FREELAND — They’re helping preserve the earth, they’re contributing to their local economies, they’re embracing their communities.

And now they have a sticker to show for it.

A new program on the island rewards organizations adopting sustainable practices and provides educational resources for those seeking to improve.

The Whidbey Green Seal is embodied by a simple sticker displayed by island organizations to declare their moves toward sustainability.

Inspired by the city of Oak Harbor’s Green Business Award, the Sustainable Whidbey Coalition launched the program in June to publicly recognize all island businesses, nonprofit organizations and tax-supported entities that are using environmentally, socially and economically sustainable practices.

But the outcome for participating organizations goes beyond helping the environment and community, said Sustainable Whidbey Coalition coordinator Britt Conn, who co-manages the program with Cathy d’Almeida, the town of Coupeville’s sustainability coordinator.

The program is also a way for organizations to learn how to save money through resource conservation.

“The outcome we’re hoping to see is that organizations will experience a reduction in their operating costs, and that’s basically through resource conservation — things like water, energy and waste,” Conn said.

She points to data from Puget Sound Energy, which shows that by focusing on improvements in operation and maintenance practices, businesses have potential to save 10-15 percent in operating costs on average.

“There are things they may not have thought of that are really simple and don’t cost any money at all,” Conn said.

Gene Felton, longtime owner of the Star Store, has been implementing eco-friendly business practices little by little for well over a decade.

He started by replacing his T12 fluorescent bulbs with T8s — the same length bulb, just smaller in diameter and far more energy efficient.

More recently he was able to replace halogen spotlights with LED bulbs. The wattage use dropped from 75 and 45 per bulb to 18 and 15.

“We get better quality light, much cooler temperatures and ridiculous savings on our electrical bill every month,” he said.

While Felton had to invest extra money in the beginning for the more expensive bulbs, he now saves around $500 per month at the Langley store.

The seal is aimed at rewarding organizations like the Star Store that are already greening their operations, but it’s also about helping them identify areas for improvement.

For this first year of the program, Conn said, one of the goals is to make the certification accessible to more organizations that may not already have a high understanding of sustainable practices.

“Instead of making it more challenging, we wanted to make it more likely that more people could qualify and also be an educational opportunity for them to go through the checklist,” Conn said.

Organizations apply for the Whidbey Green Seal by filling out a seven-page questionnaire about their operating practices.

To qualify, they must answer “yes” to at least 50 percent of the applicable questions in at least four of the seven categories: energy, transportation, water conservation, waste and toxic pollution, community, local and purchasing.

The categories reflect Conn’s belief that people are waking up to the interconnected nature of creating truly sustainable communities.

“Sustainability doesn’t just mean a clean environment. It also means a healthy economy and it means a vibrant community,” she said. “All these things connected together are what will create a sustainable community.”

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland earned its seal in June. The program is just one reflection of the company’s amped-up efforts to minimize its environmental impact the last few years.

Phil Taylor, the company’s safety and environmental manager, said the recognition is part of a culture change the shipbuilder is going through to improve its environmental practices and safety procedures. Taylor easily understands the interrelated essence of sustainability.

“Our theory here is that we want to be a good employer and a good islander and good neighbor, and part of being a good neighbor is the Whidbey Green Seal,” Taylor said.

In the last few years, the company has dramatically improved its stormwater management system to minimize contamination of copper and other metals in Puget Sound. Now Nichols Brothers boasts of the cleanest stormwater discharge of any shipbuilder in the state, and possibly  in the world.

The boat builder has also implemented company-wide recycling procedures.

Paint thinners are run through a still that removes all solids for recycling; treated water, containing fewer metals than normal groundwater, is piped to a wetland pond; and sand is replaced by nickel slag, a recycled byproduct that helps treat the water and is later used in the company’s concrete recycling facility.

“Waste reduction for us is huge,” Taylor said. “It’s cost savings, and it’s also good for us and the environment.”

He added that the changes wouldn’t have been possible without empowering the entire workforce to help generate changes, which he said produces benefits far beyond improving environmental standards.

“What we’re finding is it’s very contagious,” he said. “When you start changing culture like that to things that are positive, you also see a change in production and the way people do things.”

Felton has noticed something similar in his 27 years owning the Star Store.

He values eco-friendliness in his personal life and has worked toward implementing better recycling, waste reduction and energy efficiency practices in his store. He said sharing those values with his employees and customers is key.

“I’m down there on the floor putting away groceries and separating out cardboard from mixed paper and recycling the plastic,” he said. “Everybody has kind of gotten into the swing of it, and now it’s just the way we do things.”

Felton even invites customers to bring their clean plastic bags into the store for him to recycle.

“I think our customer base here is generally very aware and generally very supportive of sustainable behavior,” Felton said.

He hopes more people will begin to realize what the green sticker on organization doors represents, “A real conscious effort to apply best practices where you can.”

Conn said that whether an organization is truly sustainable “requires a much deeper conversation,” but the seal does recognize those that are on the right track.

“This is a way to say, ‘Well, these people are at least aware of how they can be more sustainable and they’re definitely taking steps in that direction.’”

She expects the seal will help organizations gain more traffic as more community members and tourists become aware of the program.

“People will choose to go to businesses and organizations that support those values, and I think good businesses and organizations will also recognize that’s a community value.”

South Whidbey organizations that have earned Whidbey Green Seals so far are Chiropractic Zone, city of Langley facilities, Nichols Brothers, Puget Sound Energy, the Star Store, Whidbey Institute, Island Athletic Club, Joe’s Island Music and Fusion Spark Media.

More information about the program, including the application and a full directory of participating organizations, can be found at www.sustainablewhidbey.org.