2001 Green Award Recipients

These recipients were honored in 2001 for taking actions above and beyond their basic missions to protect, preserve, and improve the environment in such areas as solid waste reduction and recycling, water conservation, energy conservation, hazardous waste reduction and recycling, and prevention and reduction of pollution of the air, water, and soil. Take a look at our Green Awards Archives for more information about the retired program.

• Ever-Bloom Nursery (Carpinteria)
• MarBorg Industries (Santa Barbara, Goleta)
• Pacific Scientific Electro Kinetics Division (EKD) (Carpinteria)
• Santa Barbara French Festival (Santa Barbara)
• Thompson-Naylor Architects (Santa Barbara)

Ever-Bloom Nursery

Ever-Bloom Nursery is the first nursery in the state applying ISO 14001 standards for superior environmental policies and practices. Through this voluntary program, similar to the renowned ISO 9000 quality management system, all environmental aspects of the facility and operations are controlled and documented in a framework that receives continuous review. The nursery recycles greenwaste, cardboard, and scrap metal and uses a closed-loop hydroponics water system, which saves 50,000 gallons of water per day. Ever-Bloom has also built a "biofilter" pond to capture accidental and storm water runoff. In addition, the nursery actively looks for opportunities to use biological controls such as predacious insects and to replace hazardous pesticides with naturally occurring products.

MarBorg Industries

MarBorg Industries, a locally owned and operated waste hauling firm, has implemented a number of programs that divert solid and hazardous waste from local landfills. Since April 2001, MarBorg Industries has provided a free program for the collection of various types of electronic equipment such as computers, computer monitors, fax machines, printers, and scanners. Computers that can potentially be refurbished are set-aside for the Santa Barbara County Education Office's (SBCEO) Computers for Families Program. SBCEO has the Los Prietos Boys Camp refurbish or upgrade the computers, and it then donates the computers to students attending Santa Barbara County schools for use at home.

Computers that are not deemed acceptable by SBCEO, as well as other electronic equipment, are picked up by a firm that refurbishes or upgrades the equipment for resale or recycles the material. In the first month of this program, MarBorg Industries collected over 25,000 pounds of electronic equipment. Further, through its cooperative effort with SBCEO, over 75 high quality computers have been donated to local school children.

In addition to diverting this electronic waste from the local landfills through reuse and recycling, MarBorg Industries' electronics collection program has prevented the lead, cadmium, and other toxic materials in cathode ray tubes commonly found in televisions and monitors, from contaminating the soil and groundwater. The company also operates an extensive program for the recycling of construction and demolition debris. Through this program, an average of over 300 tons of material, including wood, concrete, asphalt, and metal, is recycled per day, six days a week

Pacific Scientific Electro Kinetics Division (EKD)

Pacific Scientific EKD, located in Carpinteria, manufactures high reliable custom electrical generating equipment for aerospace and specialty markets. The company has implemented programs covering a range of environmental areas, including air pollution prevention, hazardous waste reduction, recycling and alternative transportation. Using water-based cleaners, Pacific Scientific EKD successfully eliminated the use of trichlorethane and carbon black and reduced hexavalent chromium and isocyonate emissions to the air. In addition, the company has a comprehensive facility-wide recycling program. Employees at Pacific Scientific EKD carpool and have staggered shift times and four-day work weeks to help reduce traffic and air pollution. Pacific Scientific EKD has also adopted a comprehensive environmental planning process to continually reduce the firm's impact on the environment.

Santa Barbara French Festival

The Santa Barbara French Festival has shown leadership in incorporating environmental awareness into public events in Santa Barbara. The Festival has developed a recycling program that is estimated to divert nearly 60 percent of the waste generated at the festival from the landfill. Large recycling bins are placed in strategic locations for use by vendors, and smaller containers are placed throughout the park for use by festival attendees. Vendors are required to recycle all cardboard and glass and are encouraged to use low-impact, lightweight materials for the items that cannot be recycled. The Festival also promotes alternate modes of transportation to event attendees. Steve Hoegerman, the French Festival Director, has worked with the City of Santa Barbara to educate other festival directors about this great program. Due in part to his efforts, the City has recently made recycling a requirement for all festivals held in the City of Santa Barbara.

Thompson-Naylor Architects

The firm of Thompson-Naylor Architects has instituted a number of environmentally friendly practices. In its office, the firm takes advantage of available natural light to reduce lighting needs, uses fluorescent lights in desk lamps, and looks for superior energy efficiency when purchasing office equipment. Employees run an extensive office recycling program and give non-recyclable blueprint paper to local preschools to be used as art paper. Employees are also encouraged to bike to work, and bicycle parking is available. In addition to these internal efforts, the firm actively promotes sustainable building practices to other professionals and the public through the firm's participation in the Green Building Alliance, Parade of Green Buildings, and the Sustainability Project. Thompson-Naylor Architects also encourages clients to choose sustainable products and designs for their projects and directs clients to other green consultants and contractors.