Fresh Air Yard Care

Fresh Air Yard Care endeavors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing yard care maintenance using only hand powered, electric and propane equipment. Fresh Air Yard Care uses brooms, rakes and push sweepers instead of gas-powered-blowers to clean walk ways and patios. They also use both both reel mowers and electric mowers that mulch clippings and organic matter.

Gaumenkitzel Restaurant

Berkeley-based Gaumenkitzel Restaurant has long been praised for its organic and slow-cooked German cuisine, but the restaurant also stands out for its green business practices.  

Geo H. Wilson, Inc.

Geo H. Wilson, Inc., provider of plumbing and mechanical services to clients, strives to promote a “local and green” mentality on jobsites, as well as in their office. Open since 1921, they have earned respect from the community as a third generation family owned and operated business. They are proud of developing, maintaining, and improving their sustainable practices through the decades.

Global Gourmet Catering & Events

Global Gourmet is Northern California’s first certified full-service catering company under the San Francisco Green Business Program. In addition to offering seasonal, sustainably farmed organic cuisine sourced primarily from the Bay Area, Global Gourmet incorporates environmentally friendly practices in their day- to-day operations. Their environmental policy details specific procedures in areas of employee education, employee transportation, waste reduction, energy conservation, office use, lighting, recycling, pollution prevention, and refrigeration.

Granlibakken Tahoe

Granlibakken Tahoe, a conference center and resort, has worked to preserve the area’s natural environment through waste stream reduction, energy conservation efficiency, and water conservation actions. As part of their waste management program, the company maintains separate recycling and collection bins for beverage bottles and cans, paper, cardboard, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs. Kitchen grease is collected in a special container and disposed of properly. Road sand is swept and gathered at the end of the season and reused for snow removal the following year.

The sales counter of the Green11 store.
Green11

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.”

Greenbar Distillery

Small Business Award winner Greenbar Distillery uses only certified organic ingredients to enhance flavors and to prevent artificial fertilizers or pesticides from contaminating farmland and groundwater.

 

Harmony Farm Supply and Nursery

Harmony Farm Supply and Nursery is literally growing money on trees with energy-efficiency improvements. Like many small businesses, Harmony Farm Supply and Nursery relied on high bay metal halide lighting fixtures and outdated T-12 fluorescent lights that consumed large amounts of energy. Business owner David Henry wondered what he could do to reduce energy costs. He contacted the Small Business Energy Alliance (SBEA), an organization that used energy efficiency funds from the California Public Utilities Commission to help small business owners save energy and money.

Hero Arts

Hero Arts, Inc. has a history of sustainability that dates all the way back to the mid-70s when founder Jackie Leventhal kicked off the business. Since then, her mission has been to design products that represent self expression, all while protecting the planet and preserving its natural resources.

Hesperian Cleaners

Concerned by the potential health hazards associated with the use of perchloroethylene (PERC), a traditional dry cleaning chemical, Hesperian Cleaners decided to go green. “I didn’t want to change it to another solvent or another type of chemical,” says owner Sung Han Lee. Therefore, five years ahead of the new mandated schedule to phase out PERC, Mr. Lee chose a new process called wet cleaning.

High Tech High Chula Vista

High Tech High Chula Vista (HTHCV) is the newest campus to the High Tech High cadre of public charter schools. Students are given a leap forward not just by the college preparatory curriculum and project based teaching style, but the very campus serves as a teaching tool for the 150 freshmen who started the first class in 2007. Everything from the 101 kilowatt photovoltaic system to the energy efficient lighting and water conscious landscaping helps emphasize the environmental ideals that will protect the environment for future generations.

iBank

iBank is a small, private company that has been paperless since 1999. One of iBank’s primary business goals is to help reduce the usage of paper products. iBank helps other businesses obtain funding, equipment leases and other business services online with an application process that goes to hundreds of lenders, insurers, coaches and consultants online.

Incredible Adventures

Incredible Adventures offers small group biofuel tours from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park, Muir Woods and Wine Country as well as sightseeing and adventure tours throughout the US. They are an eco-friendly outdoor travel company that provides travelers a safe and reliable way to connect with nature.

Karen and Al

As soon as their kids were off to college, Karen and Al decided to downsize and move out of their large family home and settled into the idea of a home with a smaller, sustainable footprint. They explored the possibilities of buying an existing home and renovating it to fit their new lifestyle and eco-friendly inclinations. With lower real estate prices, mortgage rates, available rebates for energy-efficiency upgrades and appliances, and affordable design and construction companies, the decision was an easy one for them to make.

Lafitte Cork & Capsule

Lafitte Cork & Capsule is committed to improving the sustainability of their products as well as their operations. Lafitte’s Green Business Initiative grows out of their long term family commitment to create a sustainable business model.

Lake Merritt Dental

Lake Merritt Dental is a comprehensive, eco-friendly, top rated whole oral healthcare clinic. Their dentists perform a full gamut of dental services from preventive hygiene care to complex implant surgeries, while also working to conserve energy, reduce water, and manage waste. In evaluating their business operations, Lake Merritt Dental utilized PG&E’s online portal to monitor their energy practices and create goals to reduce usage levels.

Laura Lawson DDS

Laura Lawson, DDS is a natural dental office committed to providing personalized care in an eco-friendly environment. They are a holistically-minded dental practice that focuses on restoring and enhancing the natural beauty of the patient’s smile by using conservative, non-toxic, state-of-the-art procedures. Their extensive services include cosmetic dentistry, gum care, whitening, fillings, veneers, crowns, bridges, partials, implant tooth restoration, and nutrition workshops and counseling.

Light and Motion Industries

Light and Motion Industries, Inc. is a manufacturing company located in a converted building on Monterey’s famous Cannery Row. They design, market, and manufacture two product lines: high performance bike headlights and high quality underwater video and digital camera housing and lighting. Light and Motion Industries, Inc. has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by aggressively incorporating recycled materials into their products, purchasing ENERGY STAR® equipment and using green cleaners and solvents.

Luxury Auto Body

Luxury Auto Body is a full service collision repair shop that has taken a proactive approach in the areas of compliance and conservation. At Luxury Auto Body, several initiatives have been implemented to conserve water, reduce monthly energy demand, and create environmental partnerships.

MAK Design+Build, Inc.

MAK Design+Build, Inc. is an environmentally conscious business that emphasizes sustainable building practices. The steps MAK has taken to become green significantly reduce their bills and conserve valuable resources.