Fighting for the Same Cause: Subaru Pacific Engages Community, Protects Local Beaches

Surfboards on the wall, palm trees in the lot and average temperatures hovering in the 60s and 70s year-round. It may sound like a perfect vacation spot, but Subaru Pacific in Hawthorne, CA, calls it home.   

“Subaru Pacific is about four miles from the Pacific Ocean,” explains James Hartzberg, Subaru Pacific general manager. “It’s everybody’s backyard. If you live within a 10-mile radius of us, or 5-mile, it’s your backyard. That’s where we spend our summers.”

This ocean community—complete with beach views, sand and surfing—is something Subaru Pacific loves and fiercely protects.

Inside Subaru Pacific

Due to the proximity to the coast, Hartzberg says anything on the ground can end up in the ocean, including trash, cigarette butts or water. This fact drives the Subaru Pacific team and its eco-friendly efforts. Green cleaners are used to wash the cars, and the carwash water is recycled.

Subaru Pacific’s new facility opened last year. Eco-friendly advances include energy efficient lighting and equipment, along with a comprehensive recycling program.

Green signage is visible in the building and ranges from small placards to entire walls. Signs explain green practices to visitors, and one wall showcases the retailer’s Share the Love activities, including local environmental work. Signs also remind employees about Subaru Pacific’s Paperless Challenge, offering paper-saving suggestions and prompting associates to think before printing.
 

Subaru Pacific has a variety of plants inside and outside. Potted plants are found in work areas, and there’s a live plant wall.

Exterior landscaping uses native plants, reducing irrigation requirements. A storm water retention planter captures and diverts runoff from the building before it hits the ocean. Hartzberg explains that the soil in the planter filters the water, catching pollutants, before it returns to the ground table. It also serves as compost and a home for Subaru Pacific’s used coffee grounds.   

In the Community

Protecting the local environment is at the heart of Subaru Pacific’s community outreach. Among the Share the Love hometown charities are Grades of Green and Heal the Bay.

Grades of Green engages local students in eco-friendly efforts in their schools and communities. Subaru Pacific began working with the group in 2012, starting with a Trash Free Lunch program in South Bay elementary schools. Since that time, Grades of Green and Subaru Pacific’s support for the organization, has grown. Grades of Green now serves thousands of students in multiple countries. Subaru Pacific has donated more than $47,000 to Grades of Green through Share the Love.

Heal the Bay is a local group dedicated to protecting LA-area coasts. Subaru Pacific began working with Heal the Bay 15 years ago, Hartzberg says. By 2016 Heal the Bay had helped divert 2 million pounds of trash from local beaches, and Subaru Pacific employees help with these cleanup events.  

Blended Outreach Approach

Rather than stand-alone work to support local causes, Subaru Pacific has developed a blended approach, engaging customers and groups throughout the community. The charities serve different causes, but, as Hartzberg explains, there’s a commonality as they all work in different ways to better the community.

Take beach cleanup, for example. Subaru Pacific sponsors beach cleanups, and so does Heal the Bay. No matter who hosts the event, the local groups work together and invite others, including Grades of Green.

Hartzberg said the groups are all “fighting for the same cause here, so we’re all down there together.”

The collaboration continues with Subaru Pacific’s Third Thursday customer appreciation events. They’re held during certain parts of the year, and each has a different theme—such as the environment, education or pets— and features a call to action for attendees. A recent one focused on learning, and guests were invited to bring school supplies for local students. Other collections include items for homeless pets or canned food.

The guest lists for Third Thursday events aren’t limited to those interested in specific causes. Instead, Subaru Pacific brings the community together.

“It’s a real good synergy that we have amongst all these organizations that we know now. So dog people know the green people. The green people know the pet people,” Hartzberg explained. “They’re all working together, which is cool.”

Get a glimpse of past Third Thursday events on the retailer’s YouTube page here and here. These videos spotlight the enthusiasm Subaru Pacific has built for the brand and serving the community.  

View from inside the covered service drive where Grades of Green will hold its spring Youth Corps Eco-Leadership event.

In the Future

This spring Subaru Pacific will host the Grades of Green Youth Corps Eco-Leadership program. The setup is similar to a science fair, allowing 20-30 groups of students to showcase their environmental work.

The event is in its second year, and this is the first time Subaru Pacific will host. Hartzberg says Subaru Pacific’s covered service drive is a good venue. It features a plant wall backdrop and natural lighting provided by solar tube skylights.

Beyond celebrating students’ work, Hartzberg adds that hosting the event will show the students what a green business looks like.

Subaru Pacific is part of LAcarGUY, a group of 10 Los Angeles-area dealerships. Eco-friendliness is a priority for the auto group, so much so there’s a Manager of the Environment on staff. Learn more about the group’s efforts at www.lacarguy.com/green.

Take a quick eco-tour to see Subaru Pacific's storm retention planter,
energy- and water-saving features, and many more green practices;
or get an up-close look at the retailer's live green wall.