Pollution Prevention (P2)

Hazardous waste that is improperly disposed of or otherwise released into the environment contributes to the pollution of our water, soil and air. Traditionally, industries that generate hazardous waste have been regulated through stringent disposal requirements and “end-of-the-pipe” controls. In recent years, however, regulatory agencies and businesses alike have begun recognizing the importance of preventing pollution at the source, before it is created. Through pollution prevention practices, businesses are reducing the amount of hazardous waste that they generate, including air emissions, and are reducing disposal and regulatory compliance costs as a result.

The District recognizes local individuals, organizations and businesses that succeeding in their efforts to keep our skies clear by reducing their impacts on our local air quality. Pollution Prevention Week is held each year during the second full week in September.

2007 P2 Winners

Central Coast Ag Network (CCAN):  The typical American diet can contain ingredients from as many as five foreign countries and food that has traveled 1500 or more “food miles.”  CCAN’s efforts focus on informing consumers, chefs, restaurants and institutional food buyers of the many benefits of purchasing locally-grown food.  As more local farmers and ranchers sell their products closer to home to meet local demand, the “food miles” and associated air pollution are greatly reduced.  Through their “Central Coast Grown Project” public education and outreach campaign, CCAN is working to increase the demand for locally-grown food and actively supporting the efforts of local producers to establish local marketing channels.  The core of this public education effort is to encourage consumers to think about the environmental consequences of their food-buying choices.  In addition to reducing “food miles,” a robust local agricultural market increases the viability and value of healthy agricultural lands, thereby reducing the potential for conversion to other uses. 

 Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes: Lindamood-Bell is “Greening Their Learning Scene” and reducing pollution throughout the office place.  Their efforts include providing recycle bins at every desk, switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, using recycled paper products and toxin-free cleaning supplies and installing a double sided printer to reduce paper use. Another key element of their pollution prevention strategies includes the use of video conferencing to accommodate the employee travel from satellite locations.  From 2005 to 2006 the video conferencing reduced enough employee trips to fill nearly three full jumbo-jet liners! For every meeting administered through video conferencing, Lindamood-Bell has eliminated not just the aircraft emissions but also the emissions from the drive to the airport, the vehicles that load and unload the plane, the rental car and the hotel.  In addition to their “Greening the Learning Scene” operations, Lindamood-Bell has launched an environmental education component to their activities, declaring August 13 - 17 as “Green Week” and creating a mascot, “Beary Green”, a teddy bear who is displayed at every Learning Center, to highlight different ways to conserve energy and reduce pollution.

Oceano Community Center:  In 2006 the Oceano Community Center, Inc. (OCCI) opened a 15,380 square foot facility that incorporated a variety of green building and pollution prevention strategies in its design.  The gym has a photovoltaic system to generate on-site electricity and several energy saving features to reduce energy demand, including clerestory windows that open to provide efficient cooling;  the use of “light shelves” to reflect and enhance natural daylight; occupancy sensors for lighting control; a roof designed to minimize solar heat gain; and north-facing glazing to provide light without adding solar heat gain.  In addition, recycled and environmentally friendly construction materials were used wherever possible; automatic controls on the lavatories were installed to reduce water usage; and the landscape plantings are drought resistant.  Building maintenance practices include the use of nontoxic cleaning supplies and recycling of waste materials.  Recognizing that 30% of the 7,250 resident users are below the age of 18, bike racks were conspicuously placed to encourage travel to the facility by means other than a car.  Finally, OCCI Board Members and Staff are compassionate about the center and have discussed its environmental features and their benefits with the 600+ children who have enjoyed the facility to date. 

 San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition:  Bike Valet is a free bicycle parking service offered by the SLO County Bicycle Coalition at SLO Farmers Market and other community events.  By offering a safe, free and convenient location to park bikes, they have seen a steady increase in users since introducing the service in 2006. The valet promotes in-town bike trips that reduce the need for vehicle parking demands, traffic congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gases, while simultaneously promoting a healthy lifestyle and petroleum-free transportation option.  The Bike Valet service is available to all interested community events in SLO County for a nominal fee; all proceeds go to fund the SLO County Bicycle Coalition, which in turn promotes safe traffic and commuter routes, bike maps and many other bicycle safety/education programs countywide.  A recent SLO County Bicycle Coalition survey shows the lack of adequate bike facilities as a key barrier for a majority of SLO County residents, making it difficult for residents to replace auto trips with non-motorized travel options.  The Bike Valet is one of the many resources the SLO Bicycle Coalition provides to facilitate people getting out of their cars and onto their bikes.  Since February 2006, over 2,000 potential auto trips have been replaced by bicycle trips that utilized parking at the Bike Valet.

Wolff Vineyards:  Wolff Vineyards is a family owned and operated ecologically friendly vineyard and artisan winery that utilizes an integrated group of strategies to reduce pollution and maintain viable soil quality for future generations.  These strategies include long-term air quality benefits, long-term water quality benefits, land preservation, environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and waste reduction.  Some of these pollution prevention tactics include utilizing cleaner burning farming equipment and fuel, implementing Integrated Pest Management techniques, reducing particulate matter by eliminating disking and planting native grasses to minimize wind caused soil erosion, and installing an efficient gray water system for winery discharge. The property has an Agriculture Preserve contract (Williamson Act) with the County and provides restoration and enhancement sites for turtles, birds and salmon.  Energy star appliances, high efficiency electrical equipment and energy efficient lighting and controls are used in the winery and tasting room.  All glass, plastic, paper waste products of the winery and tasting room are recycled.  In addition, tasting room wrapping for wine bottles are made of recycled brown paper and decorated with recycled wine bottle labels, while used wine barrels are recycled into furniture.  

2006 P2 Winners

2006 POLLUTION PREVENTION AWARD WINNERS:

Central Coast Ag Network (CCAN):  The typical American diet can contain ingredients from as many as five foreign countries and food that has traveled 1500 or more “food miles.”  CCAN’s efforts focus on building informed consumers, chefs, restaurants, and institutionally food buyers of the many benefits of purchasing locally-grown food.  As more local farmers and ranchers sell their products closer to home meet demand, the “food miles” and associated air pollution are greatly reduced.  Through the Central Coast Grown Project, a public education and outreach campaign, CCAN is working to increase the demand for locally-grown food and actively supporting local producers’ efforts to establish local marketing channels.  At the core of the public education effort is encouraging consumers to think about the environmental consequences of their food-buying choices.  In addition to the reduction in “food miles,” a robust local agricultural market furthers the viability of healthy agricultural lands and lessens the impact of sprawl. 

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes: Lindamood-Bell is “Greening Their Learning Scene” and reducing pollution throughout the office place.  Their efforts include providing recycle bins at every desk, switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, using recycled paper products and toxin-free cleaning supplies, and installing a double sided printer to reduce paper use. Another key element of their pollution prevention strategies includes the use of video conferencing to accommodate the employee travel from satellite locations.  From 2005 to 2006 the video conferencing reduced enough employee trips to fill nearly three full jumbo-jet liners! For every meeting administered through video conferencing Lindamood-Bell has eliminated the drive to the airport, the airplane, the vehicles that load the airplane, and the vehicles that unload the plane, the rental car, and the hotel.  In addition to their “Greening the Learning Scene” operations, Lindamood-Bell has launched an environmental education component to their activities, declaring August 13 ­­- 17 as “Green Week” and creating a mascot, Beary Green, a teddy bear who is displayed at every Learning Center, to highlight different ways to conserve energy and reduce pollution.

Oceano Community Center:  In 2006, the Oceano Community Center, Inc. (OCCI) opened a 15,380 square foot facility that incorporated a variety of green building, pollution prevention strategies in its design.  The gym includes a photovoltaic system to generate on-site electricity and along with opening clerestory windows for efficient cooling.  Recycled and environmentally friendly construction materials were used wherever possible and the landscape plantings are drought resistant.  Since opening, non toxic cleaning supplies are utilized, and waste materials are recycled.  Other green build features of the community center include light shelves to enhance daylighting and occupancy sensors for lighting control both of which reduce the electricity use; automatic controls on the lavatories to reduce water usage; a roof designed to minimize solar heat gain; and, north-facing glazing to provide light without adding solar heat gain.  Bike racks were consciously provided to encourage travel to the facility by means other than a car, recognizing that 30% of the 7,250 resident users are below the age of 18.  In addition to the on-site green build design, OCCI Board Members and Staff are compassionate about the center and discussed the environmental justifications and benefits to the 600+ children who enjoy the facility to date. 

San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition:  Bike Valet is a free bicycle parking service offered by SLO County Bicycle Coalition at SLO Farmers Market and other community events.  By offering a safe, free, convenient location to park bikes, they have seen a steady increase in users since its opening in 2006. The valet promotes in-town bike trips that reduce the need for vehicle parking demands, traffic congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gasses, while simultaneously promoting a healthy lifestyle and petroleum-free transportation option.  Bike Valet is open for contract to all interested community events in SLO County for a nominal fee; all proceeds go to fund the SLO County Bicycle Coalition, which in turn promotes safe traffic and commuter routes, bike maps, and many other bicycle safety/education programs countywide.  A recent SLO County Bicycle Coalition survey shows the lack of bike facilities being a key barrier for a majority of SLO County residents, making it difficult for residents to replace auto trips with transit and/or non-motorized options.  The Bike Valet is one of the many resources the SLO Bicycle Coalition provides to facilitate people getting out of their cars and onto their bikes.  Since February 2006, over 2,000 auto trips have been replaced by bicycle trips that utilized parking at the Bike Valet.

Wolff Vineyards: Wolff Vineyards is a family owned and operated ecologically friendly vineyard and artisan winery that utilizes an integrated group of strategies to reduce pollution and maintain viable soil quality for future generations. These strategies include long-term air quality benefits, long-term water quality benefits, land preservation, environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and waste reduction. Some of these pollution prevention tactics include utilizing cleaner burning farming equipment and fuel, implementing Integrated Pest Management techniques, reducing particulate matter by eliminating disking and planting native grasses to minimize wind caused soil erosion, and installing an efficient gray water system for winery discharge. The property is enrolled as an Agriculture Preserve contract (Williamson Act) with the County and provides restoration and enhancement sites for turtles, birds and salmon. Energy star appliances, high efficiency electrical equipment and energy efficient lighting and controls are used in the winery and tasting room. All glass, plastic, paper waste products of the winery and tasting room are recycled. In addition, tasting room wrapping for wine bottle are made of recycled brown paper and decorated with recycled wine bottle labels and used wine barrels are recycled into furniture.

Previous P2 Winners

2006 Pollution Prevention Award Winners

2005 Pollution Prevention Award Winners

How to Become P2 Savvy

Interested in how you can help to prevent pollution at your business? Take a look at our Industrial Strength Tips for Preventing Pollution.

For more information on pollution prevention programs check out the following websites: 

Western Regional Pollution Prevention Network (WRPPN) 

U.S. EPA's P2 website

Contact us for more information on this topic.