Summary
The San Francisco Green Business Team includes Urban Ecology, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SF.DPH), San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE), and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SF.PUC). This team provides free pollution prevention and resource conservation assis- tance to the San Francisco business community. The mission of the Green Busi- ness Team is to improve, enhance, and preserve the environment and promote San Francisco’s long-term environmental sustainability.
Description
Since its launch in 2005, the San Francisco Green Business program has recognized over 90 Green Businesses. These include hotels, restaurants, offices, retail locations and dental practices. Current- ly, the program is providing assistance to 100 businesses. In addition, 350 businesses have expressed interest in becoming certified by submitting their enrollment forms. Urban Ecology has been hired to help clear this backlog in businesses on the certification list.
Urban Ecology staff will provide technical assistance to enrolled businesses that have been pre- screened for compliance. Our highly trained staff will establish contact with these businesses, set up phone consultations with them to complete checklists, conduct initial site assessments (or onsite walk- through) and submit reports to SFGB and the business.
To become a certified Green Business, the company must fulfill the requirements in the categories of water conservation, energy conservation, toxic and pollution reduction, recycling and waste assess- ments, and clean air assessments. These requirements are the strictest of any Green Business certifica- tion program in the country, as the Department of the Environment is aiming to uphold San Francisco’s status as the United States most environmentally progressive city.
Urban Ecology has helped over 50 businesses become certified in the Green Business program, and by doing so is helping to create a more sustainable, green, and less wasteful San Francisco.
