Sustainable: Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. — Oxford American Dictionaries

Carolyn Chase, CEO of San Diego EarthWorks (right) and Patti Krebs, executive director of the Industrial Environmental Association, are involved in the San Diego Regional Sustainability Partnership. They meet under a dinosaur at the San Diego Natural History Museum, another member of the partnership. (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

Earlier this year, the San Diego Natural History Museum received a $1.3 million loan from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to upgrade its 15-year-old heating and air conditioning system. Money saved through the more efficient system will cover the total loan amount and interest after 20 years, says Mick Hager, president and CEO of the museum.

“Next year we’ll renovate the last remaining gallery — where the fire exhibit is now — and put in more efficient lighting,” says Hager.

The museum is one of 35 signatories to the San Diego Sustainability Partnership, a consortium of businesses, organizations, governments and educational institutions who pledge to lead and promote positive environmental practices that help the planet as well as themselves, such as increased recycling, changing how employees travel to and from work, conserving water, reducing energy consumption and helping reduce global warming.

“This is not just an environmental issue anymore,” says Carolyn Chase, CEO of San Diego EarthWorks, a coalition member. “It is relevant to business and always has been.” (EarthWorks puts on EarthFair in Balboa Park, an annual event for environmental education, awareness and celebration. Next year’s event is April 22.)

Chase says she would like to see more businesses and organizations participate in the Sustainability Partnership. “I’d like the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to sign on — and city and county governments,” she says. “Governments can save their taxpayers money.”

Why is sustainability an issue every company and organization should be working on? “The alternatives are pretty grim,” says Hager. “We’re approaching the carrying capacity of the planet and we’re outstripping resources faster than we are able to replenish them. The result is the collapse of the entire ecosystem. Although this sounds dire, it’s the truth. The quicker we become sustainable in business and our personal life, the better off we will be both economically as a region and personally. Almost every aspect of our lives must depend on cultivating a sustainable culture.”

Patti Krebs, executive director of the Industrial Environmental Association, says the Sustainability Partnership evolved from a series of programs led by the association in 1994 to promote the idea that sustainability goals for corporations make good business sense and improve the bottom line. Krebs says strong leadership has come from Navy Rear Adm. Len Hering, commander of Navy Region Southwest. (A presidential executive order in 2002 gave the Navy a mandate to develop sustainable programs.)

“The response to the call for a regional partnership was tremendous,” says Krebs. “The basic tenets of sustainability are environmental, social and economic responsibility. It is the economic principle that makes leadership from the business community so important. Businesses have an enormous role in the success of such a partnership and can influence sustainability in many ways through their operations, facilities, supply chain, employee base and social responsibility to their community.”

The Earth Resource Foundation in Costa Mesa sponsored San Diego County’s first Zero Waste Business Conference that attracted more than 80 representatives of businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities from around the state to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. “It was a how-to event that focused on the bottom line,” says Stephanie Barger, founder and executive director of the foundation. “There are considerable savings to be had from diverting waste from landfills. But zero waste goes way beyond recycling. Companies become more efficient and employees are a lot more engaged in environmental issues.”

San Diego County attendees included representatives from Hewlett-Packard, Tierra Miguel Foundation Farms, Point Loma Nazarene University, Vons, Albertsons and Golden Acorn Casino, among others.