When Canadian-born Dr. Shelley Luce arrived in Los Angeles to study environmental science at UCLA, she quickly learned that Angelinos’ water-using ways were both fascinating and alarming. That concern with water in greater LA led Dr. Luce to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, which monitors, assesses, coordinates and advises the activities of California’s state programs and oversees funding that affects the beneficial uses, restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watersheds.

“We treat water as though it’s a linear thing,” Dr. Luce explains. “We take it from one place, we use it, we let it go down a drain, we hopefully clean it and then we flush it out to the ocean, never to be seen again. At the same time, we let our clean rainwater fall onto dirty surfaces, flow into storm drains and then out to the ocean, carrying with it contaminants. We can solve those problems by allowing our water cycle to function naturally. We need to make our city more permeable.”

Symantec helps consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Since 2008, Kelly Shea, Symantec’s Global Sustainability Program Manager, has been examining ways the company can better address regulatory compliance, greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, operational impacts and more. Shea helps the company employ sustainability measures across its operations spectrum, including operating LEED-certified facilities, managing energy consumption at data centers and cutting transportation emissions, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We try to engage every [Symantec] employee to embed corporate sustainability in anything that they do,” Shea says. “It really is a day-to-day opportunity that people can get involved in. There are a ton of opportunities. We will continue to focus on our environmental impact in different regions.”