Four San Carlos Businesses Win Green Awards

Four San Carlos businesses - Pacific Gas & Electric Co., In-N-Out Burger, Artistic Millwork, and Santorini's Restaurant – have won this year’s Green Business Awards.

The awards honor four San Carlos companies for outstanding achievement in Green Programs, Sustainability and Preserving the Environment.

“This year the focus is on companies that have made major strides in increasing their diversion of material from the landfill to recycling and composting as part of the City's new Mandatory Commercial Recycling Ordinance,” the city of San Carlos said in an announcement. “The winners were selected after reviewing achievements in this area with Recology San Mateo County, the Garbage and Recycling Collection Firm in San Carlos.”

The awards will be presented at the annual Chamber of Commerce Recognition Gala. The event will be held on January 19 at the Hotel Sofitel San Francisco Bay, the city said.

The Green Business Awards were created through efforts of the city of San Carlos, the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber's Green Business Committee and San Carlos Green to recognize significant accomplishments in achieving green business practices in San Carlos.

Here’s what the city had to say about the four businesses:

About PG&E:

“At the PG&E facility in San Carlos, the company has initiated a major composting program, capturing all materials from their offices and expanding the number of recycle bins on site.  Their diversion rate has been consistently climbing and is now at 66%. In addition, PG&E has been a major resource to the Chamber and the City in their work on Green Programs for the past several years including technical assistance and consulting on the LED Street Light retrofit now underway on Industrial Road and Brittan Avenue. PG&E has applied their savings from these programs to even more recycling efforts at their San Carlos facility.”

About In-N-Out Burger:

“When first opening, In-N-Out Burger had a 25% diversion rate.  After only a few months, composting was implemented, bringing overall diversion levels to 53%. A follow-up audit determined minimal contamination, showing In-N-Out's determination in sending as little material as possible to the landfill.  The increased recycling has led to an annual savings of $9,765.”

About Artistic Millwork’s:

“Through a routine waste audit, it was found that 90% of Artistic Millwork's waste materials consisted of sawdust and clean wood scraps.  Once a recycling and composting program was initiated and implemented, the diversion rate rose to 92% resulting in an annual savings for the company of over $1,200.”

About Santorini:

“Santorini Restaurant started last year with zero diversion and just six months later they had reached a 92% diversion rate.  They executed recycling and composting simultaneously and were so successful they had to enlist the cooperation of a neighboring business that agreed to share their recycling bin to accommodate Santorini's overflow. It also resulted in an annual savings of $1,900 for the restaurant.”