LG Clean and Green Certified

San Francisco is a famously green city (green-minded perhaps?) so it’s no surprise it was one of the first with an environmental program for auto shops.  Called Clean and Green it mandates compliance with hazardous materials and OSHA regs, pushes industry best practices and technology changes, and gives you an audience with the mother of toxics information, SF DPH’s own Virginia St. Jean.

Last winter, before LG had a space, or a logo, or a phone number, I called Virginia for a lunch date.  (We had to go dutch to keep it legit.) Over coconut soup we discussed the nefarious toxins used daily in shops—aerosols, parts washers, antifreeze, etcetera—and some flagrant local polluters ushering them into the air, soil, and water.  She counseled on all the local resources for environmental efforts.  She shared her near-encyclopedic memory of suppliers and retailers with updated methods and materials with lowered health and environmental hazards. 

In short, we hit it off.

Today, on Halloween, Virginia and her staff members (pictured left to right: Ilana Gauss, Virginia, and Sarah Rodriguez) came by for the final “Clean and Green” inspection for Luscious Garage.  While humoring our selection of costume gear, they reviewed our MSDS binder (very thin) and the necessary OSHA training for LG staff.  I demonstrated our parts washer that uses biodiesel for solvent and our multi-faceted recycling system. Pictured also is our oil caddy for re-refined oil and reusable sprayer (filled with compressed air) for a water/acetone mix that replaces so-called “brake clean”.

They’re not sure we can find a private recycling company to handle all our wastes, but I’m not giving up. (Zero-waste baby!)

After five years of good work, the Clean and Green program is an old-timer.  Surrounding cities of the Bay Area have adopted a bona fide Green Business Program for automotive. Ilana tells me SF won’t have one until the middle of next year.  While C&G remains the best tool to attack toxics, leadership on water and energy conservation will have to wait. At least on the government level.

I am extraordinarily grateful to Virgina and the SF Department of Public Health for their good work, and for helping us certify as “Clean and Green.” But Luscious Garage isn’t motivated by certificates or recognition.  And we are certainly not satisfied with being called “Clean and Green” or simply “Green.” Satisfaction will come when our environmental impact is completely eliminated.

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Prius Body Moldings

Available through Metro Toyota, a dealer in my hometown of Cleveland, OH, these nifty body moldings save doors from nicks and dings while negotiating city life. 

“They look sporty, too,” says Jim of Cambell, CA, pictured with his freshly installed pair. 

Luscious Garage will put them on for $60, nice and straight. 

Want us to take care of the parts, too?  No problem, $250 installed.  Please email us to get them ordered in the proper color, arriving in 4-5 business days.

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Happy Halloween!

I love our neighbors!  Pictured L-R are Javier, Sheila, and Craig from Gamma Photo Lab next door, then Tami and me. 

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Luscious On Stage, more to come

“And so you see, Heather Gold is a genius:” one of the many thought-provoking revelations that filled the Heather Gold Show chez Luscious Garage last Friday. Pictured (L-R) we had Juba Kalamka, Dale Dougherty, Heather Gold, and yours truly discussing both the merits and myths of “doing it yourself”. 

Sorry you missed it?  Don’t worry, we’ve got another dose of this creative salon November 9th, from 8-9:30pm, featuring Lawrence Lessig on the topic of “Being Earnest.”

Check out Lessig’s blog for Creative Common’s Commentary

Or go to the source: Viva the Commons!

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After Oil Radio

Recommended by one of our customers, “After Oil” is a recent radio program produced by the College of Engineering at Purdue University (which recently aired on KQED):

After Oil Website, with a link to audio files

Hosted by Barbara Bogaev, this is a grounded, intelligent, engaging 51 minutes to sharpen your perspective on America’s oil dependence, the impending threat of peaking supply, and the search for solutions.

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