hiGhLiGhT Why Green Certify? Lloyds of La Luna Sustainability in the Small Business Market

Here at Lloyd’s of La Luna we are extremely conscious of our impact on the environment. Being a small business doesn’t mean we are excluded from the global footprint a company can make. We take pride in reducing that Foot print and creating products that are healthy and sustainable while leaving behind a legacy of responsible choices.

The items companies purchase to ensure their workplaces function well — be it printer paper, cleaning products or to-go containers — can be deleterious to the environment due to the processes that go into making them. We use Energy Efficient office Equipment that keep energy usage minimal, Recycled Paper, and buy what we can local. Reducing the amount of Carbon added into the air from shipping these items.

For businesses that sell and ship products, packaging is a major part of the operation. Recycled paper and cardboard are tried and true sustainable packaging options, but there have also been strides toward creating completely compostable packaging that results in zero waste at the end of its cycle.

Every company has a different level of impact on the planet, but as a whole, we all contribute to climate change, pollution and the waste crisis.

Each company’s journey to becoming environmentally sustainable will be unique but it’s more critical than ever to start now and get it right.

At a time when even the biggest companies — including McDonald’s, Microsoft and Samsung — are incorporating sustainability practices into their businesses, it’s obvious that the climate crisis is a very dire phenomenon.

And every business has their part to play, whatever their size. By taking account of our individual carbon footprints and taking the steps to shrink them down, we can help slow and hopefully reverse the effects of climate change.

New Bridge Management is a property management company that manages the real estate portfolio of investors. The real estate industry is notorious for the use of printed documents. Contracts used to be printed and wet signatures were required and time consuming to get. When copies of agreements were provided to buyers, sellers, renters or owners, they would always be on paper. For companies, storing these documents was cumbersome due to space limitations. Prior to the pandemic, New Bridge Management had decided to streamline its processes by requiring digital signatures and moving away from printed paper. All documents were then digitized and stored electronically. Becoming a green company was a business decision to reduce printing and storage costs as well as increase efficiency and accountability. The side benefit of becoming green was increased transparency.

During the pandemic, it was painfully evident that becoming a green company was a functional necessity. With the world shutting down, accepting physical payments whether in the form of cash or check and printed documents was simply not feasible. Although real estate professionals were considered essential workers, working in the office was risky. New Bridge Management quickly shifted to accepting online payments, requiring digital signatures and processing work orders online. These changes allowed the employees to work from the comfort of their homes without worrying about health risks and continue to provide essential services to property owner and residents. Today New Bridge Management is a more efficient company with better operational efficiencies which translate to better profit margins because of becoming a green business.

As a whole-food, plant-based vegan café, we pride ourselves on our commitment to sustainability. Using biodegradable containers, no plastic bags, and partnering with a small local farm to compost are just a few ways we work hard to minimize our carbon footprint. We chose to become green-certified through the California Green Business Network to show customers our desire to protect the environment and offer healthier food options. Besides the fact that we are a health/green-conscious kind of place, in addition, we try to do our best at recycling as we want to leave a greener footprint altogether.