Become friends with your toaster oven
Toaster ovens are a lot cheaper and
less wasteful
than conventional ovens. They're also faster, requiring none of the "pre heating" nonsense of those clunky, power-mad ovens. In fact, using smaller versions of traditional appliances is practically always cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly. A toaster beats a toaster oven (for toasting, at least) and using an electric kettle beats boiling water on a stovetop.
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Nominate A CLEAN Champion
In the community, there are numerous individuals and  organizations that work to improve Chula Vista's quality of life everyday by saving energy and water, protec
ting open space, reducing waste, and preventing pollution. Help recognize their environmental dedication and leadership by nominating them for a Chula Vista CLEAN Champion Award today!
The CLEAN Champion Awards were created by the City's Sustainability Commission (formerly known as the Resource Conservation Commission) in 2013 and are bestowed annually to celebrate community members, who help achieve clean air, clean water, and clean land within Chula Vista. This year, the categories are CLEAN Resident Award, CLEAN Business Award, CLEAN Organization Award, CLEAN Youth Award, and CLEAN City Employee Award. All nominees must either live or work in Chula Vista and nominations must be submitted by Friday, March 31. The award winners will be selected by the City's Sustainability Commission and recognized by the City Council at their April 25 meeting.
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Energy Rate Reform Continues
The CPUC and SDG&E are continuing their path to modernize the energy rates for residents and businesses and two important changes will be happening in 2017 and 2018. The reform started in the last two years with shifti
ng from 4 rate tiers to 2, with less difference between them. This meant that the average bill for low-use customers has increased, while it decreased for higher use customers. That is going to change this year with the implementation of the "Super User" electric surcharge, which is intended to penalize excessive energy use. This surcharge will be phased in starting in 2017 and only applies to customers whose usage is above 400 percent of baseline - meaning double the average customer's usage in their climate zone. The charge will increase over time, ultimately reaching a rate at more than double Tier 1. This is estimated to only apply to about 2% of SDG&E's customers andwill help encourage the highest users to conserve and help lower operating costs for everyone.
The last step of this reform will happen in 2019 when residential customers will be transitioned to Time-of-Use rates that better reflect the cost of providing energy at different times in the day. Residents are already able to voluntarily join this program for a no-risk trial on SDG&E's website here: http://www.sdge.com/whenergy/residential.php. You can learn more about the rate reform, as well as energy saving options to make sure your bill stays low here: http://www.sdge.com/RateReform/. You can also contact City Conservation staff at [email protected] or 619-409-3893 to help find energy saving opportunities by signing up for a FREE Home Energy and Water Check-Up.
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CLEAN Business Awards and Mixer
On March 9th the city organized an event with the Chamber of Commerce to recognize CLEAN Business Program participants for their efforts to be sustainable and make a difference in the community. The event took place at the Novo Brazil Brewery and all participants had a great time networking and enjoying the award presentation.
 Cool Down Coffee
received an award for being a Community Partner, being energy efficient, socially responsible, and for helping the City implement its alternative transportation outreach efforts by donating gift cards for commuters.
St. Rose of Lima
received an award for going through the REV Sustainability circle educational program, committing to improving their energy efficiency, conserving water, and reducing their waste.
ARYA Cleaners
received an award for continuing its efforts in being a CLEAN Business in Chula Vista. ARYA Cleaners does not use harmful chemicals and has recently replaced all of its equipment again with more energy and water efficient machines.
Performance Bicycles
received an award for being a Community Partner and providing a booth at City events where they assist with the bicycle valet and are available for safety checks and minor bicycle tune ups.
Eastlake Storage received an aw
ard for being one of our newest
CLEAN Businesses who is making a difference in terms of efficiency; the facility is working its way toward zero net energy and implementing an electronics recycling program.
The CLEAN Business program is a voluntary program designed to help Chula Vista businesses with their sustainability efforts. In return the City recognizes these businesses with awards, with highlights on print and digital articles, as well as on social media. For more information about the CLEAN Business program, please visit:
www.chulavistaca.gov/clean or call 619-409-1975.
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Commercial Recycling Container Program
With funds from CalRecycle, Chula Vista proposes a free internal recycling container program that offers businesses recycling containers of varying size, signage and employee education. Through a competitive bidding process, the City identified the most cost-effective vendor that could provide the necessary recycling containers for this program. The City hopes to incentivize business owners who may not be able to afford more recycling containers to comply with the regulation.
To receive these recycling containers, businesses must -
- Show an interest in increasing their recycling and be willing to have a service level evaluation before and after receipt of the containers. The service evaluation will assist businesses in quantifying an increase in recycling.
- Complete a Recycling Bin Application Form. The form asks pertinent questions about how these containers will be used, why the business requires them, and how will the business will monitor the progress of their recycling program.
- When submitting the form, business owners agree to periodic site visits to demonstrate their compliance.
- As a supplement to the recycling containers, City staff will provide free employee education on recycling techniques and provide free recycling signage for businesses.
The recycling program's goal is to reach the State mandated recycling goal of 75%. In addition, diversion of recyclable materials from the landfill provides opportunities to reduce the City's greenhouse gas emissions which will enable us to reach benchmarks set in the City's Climate Action Plan. Recycling also creates jobs, save citizens money and creates a healthy environment.
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