Keep Tahoe Blue Businesses

Azul Latin Kitchen offers a lighter, fresher, healthier spin on traditional and authentic Mexican and Latin American food. Their organic produce is sourced from the Sacramento/Central Valley of California. Their meat is sustainably raised and antibiotic free. Azul is a family friendly and fast casual restaurant in the Heavenly Village.

“We joined the Keep Tahoe Blue Business Program because we feel strongly that our business has the ability to impact our community in many ways. We have always been conscious of the impacts on our staff and guests with our service and quality food. As well our impact on the environment. Our goal is to use our business as one vehicle to help improve our community and the world we live in.

Azul founded a composting program for the Heavenly Village that now has five restaurants, diverting food waste from the landfill. They use compostable to-go containers, eliminated straws, installed 100 percent LED lighting, asked employees to use their own reusable water bottle during their shift and founded an Annual Earth Day cleanup event for the area surrounding Heavenly Village. “We look forward to partnering with the League at future cleanups.

Blue Water Day Spa located in South Lake Tahoe prides itself on being a "no waste company." They offer relaxing, rehabilitative massage, using nut and allergen free products; skin care service using cruelty-free, organic and green, results-oriented skin care products. Their nail bar offers "5 free", and locally-sourced products. Their blow dry bar offers chemical-free hair care.

“Our company supports community involvement, beginning with Lake Tahoe seemed like the natural foundation to who we are. We are proud to be a part of what this partnership will become.”

Blue Water Day Spa operates with the environment in mind. “We use chemical free and natural cleaners, all of our customer intake forms are laminated so information can be wiped off for the next person and everything is scanned or emailed to create no paper waste, our sheets are bamboo, we use reusable cups and bottles so there is no plastic waste, we use reusable washcloths and towels so there are no paper towels, we repainted with environmental paint and replaced the lights with LED lighting. We strive to operate with little waste in our business.”

Brand Geek / Law Office of Lara Pearson Ltd, PBC is a soulful intellectual property law firm in Incline Village that focuses exclusively on trademark and copyright law, primarily for other multiple-bottom-line businesses, bands and promoters.

Brand Geek was excited to see the Blue Business program evolve after the Keep the Sierra Green program ended in 2016. “It is exciting and important to have a local business program that acknowledges and encourages environmental stewardship. As a Certified B Corp since 2008, Brand Geek long has met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.” Locally operated since 2002, it is equally important to Brand Geek to participate in a regionally recognizable program and to lead by example in the local community.

“Brand Geek is stoked to partner with the League to host a beach clean-up day in North Lake Tahoe this July 5.”

Brand Geek donates at least one percent of its annual gross revenue to environmental organizations since 2006. They are a paperless law office, and encourage all stakeholders to reduce paper consumption. Brand Geek conserves energy by purchasing only Energy Star® rated office appliances and electronic devices and by turning off lights when rooms are not in use and turning off and unplugging office equipment when not in use. They also recycle all electronics and equipment. “With the goal of having a net-zero environmental impact, we offset 200 percent of our annual greenhouse gas emissions from paper consumption, office energy use, commuting and business travel.

Having relocated to a new home office at the end of 2016, Brand Geek's goals for 2017 are to replace all lighting in its home (including its home office) with LED light bulbs and to have an energy audit completed.

Ernie’s Coffee Shop prides itself in being "Lake Tahoe's family diner since 1968.”

“We believe in the League's mission to protect the water quality of Lake Tahoe. Our small business strives to be exceptional stewards of our mountain town through food and hospitality. We are excited to participate in the Lake Tahoe experience for locals and visitors alike. We hope that through our restaurant we can enhance the public's appreciation of our surroundings, and encourage people to preserve it for future generations to enjoy.”

Ernie's Coffee Shop has reduced single use plastics as well as energy and water use, and embraces a company culture that values the outdoors. They are adopting a carpool incentive program to encourage staff to ride their bikes, walk or carpool. “We are proud to partner with the League for Restoration Day and we look forward to developing a meaningful relationship with the League to Save Lake Tahoe through the Blue Business Program.”

The Free Bird is home to an organic espresso bar, and serves homemade chai and superfood smoothies in South Lake Tahoe.

“We like to partner with like-minded people, keep Tahoe nice and pure is our main asset. It is nice that Keep Tahoe Blue is putting this together for other businesses that are not sure how to channel their dollars to support and get involved. We like that the League is constantly involved in the community.”

The Free Bird is proud to use compostable products and organic products. They offer a discount to customers who to ride bikes and walk to our establishment. “We enjoy partnering with the League on the volunteer programs that bring the community together.”

High Sierra Gardens, in business for more than 30 years on the north shore, offers their services as a landscape contractor while running a retail florist and gift shop and retail landscape nursery. They also offer property landscape maintenance services.

“Joining with Keep Tahoe Blue is a natural fit: we care to preserve the natural beauty of the Lake in any manner possible and we are excited to contribute to and support fundraising efforts to help get the League’s message to as many as possible.”

High Sierra Gardens’ best efforts are in the direction of supporting the natural landscape of the Lake Tahoe Basin to protect the clarity and well-being of the Lake. These include:

• using only organic soil amendments, potting soil, planting mixes and conditioners.
• providing, through their retail nursery, trees, perennials and ground cover native to the Lake Tahoe Basin.
• establishing a demonstration garden for the purpose of education in proper planting, care and lake safety techniques.
• protection of the creek that runs through our property to Lake Tahoe.
• hosting Keep Tahoe Blue stickers at the facility where donations help the League’s programs. High Sierra Gardens also looks forward to hosting an event for the League at their facility.

Lake of the Sky Outfitters is an outdoor retailer specializing in hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. It was born out of our passion for exploring the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe area in particular. One of their goals is to create a community of like-minded people and ensure a hiker-friendly community in South Lake Tahoe for locals and visitors alike.

“We feel a responsibility to give back to our community and to the Lake Tahoe Basin. Towards that end, we were excited to hear about the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Blue Business Program.”

Lake of the Sky Outfitters have installed a low flow toilet, and staff use reusable water bottles and personal hand towels. In a new program, they’ll be taking our recyclables directly to South Tahoe Refuse. They’ve already partnered with the League on movie events and have hosted the Keep Tahoe Blue stickers for years. “We believe every bit counts toward the goal of Keeping Tahoe Blue. We are excited to be a part of it!”

POSTMARC hotel & spa suites was founded in May 2015. It is a boutique hotel located in South Lake Tahoe.

“We joined the Blue Business program because we treasure our lake and surrounding environment. It is the reason we are here. We are excited to be able to be part of the solution around the lake and to take part in tangible actions that will both fulfill us as people, and serve a very important civic duty.

“We are currently doing our best to conserve water by limiting our linen and housekeeping services to on request, planting native water conserving vegetation, using reusable glassware, offering complimentary bike rentals, installed two new high efficiency boilers, utilize a weekly recycling program, installed new energy efficient lighting, placed five smoking poles outside, and have BMP's installed outside. Moving forward we would like to host events and participate in Pipe Keepers.”

RISE is home to South Tahoe’s favorite designs. They design t-shirts, hats, and artwork. They also provide commercial screen printing and graphic design services for the public. “All of our own artwork is inspired by nature and our local environment of Tahoe. We’re located in Meyers, California. Come on by, check us out!”

“The reason we joined the Blue Business program is because we feel we can make a difference making some changes within our business to help improve the special place we live in. We are excited to be part of the entire program with other local businesses that care about the place we all live and work, and to make it nicer place.”

RISE Designs recycles as much as they can at the shop. From re-using materials such as shirt scraps into rags to be less wasteful, to recycling our trash and turning lights off when they don't need them, they want to Keep Tahoe Blue. They also pick up litter surrounding their property and run errands using a shop bike. As part of this program, the RISE is asking manufacturers to cut styrofoam out of packages sent to their shop. “We are proud to design artwork for the League’s merchandise and provide raffle items.”

View our video profile of RISE Designs co-owners Marley Reel and Mike Miller.

RnR Vacation Rentals is a small boutique vacation rental management company in South Lake Tahoe. They love providing an opportunity for people from the around the world to get to experience all that Lake Tahoe has to offer.

“We recognize that in the vacation rental business we have an avenue to reach thousands of temporary members of the community. We are excited to be part of the Blue Business program to work hard at educating vacationers on how to be environmentally friendly during their stays so the Lake’s ecosystem will remain intact and stunning for countless years to come.”

RnR Vacation Rentals recently implemented a reusable bottle system for amenities in their homes to eliminate the excessive waste caused by disposable shampoo, conditioner, and soap bottles. They are also developing a pamphlet to put in the homes along with a reusable bag to educate guests about how to reduce their impact during their stay, such as by taking reusable bag to local grocery stores to eliminate plastic and paper bag use. “We are also looking forward to starting a new tradition of encouraging our guests to join us in the July 5 beach cleanup with the League.”

Tahoe Spirits is a California wholesaler and brand owner of the product Tahoe Blue Vodka, located in South Lake Tahoe. This includes sales and marketing as well as logistics and production of the brand.

“Joining the Blue Business program seems like a natural fit. Tahoe Blue Vodka has built into its roots the philanthropic spirit and it is our mission to protect the environment. It is important to us that the Lake Tahoe environment we leave for our children is as fabulous and breathtaking as the one we enjoy today. It is in our best interest to do everything in our power to protect it.”

Tahoe Blue Vodka aims to protect Lake Tahoe by donating to a variety of organizations that work to protect the environment including Keep Tahoe Blue, Tahoe Fund and the California Tahoe Conservancy. Tahoe Blue Vodka partners with the League on many events, including the Annual Benefit, where together we can foster better awareness among the public. “As part of the Blue Business program, we plan to reduce our office waste. We use a lot of paper and will now go digital by cutting use of unnecessary office paper and printing double sided. We’ll reduce energy use by turning off lights when leaving rooms and turning off the power strips at the desks at the end of the day, We’ll choose reusables instead of single-use disposables in the office.

Tahoe Sports & Entertainment manages South Lake Tahoe’s Tahoe Ice Arena as a destination venue, hosting tournament and training programs that attract athletes and families from across the globe. At the local level, they provide opportunities to local youths through their community outreach programs.

“We are joining the Blue Business program in order to ensure our footprint is positive and that we are doing our duty to protect our gorgeous lake. We are excited about this partnership because we have access to over 15,000 unique visitors at the Tahoe Arena each year, which means we have a strong ability to promote efforts to Keep Tahoe Blue.”

Tahoe Sports & Entertainment is already recycling and have double-paned windows. For a new implementation, they will install cigarette canisters outside of their building to reduce cigarette pollution. Each year they plan to upgrade one aspect of the building so that they continue to reduce their footprint.

Tahoe Tot Spot located is located at 1012 Al Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe. They are an indoor play area and family enrichment center. They offer open play, adult fitness, kids’ yoga and kid parties that allow adults to get a break.

“We are passionate about protecting the environment and creating sustainability in our actions. We felt this was a great collaboration with similar vision.”

Tahoe Tot Spot uses cloth napkins and towels instead of paper. They reduce plastic use by not using garbage liners and by choosing reusable cupware. They use eco and biodegradable cleaners and sell eco-friendly products.

Tahoe Training Camp hosts the best soccer camps in the country by combining high elevation soccer training, mental performance training, soccer yoga, team building workshops and inspirational Tahoe activities. TTC hosts individuals, teams and coaching education workshops. They are based in South Lake Tahoe.

“We are joining the Keep Tahoe Blue Business Program because we feel it is our duty as a local business to do what we can to keep our lake pristine. Many of our customers are from outside of Tahoe, so we are excited about educating them about our beautiful lake as what they can do to help protect it.”

“We provide reusable water bottles to kids in our training camps and use large water containers to refill during the day. Next season, we will go paperless and digitize our training handbooks.”