Green Seal, the nation’s first independent nonprofit certifier of sustainable products and services, has announced that it is opening an office in California.

The operation, which will help oversee and grow a variety of initiatives in the State, will be led by Gary M. Petersen, a current board member and former chair of Green Seal’s Board of Directors. 

“California has been a leader in helping us to advance sustainability, as we have worked with the State and its cities in a number of projects over the years,” says Arthur B. Weissman, Ph.D., President and CEO of Green Seal. “Opening this office will help us work with leaders in California to bring important programs to fruition. Gary Petersen’s leadership there makes this an even more exciting and pivotal development for our programs.” 

The new office, to be based in Southern California, will oversee several key initiatives for Green Seal, including working with the City of Los Angeles to advance the Los Angeles Green Lodging Program. The Green Lodging Program is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, Green Seal, and the LA Tourism and Convention Board to encourage and promote sustainability certification of hotels based on Green Seal’s GS-33 Standard for Lodging Properties.  

The office will work to support other Green Seal programs as well, including its green cleaning services certification and Green Office Partnership Program. It will also work with cities currently in the USA Green Communities (USAGC) program and conduct outreach to local universities and schools seeking to expand sustainability initiatives on their campus.

Petersen, who will serve as Director of the California office, is a former Chair of the Green Seal Board of Directors.  He is also a partner in Environmental Problem Solving Enterprises, which he co-founded with Robert Sulnick in 1997. The firm specializes in supporting emerging green technologies, advancing environmentally preferable products and services, including renewable energy, low carbon fuels, and water conservation, recycling and sustainable design and development. 

Petersen is a national leader on recycling and sustainability issues. As founder and president of Ecolo-Haul Recycling (1972-1988), he built a regional network of nearly 60 recycling centers serving much of Southern California. Petersen established Los Angeles’ first curbside recycling program in 1972 and was the first citywide recycling contractor for Los Angeles and Santa Monica from the mid-1970s into the late-1980s. Ecolo-Haul Recycling was later acquired by Waste Management Inc., and he served as a vice president and director of environmental affairs for the company's Recycle America program from 1988 to 1997. 

Petersen has advised local, State, and federal agencies, corporate entities, businesses, and environmental organizations. He was a member of the task force for the Greening of the White House, and co-chairs the Corporate Board of the Environmental Media Association (EMA). He is a co-founder of the California Resource Recovery Association and was a founding member of the National Recycling Coalition. He was appointed as the environmental member of the California Integrated Waste Management Board (now CalRecycle) in 2005 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and served until 2008. 

Joining Petersen in Green Seal’s California office will be Robert H. Sulnick. He is a partner in Environmental Problem Solving Enterprise, a consulting firm. He is also a former Environmental Director of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council’s in New Mexico. A licensed California attorney, Sulnick was a tenured law professor at Loyola of Los Angeles Law School and a successful attorney working on numerous high profile environmental cases such as the Bhopal, India (Union Carbide) gas case and was a lead lawyer on both the Casmalia and McColl toxic waste cases, representing citizens living adjacent to dump sites. 

He is a co-founder of the American Oceans Campaign (AOC), which he founded with Ted Danson and led for 10 years, and has strong standing relationships within the environmental community. He also serves as the Executive Director of Orange County Water Independence Sustainability and Efficiency (OC WISE), a coalition dedicated to developing all forms of new water for Orange County, California.