Going Green at the Heart of Sole Technology's Lake Forest Headquarters

To celebrate Earth Day, which is on April 22, we're running a series of articles spotlighting "the green life" in Lake Forest.

As at a lot of corporate offices, well-tended foliage spruces up the scenery around Sole Technology’s headquarters.

But typical business-park greenery this isn’t.

"Check it out," says Roian Atwood, looking at the raised planters. "The strawberries are ripe, the green onions are ready, and the kale is out of control."

The employee-maintained communal vegetable garden is just one of the earth-conscious features brought to the skate apparel company’s Lake Forest headquarters since Atwood was hired in 2007 as manager of environmental affairs. Former pro skater Pierre Andre Senizergues—founder of the firm, which owns such brands as Etnies, Emerica and Altamont—has said he wants Sole Technology to be on the cutting edge of environment stewardship.

A tour around the company’s offices reveals how far the initiative has gone. Solar panels on the roof supply between 60 and 80 percent of the facility's energy. Chipboard surfaces in the reception area reduce the need for hardwood. Double-paned windows decrease air conditioning and heating costs. Atmosphere-friendly paints and water-based glues are used in manufacturing and construction. Even the bathrooms feature waterless urinals and sophisticated flushing systems.

"The mind set here is eco-driven,” spokeswoman Anika Ramirez says. “Pierre wants the best way to operate a facility with the least amount of impact."

Golf-cart-like electric vehicles transport workers over the grounds of the corporate campus. Meanwhile, employee Layne Massaro can often be seen zipping around on a skateboard, picking up used materials to be separated and put into a recycling area.

The commitment to environmentalism extends to the company's actions outside of Lake Forest. Senizergues chose to manufacture products in the Sichuan province of China in part because electric power may be purchased from hydroelectric sources rather than coal-burning sources, Atwood says. In Costa Rica, Sole Technology plants one tree for every pair of Etnies Jameson 2 Eco shoes purchased. The company's blog says the "Etnies Rainforest," will "absorb approximately 6,930 tons of CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere throughout the trees’ lifetime."

By 2020, the company aims to become "carbon neutral," Atwood says. The strategy to get there starts at headquarters.

"All of these smaller things," Atwood says, "add up to a bigger reduction in our carbon footprint."

Sole Technology is at 20162 Windrow Dr. in Lake Forest. It can be contacted at 949-460-2020.