2024 Certification Celebration
In 2024, the Culver City Sustainable Business Certification Program celebrated its 6th anniversary by certifying 10 Culver City businesses, acknowledging the best management practices they implemented and the sustainable policies they adopted.
An awards ceremony to recognize these businesses was held on September 18, 2024 at the Culver Hotel in downtown Culver City. Culver City Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin hosted the event and was joined by Vice Mayor Dan O'Brien and Council Member Albert Vera.
2024 Sustainable Business Certification Awards Event, Justin Han Photography
2024 Certified Businesses
Businesses Achieving Innovator Certification
Branches Atelier (recertified)
Primestor Development, LLC
Businesses Achieving Certification
The Culver Hotel
Lillie’s at The Culver Hotel
Blankspaces Culver City (recertified)
Echo Horizon School (recertified)
Kirk Douglas Theatre (recertified)
Sock Panda
Wende Museum
Zooga Yoga Culver City (recertified)
"Together, these businesses improve the health of our natural environment and the overall well-being of their employees, customers, and the community at large. We are very pleased that these businesses were able to take advantage of the opportunity to receive free, hands-on assistance to operate more sustainably. Their efforts have led to significant and positive impacts within the walls of their businesses - and to our community.
Culver City Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin at 2024 Sustainable Certified Business Award Recognition Ceremony, September 18, 2024
2024 Program Impact
Collectively these 10 businesses annually:
- Save 129,142 kWh of energy
- Save 104,473 gallons of water, enough to fill 10 backyard swimming pools,
- Divert 5,600 lbs of waste from the landfill, equivalent to 320 bags of food scraps composted, and
- Avoid 9,152 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), equivalent to planting 90 trees and eliminating 2,500 miles driven by an average gas-powered car.
Through a CalEPA grant received by the California Green Business Network, this year’s certified businesses received rebates totaling $7,500 to cover costs associated with implementing the measures necessary to become certified and some of the businesses received free water fixture retrofits through a program with Golden State Water.
Within the first six years of the program, Culver City has already issued a total of 87 business certifications and has 64 currently certified businesses. Collectively these businesses annually:
- Save 4.8 million gallons of water,
- Save 474,042 kWh of energy and an estimated $110,000 in utility costs,
- Divert 914,958 pounds of waste from landfills, and
- Avoid 552,812 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
Program Overview
The Sustainable Business Certification Program includes two tiers.
- Certified businesses must complete a minimum number of measures in the areas of water use, energy conservation, clean energy, waste reduction, pollution prevention, and sustainable transportation.
- Certified Innovators are exemplary businesses that, in addition to meeting the “Certified’ criteria, provide their employees with living wages and benefits and demonstrate innovative practices in environmental preservation and community engagement.
Certification at both levels is valid for three years. Certified businesses receive City Council commendations, a framed certificate, and digital “certified” logos to proudly market and set themselves apart to customers as companies that prioritize running a sustainable operation.
Non-profit Sustainable Works and local consulting firm Balanced Approach developed and currently administer the Sustainable Business Certification Program for Culver City, which targets businesses in the retail, office, restaurant, grocery, school, lodging, and theater sectors.
Learn more about the Sustainable Certified Business Award program and how to apply.
The Culver Hotel
With artful design and a European ambiance, this 1924 National Landmark stands proudly in the heart of Downtown Culver City. More than a hotel, it is a destination where people come together to enjoy curated experiences, explore local culture, and reconnect with old world elegance.
Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Saving over 1,000 Kilowatt-hours per year after replacing halogen lamps with LEDs
- Conserving 17,000 gallons of water per year after retrofitting sinks with water wise faucet aerators – provided FREE by Golden State Water
- Preserving trees by using post-consumer recycled paper
- Reducing plastic by stocking guest rooms with reusable glass items
Lillie's at The Culver Hotel
Lillie's restaurant is owned by and located within The Culver Hotel.
Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Participating in Culver City’s Organics Recycling Program by collecting food scraps for composting
- Eliminating single-use tableware
- Serving organic produce
- Recycling used cooking oil for biodiesel production
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with The Culver Hotel and Lillie's, Justin Han Photography
Branches Atelier is a Reggio Inspired center founded in 2007. They offer classes for parents and infants, toddlers through preschool, and specialized workshops.
Certified Innovator
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Capturing wastewater from play and repurposing to hydrate onsite trees
- Implementing a “No Trash” lunch policy and guidelines that encourage use of reusable products
- Reusing single sided paper used for painting for other art and education projects
- Operating a sustainable food system that includes an onsite seed bank, along with harvesting food from their garden that is used to prepare healthy meals for children
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with Branches Atelier, Justin Han Photography
Primestor Development is a BIPOC-Owned Business whose mission is to build community projects in areas overlooked by other developers. Over the last 30 years, Primestor has completed more than 100 projects that they continue to own, lease, and operate.
Certified Innovator
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Retrofitting faucet aerators
- Creating career pathways for underserved individuals
- Creating and implementing a 5-year Sustainability Plan
- Switching to safer cleaning products
- Stocking reusable dishware, participating in a Keurig-cup recycling program, switching to bulk condiment dispensers, and providing in-house beverages on tap
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with Primestor Development, Justin Han Photography
BLANKSPACES is a community of entrepreneurs and freelancers who share a space, collaborate, and network with one another. They provide a personal, boutique experience for members to grow their businesses with multiple locations throughout Southern California.
Re-Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Offering ample natural sunlight using skylights
- Forming a Green Team to implement their environmental policies
- Retrofitting old lamps with LEDs and installing high efficiency aerators on their faucets to reduce water flows
- Offering a recycling program for mixed materials
- Offering members and employees the convenience of bringing in their hazardous materials for proper disposal
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with BLANKSPACES, Justin Han Photography
The mission of Echo Horizon School is to educate children in a collaborative environment that is academically challenging and developmentally appropriate. They actively promote mutual respect, individual responsibility, and ethical action.
Re-Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Creating an environmental policy that is included in their employee handbook
- Collecting spent markers for TerraCycle’s Art Supplies upcycling program
- Purchasing post-consumer recycled content copy paper and non-chlorine bleach janitorial products
- Switching from bioplastic to wood utensils and paper plates for school events to reduce contamination of their organics composting bins
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with Echo Horizon School, Justin Han Photography
The Kirk Douglas Theatre is a BIPOC-owned business and includes a 317-seat theater that was built in 1946 as a “movie palace” originally named the Culver Theatre. Since 2004, the Center Theatre Group took over the operation. Their mission is to serve the diverse audiences of Los Angeles by producing and presenting theatre of the highest caliber, by nurturing new artists, by attracting new audiences, and by developing arts education programs.
Re-Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Replacing 77 fluorescents with LEDs and retrofitting faucet aerators
- Discontinuing the sale of single-use plastic water bottles to patrons
- Maintaining native and water-wise landscaping
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with Kirk Douglas Theatre, Justin Han Photography
The Sock Panda team is committed to spreading happiness by turning an everyday essential into something more fun and expressive! They create high quality original designs that make people say “wow!” Sock Panda is dedicated to using its socks to make the world a better place and has donated hundreds of thousands of pairs of socks to homeless shelters, low-income senior centers, hospitals, and under-privileged classrooms throughout the country.
Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Requesting reusable and recyclable packaging from their main supplier
- Retrofitting their faucets
- Replacing older fluorescent lamps
- Replacing plastic shopping bags with branded 100% paper bags made from post-consumer recycled content
Sock Panda with Susy Borlido of Sustainable Works, Justin Han Photography
The Wende is an art museum, cultural center, and archive of the Cold War that preserves history and brings it to life through exhibitions, scholarship, education, and community engagement. Founded in 2002, the Wende Museum holds an unparalleled collection of art and artifacts from the Cold War era, and serves as a foundation for programs that illuminate the political and cultural changes of the past, offering opportunities to make sense of a changing present, and inspire active participation in social changes that will shape the future.
Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Using safer cleaning supplies purchased from a local Culver City business
- Replacing a faucet fixture with water wise model
- Hosting a household hazardous waste roundup event
- Eliminating single-use plastic water bottles during events
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with the Wende Museum, Justin Han Photography
In 2012, Zooga Yoga opened as the only yoga studio in the area dedicated to babies, kids, teens, expecting moms, parents and families. Today, Zooga Yoga is the only premiere kids franchise available nationwide! Zooga’s playful and unique approach to yoga is designed to foster confidence, creativity and imagination while keeping true to the goal of whole mind and body, which is inherent in the practice of yoga.
Re-Certified
Notable sustainability efforts include:
- Phasing out pandemic-era cleaning products and replacing them with janitorial paper products that are non-chlorine bleach and use recycled content
- Discontinuing the sale of single-use plastic water bottles
- Making charitable donations and partnering with local nonprofits
Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin with Zooga Yoga Culver City, Justin Han Photography