Shop Fixes Cars the Green Way

An average customer at Independent Repair on Artesia Boulevard is not likely to suspect that the car mechanic business is particularly eco-friendly.

Most don't know that the oil and water that the shop uses is all recycled, and that the wastewater used to wash the floor is filtered, broken down and separated from the sludge it collects on the pavement.

They are also probably not aware of the efforts owner Jim Chen has made to recycle the shop's paper documents and to complete more forms electronically. And even fewer people would suspect that Independent Repair was the recipient of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce's Green Award this year for its eco-friendly work ethics.

"We should probably promote it more," Chen said of his business' green efforts. "Some people care a lot. I'm thinking the majority of customers probably don't care, but maybe more of them do care than we know."

He acknowledged the irony of an auto mechanic shop making any sort of push toward being environmentally friendly but said that it helps to reduce one's carbon footprint in a world where cars are a "necessary evil."

"Here you really, really need a car, even though cars have been proven to be tremendously polluted," Chen said. "So if you can do your part to help a little to try and offset what you're doing, because until you come up with something tremendously better, we're stuck with [cars]. There are electric engines but it may be decades before we see them make a big impact."

At Independent Repair, Chen works with groups that collect the recyclable materials, including most of the shop's scrap metals and car parts. Wastewater used to rinse the floors is collected into a machine that separates the water from the waste so the water can be evaporated and recycled, and oil and water are never left to run into storm drains.

"We don't allow just anything to go down the driveways anymore," Chen said. "We collect everything now, all our waste oil, our waste fluid, all of that is collected and we collect money to have a big recycling company come by and take all that stuff. We're doing our part in which ways we can. Maybe we could do more, but we're doing the best we can."

"I'm sure lots of businesses are doing this, but a lot of businesses aren't doing as much as they could be," he said.

Independent Repair actually recycles considerably compared with other automotive businesses in the area, said Marna Smeltzer, Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

"The reason he won the award is because he recycles everything from water to paper," Smeltzer said. "A lot of our auto repair companies just don't do anything like that."

In addition to his recycling efforts, Chen is also a former president of the Redondo Beach Rotary Club, he's registered with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and last year he received the city's Dolphin Dash corporate trophy for his donations to the Redondo Beach library.

Mike Grady, who has worked at Independent Repair since 1985 and its general manager, said that the company's eco-friendly nature stems largely from his  interest in the environment and serving the community.

"It's more of a personal basis," Grady said, of Chen. "Jim's been involved in fishing for as long as I've known him, and trying to produce a smaller carbon footprint."

Grady also pointed out that recycling helps the business save money as well.

"For me honestly some of it is dollars and cents," Grady said. "If we had a spill it would cost more to clean up than to just sort it and recycle."

But even when the financial contribution to the business is minor, Chen said he gets personal satisfaction from recycling.

"I know you're just saving pennies with recycling paper, but it's just that idea that you're doing something that matters," he said.