Local Leaders

In your quest to reduce your environmental footprint, consider using small, local, eco-oriented businesses. These can offer hands-on service that’s tailored to your unique sustainable living needs and, being more modest in size, adapt more easily to the latest green technologies and practices.

A number of Los Angeles-area firms continue to find ways to make their operations more earth friendly. Here are four along with how and why they’re doing it.

DKK Events
Under the motto “stylish & sustainable,” DKK Events was L.A.’s first green event planning company when Deborah Kattler Kupetz launched it in 2006. Kupetz’s seemingly incongruous background in clothing manufacturing and social work in fact segued neatly into her current business.

“I decided to marry these two passions of mine — creative expression and social pursuits — which by this point had become more focused on sustainable living,” Kupetz explained.  
DKK’s environmentally responsible approach to planning celebrations includes the use of biodegradable utensils and locally sourced organic food while avoiding decidedly eco-unfriendly products like mylar balloons (“quite possibly the worst decorations for the planet ever,” she said.)

“Even after the main event is over, the greening doesn’t stop,” Kupetz said. “Whenever possible, we reuse an event setup for a second, often charitable event, which I’ve dubbed Second Day Events,” she said.  
Though there are now other green event planners in the L.A. area, initiatives like this still set DKK apart, Kupetz said. And while certain aspects of her business, like the use of organic produce, increase DKK’s overhead, reusing materials offsets this to the point where her high-end parties are comparably priced to similar “non-green” events.

“Event planning is an art form, and when you throw eco-consciousness into the mix, it takes that art form to another level because you have to be creative within a whole new set of constraints,” Kupetz concluded. “I enjoy that challenge, but even more I enjoy the satisfaction of doing something meaningful.  Helping people celebrate milestone occasions — memories that they will cherish forever — and instilling those moments with care and thought.”

www.dkkevents.com

JAMES HEIMLER, ARCHITECT, INC.

Many of us are eco-conscious at home, carefully considering the products and power we use and scrupulously recycling. But what if our environmental efforts extended to the very structure of the home itself? This is where green architects like Tarzana-based James Heimler come in.

James Heimler, Architect, Inc., was formed by Heimler in 1985 and employs 16 people. “Being eco-friendly has always been a huge part of my life,” he said. “Sustainable design is personal to me. I redesigned my entire home to be completely green, so being eco-friendly and sustainable design are wrapped up into one entity for me.”

The company applies sustainable design to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional projects through passive solar, energy-efficient systems and the use of earth-friendly building materials.
“Sustainable design wasn’t added to our way of designing and living, we have practiced it continuously — this is what separates us from other firms,” Heimler said. “We focus on educating our clients about green products and green living and help them to recognize green, sustainable opportunities.”

www.jhai-architect.com

GO JUNK FREE AMERICA

Television shows like A&E’s “Hoarders” have made domestic “de-cluttering” fashionable and numerous junk removal companies have sprung up to meet the demand. But while removing unwanted items from our homes can be good for our immediate environment, sending them off to landfills might only be harming the planet’s health. Enter Go Junk Free America.

“Go Junk Free America’s objective is to save the world, one truck load at a time,” said the company’s founder and president, Evan Berger, who’s been in the junk removal business since 2008. “We want to help people by giving them a green alternative to other junk-removal companies at a lower price.”
Berger claims that his company reuses over 80% of the items they pick up and never uses landfills or transfer stations. “If [re-use] isn’t possible due to condition or demand, then they are brought to recycling centers or material recovery centers where raw materials are extracted,” he explained. “We have specially designed trucks that use less fuel, do more work, and with less harmful emissions than other companies.”

Go Junk Free America even uses recycled polyester uniforms. Berger estimates that all this “green-ness” increases his overhead by up to 30%, but he offsets this by running more efficient vehicles and routes and avoiding franchise fees. “We guarantee the lowest prices and will beat any licensed and insured hauler,” he insisted.

Go Junk Free America has 12 employees serving Los Angeles and Orange counties, but Berger aims to go nationwide by 2015. For him, being green is both smart business and sound ethics. “If we don’t all get together to save the world, we sure won’t have very successful businesses when it is in ruins,” he reasoned.

www.gojunkfree.com

EARTH FRIENDLY MAID SERVICE

If you’ve noticed a pungent ammonia smell after your home has been professionally cleaned, that’s testament to the harsh, potentially harmful chemicals used. Earth Friendly Maid Services, founded by Deborah Davis in 2009, takes a different approach.

“We use biodegradable, plant-based, nontoxic cleaning solutions produced with 100% natural, premium, renewable and non-petroleum-based ingredients,” said Davis. “All products are nonaerosol and ozone safe; our products contain no volatile organic compounds that cause destructive photochemical reactions in the atmosphere.”

Earth Friendly, which services Greater Los Angeles and Santa Monica, uses cotton cloths, recycled paper towels, energy-efficient cleaning tools and recycles bottles and paper products.

This approach is healthier for both the wider environment and clients’ homes, especially those with more vulnerable occupants like expectant mothers, newborns and allergy sufferers (an ultra-thorough “allergy cleaning” is one of the company’s specialist services).

Though the products Earth Friendly uses often cost more, they make many of these themselves and reduce their overhead (and carbon emissions) further by strategically scheduling jobs to allow their 10 housekeepers to carpool whenever possible. As a result, their fees are similar to those of many “regular” high-end maid services.

“Our clients think our rates are worth the peace of mind: a home or business green cleaned, that’s nontoxic, by honest housekeepers who respect and honor their home or business,” Davis explained.

www.earthfriendlymaid.com

— Paul Rogers, Custom Publishing Writer