Businesses at San Diego’s popular bayside shopping, dining and entertainment attraction, Seaport Village, are ramping up efforts to promote energy efficiency and green practices by taking part in the Port of San Diego’s Green Business Challenge — an initiative that promotes business practices that reduce energy consumption, wasteful water usage and pollution. “I’m proud to say that Seaport Village has been on the ‘green track’ for a few years now,” said Terry Hall, general manager of Seaport Village. “We have a full recycling program in place, and we’ve installed moisture meters for our irrigation. This program gives us an opportunity to have all 70 of our tenants band together as environmental stewards.” Seaport Village businesses currently comprise 16 of the 54 businesses taking part in the Green Business Challenge. Husband and wife team Samantha and Kevin Olenick, owners of Kite Flite, Swings and Things and Wind Song, have always been dedicated to operating a green business, even before it was popular, Samantha Olenick said. “It just makes common sense. We travel around the world, and globally, there are a lot less throw-away societies,” she said. The duo has cut down on fuel costs by switching to a direct delivery process, eliminating the need for warehouse distribution. As a result, they were able to swap out their 14 mile-per-gallon diesel delivery truck to a 45 mile-per-gallon Toyota Prius corporate car for the management team. Olenick said the best thing about being part of the challenge is they are able to learn from other participants as well as share their own sustainable business practices. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop is also participatig in the challenge through their dedication to using fair trade certified ingredients and products, switching to more energy-efficient lighting and using SDG&E’s Direct Install Program — a service that provides a free energy assessment and equipment upgrades for small and medium businesses. Omar Farah, owner of six eco-friendly businesses in Seaport Village, said he “did not hesitate to sign up” because he sees numerous benefits, like cost-savings — an important factor for a busy owner. Every penny counts for small businesses, and Seaport Village shops are taking even the smallest of steps, like shutting down computers and fax machines at night, embracing energy-efficient strategies to lower their energy bills and eliminating excessive packaging for their products. “When we band together like this, we can make a difference,” said Hall. “We are proud to say Seaport Village is being more energy efficient and protecting our environment.”