Sustainable Quality Award Winners
Presented in alphabetical order. Click on a letter below for a listing of winners.
Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment and Excellence in Social Responsibility, 2007
Ramer Architecture provides architectural design services. They strive for all design projects to be constructed with environmentally friendly materials. They also specify sustainable processes such as the recycling of demolition and waste debris – instead of contributing to the landfill problem. They offer their six employees full benefits including PPO health insurance, a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, vacations, sick leave, bereavement leave, maternity leave and time-off for voting.
Sustainable Quality Award, 2006
RAND conducts research and provides analysis to address challenges that face the United States and the world. The newly constructed Santa Monica RAND headquarters was recently Gold LEED rating by the US Green Building Council. The building features a dual plumbing system linked to the City's reclaimed water facility (SMURRF) for toilet flushing and for perimeter landscape irrigation. Their in-house cafeteria fetures organic produce acquired from local farmer's markets. They hold a strong reputation in the community for its involvement with charitable and social service nonprofit agencies. RAND staffs 1,100 people in Santa Monica, thus contributing greatly to the local economy.
The Real Earth Environmental Company
Excellence Award in Stewardship of the Natural and Built Environment, 2001; Excellence Award in Stewardship of the Natural and Built Environment, Sustainable Quality Award, 2003
The Real Earth Environmental Company “provides environmental alternatives to business as usual – recycled and tree free paper, a wide variety of recycled office products, recycled janitorial paper products and non-toxic cleaning products” through its catalog and website (www.treeco.com). The Real Earth contributes to a variety of environmental causes through educational efforts in its marketing materials and by providing products to environmental organizations at reduced rates. The Real Earth has leveraged Internet technology speed their supply chain, reduce their impact on the environment, and improve their bottom line. Their success in meeting the needs of their clients enabled them to grow over 50% from 1999 to 2000. Remarkably, this three-person business also provides full health insurance coverage and a profit-sharing plan. The company also practices what it preaches, operating an ecological, efficient and healthy office. For more information contact Donna Fleming at 310 457-6331 or by email at info@treeco.com
Excellence Award in Stewardship of the Natural and Built Environment, 2003
Real Food Daily is the premiere organic vegan restaurant in Los Angeles. With two California locations in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, Real Food Daily continues to draw crowds who enjoy delicious, balanced meals made with fresh organic ingredients. RFD attracts the someday to the everyday vegetarian, celebrities and trendsetting young eaters with sophisticated palates and the mature diner seeking gourmet health supportive cuisine.
Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment, 2017; Excellence in Social Responsibility, 2015; Excellence in Social Responsibility, 2014
Red Bull’s in-house coffee bar and cafeteria – the Camp Stewart Café - supports Santa Monica’s Sustainable Food Commitment by offering numerous vegan and vegetarian options with ingredients sourced from local farms. Striving to be a zero waste office, Red Bull eliminated plastic water bottles – replacing them with water dispensers for refilling. They are in process of installing an additional Energy Star dishwasher to increase washing volume in response to eliminating all disposable ware in staff kitchenettes. To help offset increased water usage, they have Sloan waterless urinals. All kitchenettes feature wall tile made out of recycled skateboards. Outdoor garden benches are made from locally sourced reclaimed wood that would have otherwise ended up in landfill. Red Bull is striving for an AVR (Average Vehicle Ridership) goal is 2.0 which is above the norm for Santa Monica’s Transportation Demand Management ordinance.
ReDiscover
SQA Grand Prize, 2007
reDiscover is a creative reuse center. They rescue discarded business materials from the waste stream and make them available for use in educational programs. Their mission is to redevelop the business model to see waste as a resource. In the 2005 – 2006 school year, they distributed more than one ton of materials for reuse in classrooms and workshops. These materials would have previously ended up in the waste stream and found their way to the landfill. reDiscover has local volunteer citizens pick up materials, provide leads for material discards and introduce reDiscover programs into schools. They sell materials at $2 per pound and recently switched to free membership program to allow more schools and teachers to utilize the facility.
Excellence in Social Responsibility and Stewardship of the Environment, 2020
Created in 2009, Reformation is a revolutionary lifestyle brand that proves fast fashion and sustainability can coexist. A 100% carbon, water and waste neutral company, Reformation infuses green measures into every aspect of the business. Their Santa Monica store on Main Street, uses 100% Green Power via the Clean Power Alliance. Reformation has excellent Eco-Commute programs for employees, and Eco-procurement policies that extend to office and cleaning supplies. Employees lead peer-to-peer Quarterly Sustainability 101 training, allowing for staff engagement, and professional development opportunities for those who are leading/attending. Some exemplary social responsibility efforts include allowing employees to take off one day per month to volunteer, and donating a % of sales to charities such as Planned Parenthood and Tree People.
SQA Grand Prize, 2007
RMC is an engineering firm specializing in water recycling and water resource management. Their green business operations range from socially responsible office supply purchasing to resource reduction. They cut energy use by more than half by engaging power management options for office equipment. Their copy machine used 1,440 watts in standard mode, but only 45 watts in 'energy saver’ mode. After setting computers and copy machines to default into energy saving mode after 5 minutes of inactivity, their monthly bill went from 3,747 to 1,811 Kwh! RMC’s Santa Monica office is certified by the Santa Monica Green Business Certification Program and their Bay Area offices are recognized by the Bay Area Green Business Program.
Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment, 2008
Rustic Canyon’s commitment to Sustainability began with renovating the space to an upscale restaurant and wine bar in 2006 using eco-friendly materials such as low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints and sustainable bamboo flooring, and installing a water-free urinal. Their commitment to protecting the natural environment extends to local organic produce from Farmers Markets and only biodegradable to-go containers made from corn-based plastics and unbleached paper. Rustic Canyon successfully attains a 90% waste diversion by minimizes recycling cans, plastic, glass, cardboard and mixed paper as well as all of their food waste.
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