Redmond High School (RHS) seniors Karin Otsuka, Laura Svancarek, Kate Smiley and Rachel Wong have formed Green Things, Local Dreams (GTLD) and are working towards creating a Redmond Green Business Award.

The award will focus on recognizing local businesses on reducing energy usage and practicing green habits throughout all aspects of their business. Each participating business will be given a preliminary audit to identify areas of high energy use and waste, as well as areas of achievement, and will be given a list of simple tips tailored to their business which can make a big impact on energy consumption. Businesses will also have an approximated carbon footprint calculated and a report written synthesizing the information gathered on the initial audit. Following an eight- to 10-week competition period, the businesses will undergo a secondary audit, highlighting the impacts of any changes made.

GTLD has conducted an initial audit at Blazing Bagels and is in the process of organizing an audit for SoulFood Books. The students are looking forward to working further with Redmond Floral, McDonald’s Book Exchange, Jill’s English Toffee, Redmond Kids Dentistry, Redmond Trophy and Engraving, and other small, Redmond-owned and operated businesses. They have received support from the City of Redmond, and have been in contact with Erika Vandenbrande, who works in economic development and community planning and development.

The Green Business Award itself will have two main recipients. The first award will go to the business with the most success in reducing their energy usage over the competition period. This will be determined through a comparison of electrical bills, carbon footprints and other data gathered from both the first and second audits.

To honor businesses that are already taking strides to be environmentally conscious, a second award will go to the business deemed the most green. This will be chosen by analyzing the limits that each business faces due to its inherent power requirements, as well as notable actions being taken by the business to actively support green enterprises.