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How Longmont Businesses Are Becoming More Sustainable

This is a monumental year for Longmont, Colorado, in terms of celebrating local businesses and the sustainable initiatives they have adopted

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

This is a monumental year for Longmont, Colorado, in terms of celebrating local businesses and the sustainable initiatives they have adopted. In January, the Sustainability Advisory Board launched the Sustainable Business Program which awards businesses a level (gold, silver, or bronze) after assigning points to a measure on the following categories: 

  • Environmental impact reduction potential
  • Ease of implementation
  • Time Commitment
  • Monetary Commitment
  • Employee Involvement

The pre-determined point matrix, or Sustainability Evaluation System (SES), was developed by the City of Longmont Public Works & Natural Resources. The tool aims to help business owners make more sustainable decisions when developing or implementing plans, procedures, programs, and projects.

The SES is made up of two modules, Exploring/Setting Goals and Evaluating Alternatives.

The first module helps to identify what sustainability characteristics of projects or programs should be considered in the planning stages of a project of program.

The second use evaluates the sustainability aspects of alternatives that are in a development plan or preliminary design.

Credit: Pixabay

All in all, the SES is based on the following 12 categories: 

1)  Best Practices (Organizational)
2)  Best Practices (Assets and Infrastructure)
3)  Best Practices (Financial)
4)  Buildings and Infrastructure
5)  Energy
6)  Transportation
7)  Community and Individual Well-being
8)  Economic Vitality
9)  Materials and Waste
10)  Natural Environment
11)  Water Resources
12)  Water Quality

As the City of Longmont website explains, each category has numerous sub-topics that provide additional information and criteria to guide sustainable practices. Through the use of the SES tool, the city can ensure that Longmont programs abide by and consider the three pillars of sustainability: environmental protection, economic vitality, and social equity. 

Credit: Pixabay

Though the Sustainable Business Program is in its first year, 18 businesses have already received certificates. The full list can be found here.

Restaurants who were awarded the “gold” level award include The Roost, Main Street Map Company, Left Hand Brewing Company, Management, and Engineering Services, and OUR Center. Winners of the “silver” level award include Left Hand Corporation, Circle Graphics, Simply Bulk Market, King Hand Car Wash and Detail Center, UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital, and Cheese Importers. 

From restaurants sourcing high-quality products and omitting single-use plastic to companies replacing lightbulbs with LED versions and introducing honeybees on the premise, there are many ways Longmont businesses are striving to “go green.” 

Credit: Pixabay

Simply Bulk Market, for instance, whose business model relies on customers bringing their own to-go containers or purchasing glass variations, has witnessed a growing demand for sustainable options customers can feel good about.

There’s too much packaging everywhere and so our business provides that opportunity to reduce the amount of packaging people are purchasing and producing,” said Devin Quince, who owns and runs Simply Bulk Market with his wife, Heidi. 

For entrepreneur Sean Gafner, who owns The Roost, Smoking Bowls, and Jefes, the decision to eliminate single-use plastic and source grass-fed, antiobiotic-free, and hormone-free food for the restaurants stems from a desire to simply do "what’s right and what’s needed.”

“For me it’s more than just doing what’s right and what’s needed, but I so badly want our broken systems to change that I am doing everything that I can to lead ALL Longmont businesses to follow more sustainable practices. I’m constantly speaking at events with other businesses about how and why and all of the immediate benefits as well as long term benefits of making sustainable/responsible choices with your business,” said Gafner. 

Similarly, Management and Engineering Services, LLC, is making strides to reduce its carbon footprint and leave a sustainable legacy. Via email, spokesperson Melissa Brashers of Management and Engineering Services, LLC, shared that the company has replaced all light bulbs with LED alternatives, introduced a comprehensive recycling program, replaced approximately 800 square feet of landscape with drought-tolerant plants on drip irrigation, replaced toilets with low-flow fixtures...and more!

In the years to come, Management and Engineering Services, LLC, aims to install a rain/freeze sensor, a hard-to-recycle materials program to collect plastic bags, Styrofoam, and old cords from office activities, and even perhaps add honey bees to the property.

While only in its first year the Sustainable Business Program is already making a big impact on the roles local businesses take in becoming a more sustainable city.