Camarillo company thinks green
By Andrea L. Minium Special to the Acorn

ACTING LOCALLY- In an effort to create a more environmentally conscious business, the staff of imagestuff.com takes company time to pick up trash and other debris at Camarillo parks nearby the printing shop's Avenida Acaso location. Husband and wife Tom Ridderbush and Stacey Stapleton, owners of imagestuff.com, said they have made changes at their company over the past year to help minimize the amount of waste the business creates and to make their printing machines more eco-friendly.

It's Friday afternoon, and husband-and-wife team Tom Ridderbush and Stacey Stapleton, owners of Camarillo's imagestuff.com, don't want their employees in the office.

The two have a better idea for their company's 15-member staff. They have asked their employees to spend the day picking up trash in a local park.

The idea of paying employees to pick up litter may be unorthodox, but Ridderbush and Stapleton are hoping to create a truly eco-friendly business- and that means helping to clean up Camarillo's parks.

Imagestuff.com, located off Avenida Acaso, makes and customizes T-shirts, wristbands, plaques and an assortment of other items. What started 10 years ago as a small company out of Stapleton's home has grown to include locations in Texas and Oregon.

Stapleton is a chemical engineer, while Ridderbush's electrical engineering degree allows him to build most of the customized machines used by the company.

Stapleton said the idea to hit the pavement and pick up trash was sparked when she recently saw Adolfo Camarillo High School Principal Glenn Lipman doing the very same thing on the high school campus.

"I realized that we are all part of the solution," Stapleton said.

Ridderbush and Stapleton decided to become "part of the solution" by first implementing what the couple call the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle.

They started by recycling their company's trash and reusing trash bags, turning off lights when not in use, making notepads from scrap paper and using shredded paper for packing material.

"We hope people see what we are doing and that it motivates them to do the same," Ridderbush said.

As for closing their business for a few hours to pick up trash with their employees, the couple hope to set an example.

"We want people to remember that when they litter and throw out trash, someone has to pick it up," Ridderbush said.

Not only do the owners of imagestuff.com take actions to improve their community, they have also been customizing machinery to help do the same.

Imagestuff.com uses machines and material that eliminate environmental waste, Ridderbush said.

The ultraviolet light curing system dries biodegradable ink, releasing only steam, not toxic fumes that would otherwise be hazardous to the environment. The company also uses services that recycle rags and cleaning solvents.

"I know that I am part of this solution," Stapleton said. "We all can be."