JMS Kaplan Journal by Steve Plantz
April 17, 2008

Green is in.  More and more businesses are “going green,” and the market is inundated with so-called “green” products.  Awareness of climate change and pollution problems has entered the mainstream and many local San Diegans are doing what they can to help protect the environment.  But some are also beginning to wonder: If a business claims to be green, what does that really mean?

While this program has been around for more than three years, it has certified only 11 participants in all of San Diego County.  KariLyn Merlos is an environmental specialist for the county and has been working on the green business program since it started.

“It’s been pretty slow to grow,” Merlos says.  “But we have seen a recent jump in requests.”

She attributes the recent increase to more information about the environment in the news and other media.  Currently, eight more businesses are waiting for their stickers.

Qualifying for green-ness

“We have five big areas that we look at,” Merlos says.  “First, they have to be in compliance with environmental regulations.”

Merlos explains that if a business is already breaking existing rules regarding toxic materials and disposal, then they need to change those practices before applying for participation in the county program.

After that, the business must take measures to conserve energy and water, prevent pollution and reduce solid waste.  But in addition to those five areas, the business has to allow the county to check on their compliance.

“We do audit the businesses,” Merlos says.

The county shows the five areas on its Web site, but also lists five steps a business needs to take before becoming an official participant of the program and getting the sticker.  These include the basics, such as waste and emissions reduction, but also require the business to keep track of its use of resources.  The county uses this information to gauge the effectiveness of the program.

The county’s program is not the only route for a San Diego business to go green.  Some have chosen to work with the Green Restaurant Association .  The GRA is a national program that actually started out in San Diego but has recently moved to Boston.

The GRA did not return phone calls regarding this story, but KariLyn Merlos of the county program is familiar with the association.  She considers it to be a very worthwhile program with positive impacts on the environment.  But she points out some key differences.

“Their focus is on the supply chain,” Merlos says.

She explains that the GRA is more of a consulting organization that helps businesses develop their own programs and connects them with products that can help them mitigate their impact on the environment.  It is a non-profit organization but, unlike the Green Business Program, charges a fee for its service.

Another major difference between the two programs, Merlos says, is that the GRA does not audit its client businesses.  This leaves open the possibility of a restaurant taking advantage of the recognition as a “green business” without fully complying.  While there is no evidence of that happening in San Diego, it is left to the restaurants to decide at what level to comply and what information to disclose.

On its Web site, the GRA shows six businesses in the San Diego area and one in Encinitas that are certified green by its program.

Why Go Green?

Keith Shillington is the owner of E Street Café in Encinitas.  His is the only restaurant currently listed as a participant in the San Diego Area Green Business Program and he’s been in the program almost since it began.

“We designed our business as a green business,” Shillington says.  “[The county program] approached us about a year after we opened.”

Shillington has plans to replace all the lighting in his restaurant with light-emitting diodes, known commonly as LED.  He says the people at the county program have shown him additional ways to be environmentally friendly.

“They’ve really helped me reach some of my green goals,” Shillington says.

E Street Café is also certified by the Green Restaurant Association.  Shillington says that there are definitely differences between the two programs, especially when it comes to marketing.

“The Green Restaurant Association gives me more of a marketing edge,” he explains.

Green vs. Green-washing

Since going green is a popular trend, businesses are quick to use that concept in their marketing and advertisements.  Companies have realized that they can benefit from creating an impression that their business is environmentally conscious.  Some really are making an effort, while others may just be pretending.  The practice of making a business or organization appear to be “green” while not following through on any sort of compliance with environmental standards has spawned the term “greenwashing.”

Merlos is familiar with the term.  She says that the county program is part of a larger one throughout the state of California that is trying to standardize the definition of a green business.

So far, the San Diego Area Green Business Program is the only one of its kind in Southern California.  Similar programs are being developed in communities such as Santa Barbara and Santa Monica .

“Northern California has been at this a lot longer,” Merlos says, adding that they are working with programs there to make sure that the standards for compliance are the same throughout the state.

And although the program is currently limited to automotive repair, restaurants and commercial offices, the county is planning to expand it to cover all industries, including retail and grocery stores.

“We wanted to get our arms around a couple of big impact industries,” Merlos says, noting that restaurants, for example, consume very large amounts of energy and water and generate a lot of solid waste.

While the county program is mostly an effort to improve San Diego’s impact on the environment, it is also a response to the general lack of consistency in what is considered a green business.

“That’s part of the reason we’re working to be standardized,” Merlos says, “to define what it means to be green.”