SUSTAINABILITY

Cerno’s Founders have a friendship dating back to when the three of them were young kids. Their bond was rooted in a passion for being outside and enjoying nature. They also shared a passion back then and now for building things. They believe that sustainability is not just about what is best for the environment but a moral obligation to respect nature and the raw materials it provides. It’s also smart business.

VERTICAL MANUFACTURING

Cerno is a vertically integrated manufacturer. We are in control of our entire process and get to constantly improve and refine how we make things and strive to do it in the most sustainable way possible.

BUILT TO LAST

There are many different layers to sustainability. However, we believe that the most sustainable aspect of our process is building products to last a lifetime. We are fundamentally opposed to the idea that everything we consume is disposable. We strive to make light fixtures to endure years of use and designs that will aesthetically pass the test of time.

SERVICEABILITY

We design our lights to be serviceable for the life of the product. Should something go wrong we guarantee that we will fix any light that we have made. We support people that want to fix items themselves.

MATERIAL YIELD

We constantly work to get the highest material yield possible, limiting waste. Examples of this include using CNC technology to maximize yield on all our CNC routers and lasers. During the design process, we talk about material yield; if reducing something by 1” in length will increase material yield by 100%, we consider this. We design products to take advantage of our drop and extra material. For example, the Plura family is often made from drop material from other fixtures that we make. We do not overbuild things. Other companies often use extra material to bulk up a design to increase weight and perceived value. This practice goes against our commitment to clean, modern design, and we always try to use the right amount of material to resolve our designs without using more material than necessary.

RECYCLE

We recycle all of our metal and plastics that we do not use.

GIVE AWAY

We give away nearly all of the lumber we cannot use to local craftsmen.

DONATION

We donate a portion of our profits to the Conservation Fund and other like-minded organizations that helps preserve our natural resources and advocates for responsible farming.

PLANTING TREES

Cerno’s team has planted hundreds of trees locally to help restore a local aqueduct that helps naturally filter rainwater that ultimately ends up in the ocean in our hometown of Laguna beach.

SOLAR POWERED

Cerno installed a solar power system that now powers our facility and returns excess energy to the grid.