Businesses with a conscience

<www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/March/12/biz/stories/01biz.htm>

March 12, 2003
By KAREN A. DAVIS
Sentinel staff writer

SANTA CRUZ -- Darrell and Karen Darling, owners of the Darling House bed and breakfast in Santa Cruz, compost their inn’s vegetable waste and use it to grow begonias in their drought-tolerant, drip-irrigated gardens.
Catherine and David Banghart, owners of Bee Bright candle company in Santa Cruz, use tree-free paper and card stock made from recycled denim, old money and hemp. Their beeswax and hemp oil candles contain no lead or petroleum products.
Mike DeGive, owner of Bella Wella Ink!, a writing, public relations and graphic design company in Felton, donates his skills to several area nonprofits free of charge.
These businesses are among a new wave of local companies who have pledged to be environmentally friendly and socially responsible in their work practices. Santa Cruz Community Credit Union and its nonprofit affiliate, Community Ventures, helped form the “More Than Just Commerce” group, which launched its Web site this week at www.morethanjustcommerce.org.
By being selective about where they spend their money, consumers can have a huge influence on the environment and the quality of life for workers around the world, according to Shana Boehm, a community development associate with the credit union.
“When ethical business grow stronger locally, so do the suppliers,” she said.
So far, 55 local business owners have joined “More Than Just Commerce.” Consumers visiting the site can browse a directory listing each company’s recycling habits, energy use, charitable giving and understanding of the social and environmental policies of their suppliers, among other things.
Whether large or small, each business has found ways to put their commitment to the environment and society into action.
Chocolate, a downtown Santa Cruz cafe, uses a number of organic products and purchases its namesake ingredient from El Rey, a Venezuelan company committed to saving and replanting the ancient Criollo Cacao groves of Central America.
Employees at Rebecca’s Mighty Muffins donate extra food to area soup kitchens and shelters. The restaurant also recycles and uses energy-saving light bulbs.
Santa Cruz Millwork’s custom shop makes windows and doors using sustainably harvested and recycled wood. The company has turned down jobs that specified woods like teek and African mahagony, which they believe to be unsustainably harvested, according to owner Tom Nedelsky. Wood scraps are sold at flea markets for use as kindling, while sawdust goes to the City of Santa Cruz Greencycle program.
Businesses in Santa Cruz County and northern Monterey County may apply for group membership. For information, call Boehm at 425-7708, Ext. 257.
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Contact Karen A. Davis at kdavis (at) santa-cruz.com.