability—we’ve built it into our business strategies. It’s an important part of our Way To Be.” They are a full service agency with a range of talented staff, offering creative custom and branded merchandise and uniforms for mid to large size companies with high volume needs.
Metro Lighting offers custom lighting solutions fabricated onsite and a gorgeous selection of uniquely designed fixtures in their 3,000 square foot showroom. They are committed to the quality and durability of their products, as well as reusing resources, efficiency in their building, and supporting local businesses.
PaperCulture.com is an e-commerce business that cultivates sustainability within their business operations. The firm designs products such as holiday cards, invitations, announcements, stationery, wall art, and labels with the environment in mind. PaperCulture.com is committed to conserving natural resources in all aspects of their business. They use 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and bamboo for wall art, plant a tree in a U.S. national forest with every order placed (the goal of their “Cards to Trees” program is to plant one million trees) and purchases carbon offsets.
The Bath Workshop creates custom, blended bath and body products that are all natural and safe for the environment. They strive towards becoming a more sustainable business by focusing on energy efficiency, waste reduction, recycling and teaching their employees the best ways to reduce their own carbon footprint. The Bath Workshop invites customers to bring back their “empty” containers and offers them a monetary incentive for recycling.
Meet the husband and wife green team — Marco Pietschmann and Bettina Limaco. Together the two started their small business, Green11, as part of their vision for the future of shopping. Green11 isn’t your average retailer. The duo has implemented a new retail model that minimizes consumer packaging, thereby significantly reducing waste from the traditional supply chain. This is all done through a revolutionary concept called the “closed-loop distribution model.”
Head tree-hugger and Christmas Caroler, Scott “Scotty Claus” Martin, was once ashamed by the discarded Christmas Trees that would line the streets after the holidays. Now, thanks to the Living Christmas Company, families can invite the same tree over for the holidays year after year.
Spirit Graphics and Printing Inc. has four generations of printing and publishing experience and has been family owned and operated since 1983. Even with the standards of tradition to live up to, Spirit Graphics has pledged to turn their small business green in order to save money and protect the environment for future generations.
“Our hope was to provide a much cleaner and more responsible product... it has been an overall transformation to a clean sustainable business.”
UPDATE: ALTHOUGH WALDECK'S IS NO LONGER OPEN FOR BUSINESS, THEIR ACTIONS ARE INSPIRING TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS STILL TO COME (AUGUST 2016)
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.