Keep the Sierra Green is a regional effort similar to organizations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other locales designed to encourage businesses to develop green business practices. Companies striving to become certified in the Central Sierra Nevada region of California, east of Sacramento, answer a series of questions about their business practices, which are then certified by Keep the Sierra Green. The purpose of Keep the Sierra Green is to induce businesses within the region to adopt business practices that will improve the region’s resource utilization, like waste reduction or water usage.
“This local recognition provides our customers and our community with additional awareness of the depth of our company’s commitment,”
A leader in the green industry, one of the GreenSmart computer bag collections uses recycled PET plastic bottles to create their exclusive “Bottles 2 Bags” collection. PET bottles, the type that contain water and other beverages, are among the biggest environmental disasters today. In the US alone, 230 bottles per person end up in landfills each year; when crushed, they would fill California’s Rose Bowl Stadium every two weeks. Made from petroleum, they never decompose, becoming land and water pollution—not only disastrous but completely unnecessary, when they can be recycled into polyester fabrics with looks and durability equal to their “virgin” counterparts. Each yard of finished fabric removes about 18 16-ounce bottles from the waste stream and conserves 10,000 BTUs—enough power to light a 17-watt compact fluorescent light bulb for 15 hours.
GreenSmart is a global brand of bags and cases made from eco-friendly materials. Their laptop bags, briefcases, and other items are sold nationwide through college bookstores and luggage and specialty stores, as well as found at numerous e-tailers online. Interested consumers can learn how GreenSmart’s products are better for the planet by visiting www.GreenSmart.biz.
Larsen, a San Francisco Bay Area native, grew up during an era of increasing environmental awareness. After earning a BS in Conservation of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley, he worked in the energy management industry while California was introducing trend-setting standards for energy consumption. This laid the foundation for GreenSmart’s philosophy that the cumulative effect of small efforts can have significant impact on the planet.
Vice President Debbie Williams credits her outdoorsy youth and California’s drought of the early 1970s for her appreciation of resource conservation, while her personal experience with asthma and allergies prompted her to explore ways to keep her environment toxin-free.
GreenSmart, based in Grass Valley, California, has been making bags and accessories since 1995. Under the name Shoreline, they initially made the products by the same methods as other suppliers, switching to eco-conscious materials in 2006 and introducing nontoxic, neoprene-alternative Neogreene in 2009.
