Green

LG now solar powered!

Since its inception LG has garnered a community of supporters—"friends of Luscious” if you will—including EV fanatics, feminists, environmentalists, and green business moguls; people we’ve inspired for some reason or another and are moved to give back.  Such is the story of our new solar array, courtesy of Energy Efficient Solar, a company of highly-intelligent, capable individuals who care about renewable energy but even more about people. 

I first knew Marc Geller as the vice-president of the San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association.  Then I learned of his advocacy through Plug-In America and his news blog Plugs and Cars.  It was months before I met his colleague Will Korthof, owner and technical genius at EESolar.  Over months of EVA meetings (which we host) and servicing their small fleet of natural gas and electric vehicles, Marc and Will entertained how to hook us up with solar power. 

The day finally came on July 1st, 2008. 

Will designed a modest PV array customized to our power usage at the shop (modest because we don’t consume much power in the first place).  Comprised of eight Mitsubishi 185 watt modules, for 1.5kW peak output, it supports all of the equipment and tools running on 110v power, as well as charging for plug-in cars.

Most importantly, it fulfills our long-term goal for renewable energy at the shop at a highly competitive price; allowing us to meet this goal in the infancy of our business without affecting service prices.

For more information on EESolar, check out their website

Read about the solar project at Art’s Automotive, our wrenching kin in the East Bay

Posted by Carolyn Permalink Categories: Facility » Green »

Our Green Office

Last week in the checkout lane of SoMa Whole Foods there was a plastic bin of chapsticks with a big cardboard sign that said “STOP GLOBAL WARMING” as though to suggest that buying a chapstick would actually stop global warming. 

Chapstick or hybrid car, it’s convenient to think we can buy our way to being green, or saving the Earth, or saving the human race, rather than actually changing our behavior. 

When we must buy something, however, it is absolutely crucial that we look for the green alternative. 

For LG’s office, the green alternative often comes from The Green Office, a “sustainable office products” distributor headquartered right here in San Francisco.  Pictured is the latest order of printer paper, 100% post-consumer recycled content, of course.  We don’t use much paper, but I purchased in bulk to reduce fuel for shipping. 

Click here to order some Aspen 100 of your own

Paper is just the beginning.  Scissors with recycled plastic handles, recycled post-its, recycled pencils, and so on.  Even when there isn’t a truly green alternative (rubber bands?) I feel good supporting their business.  On the other hand, I collect a lot of rubber bands from parts and supplies we receive, so I don’t have to buy many, and that is the real goal.

Posted by Carolyn Comments 1 Trackbacks 0 Permalink Categories: Green »

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.

Posted by Carolyn Comments 49 Trackbacks 0 Permalink Categories: Green »

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.

Posted by Carolyn Comments 1456 Trackbacks 0 Permalink Categories: Green »

SF GREEN CAB in the HOUSE

Green is a great movement; you can help yourself and everyone else at the same time.  This fact resonated yesterday when Thomas from SF Green Cab returned my solicitation to service his hybrid fleet.  This is not a charity case.  Taxi is all business, green or no.  We need to keep their cars on the road—efficiently and economically— and he is willing to pay: so he can rely on his fleet with confidence, to protect his manufacturers’ warranty, and to know his cars are not compromising all his green efforts when they take a break in the shop.

I approached SF Green Cab because, at bottom, they supported hybrids.  But I support green business as well, with equal emphasis on “green” and “business”.  You cannot be green and price gouge, because you effectively punish people for doing the right thing.  This applies to all LG services, for individuals and fleets.  We are priced to support environmental consciousness.

Beyond price, doing the right thing ultimately comes down to service.  Two weeks ago, after seeing SF Green Cabs around town, I arranged for them to give me a ride to the airport at the crack of dawn.  Anyone who’s called for a cab in this town can appreciate this leap of faith; SFGC did not disappoint.  Prompt and capable of hauling all of my crap with the efficiency of an 07 Civic Hybrid, the driver Beyen not only got me there, he charmed me with his knowledge and appreciation of the technology onboard his car.  He is a believer.

For more on SF Green Cab, check out their website, read the glowing reviews on Yelp!, or, better yet, call them for a ride: 415-626-GREEN

Welcome Thomas, Beyen, Mark, and the rest of the SF Green Cab family to Luscious Garage.  Here’s to a prosperous future making people happy, pushing the status quo, and doing right by the environment.

Posted by Carolyn Comments 15 Trackbacks 0 Permalink Categories: Green »