La Costa Glen Carlsbad, the continuing care retirement community in south Carlsbad, has been awarded a 2009 Diamond Award by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) for "going the extra mile" to reduce traffic congestion. The seventh annual Diamond Awards recently honored companies in the San Diego region that promote alternatives to commuting alone to work, including vanpooling, carpooling, use of public transit, teleworking, walking, biking or a combination of these solutions. Past winners of the award include Hewlett Packard, the United States Navy, Sony Online Entertainment and the Salk Institute.
La Costa Glen received the reward in the Marketing category for its program to encourage employees to bicycle, take the bus, or carpool to work. The community offers a reimbursement program to employees who carpool or ride their bikes to work at least three times per week, and assists employees with the cost to purchase a bus pass each month. Once at work, the employees walk or use three-wheeled bicycles to travel around campus.
La Costa Glen markets its program to employees using e-mail blasts, employee newsletters, department meetings, special events and posters throughout the community. Informational presentations by representatives from SANDAG's RideLink program are also held throughout the year for employees. In addition, the community sponsors "Ride to Work Day," during which breakfast, giveaways and raffles are provided to those who bike to work.
The employee commuter effort is part of La Costa Glen's broader "Green Team" program which is designed to conserve energy, water, paper, gasoline and other non-renewable resources. The "Green Team" program is also supported by the community's residents, most of whom are in their 70's and 80's, and many of them remember the strategies they used in their youth during the lean times of the Great Depression.
"The residents are especially good with ideas on how to cut down on water and lighting," says Darcie Gorman, director of accounting and La Costa Glen's unofficial "Queen of Green." "For them, recycling and conservation have never gone out of style."
She added that La Costa Glen experiences substantial savings each year as a result of the coordinated waste reduction program, which benefits the residents by helping to control costs.
Daily menus for the dining rooms are posted online instead of being printed, as are the community's newsletters. Computers are turned off at night and print cartridges are recycled and refilled instead of thrown out. The community has also converted to energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs, and LED lighting is being installed throughout the premises. Styrofoam cups for morning coffee in the community's lounges and Styrofoam containers for meals on the go have been replaced by reusable containers and water bottles. Green containers are located throughout the community for both residents and employees so that bottles and cans can be recycled. In addition, La Costa Glen's landscaping consultant is reducing the use of pesticides and introducing more drought tolerant planting materials. Moreover, reclaimed water is used to irrigate landscaping, helping La Costa Glen save money and meet its drought reduction quota.
La Costa Glen Carlsbad, located at 1940 Levante St. in Carlsbad, is a continuing care retirement community for people aged 62 and older offering a comprehensive package of services, amenities and dining; a variety of housing options; and an adjacent Medicare-certified health center staffed with professionals 24 hours a day. For more information, please call 800-333-7550 or 760-710-4200, or visit www.LACOSTAGLEN.com.