Sustainability with substance: How local green entrepreneurs strive for success

Consumers want authentic sustainability from suppliers. Without flashy funding or shortcuts, here’s how these local businesses build trust one decision at a time.

Green Philly’s recent investigation into The Rounds revealed public concern about greenwashing. Modern customers have a hunger for local businesses that center sustainability in their mission.

Lucky for Philadelphians, there is no shortage of eco-friendly services and retailers in their own backyard.

While The Rounds is backed by $24 million in venture capital, small local businesses must strike the delicate balance between going green and turning a profit if they want to stick around for the long haul.

Maintaining that balance requires radical transparency, diligent research, and close partnerships, according to local business owners.

“Running a sustainable, locally-focused business with integrity is hard,” said Dylan Baird, founder and C.E.O. of Philly Foodworks, the online market and farm share program that is “dedicated to creating a sustainable local food system for the Greater Philadelphia region.”

In an ideal world, Baird said he would love to see all Philadelphians source more than half of their food from within 150 miles of the city, but he is aware that it would require a significant cultural shift in the way most Americans think about and purchase groceries. 

“We are trying to create an alternate food system in the midst of an existing economic system,” Baird said. “It’s been helpful to realize that if we make a decision that goes against some of our values, it doesn’t mean we’re evil or inauthentic; it means we exist in a contradiction.”

For Baird, navigating that contradiction means always including local producers in business decisions and maintaining transparency with customers about how and why those decisions are made.

When Philly Foodworks first launched, Baird was hoping to source all its produce locally. Since it’s a year-round business, that meant produce pickings were slim in the winter — “lots of potatoes and spinach” — which led to losing customers who were difficult to bring back in the spring.

It was a local farmer who approached Baird about a lack of winter customers and suggested that Philly Foodworks expand its sourcing beyond the Philadelphia region during the off-season to maintain customers year-round.

“One could say, ‘Oh, well when you sell non-local items, you’re hurting your local producers.’ But that decision to sell non-local came from a conversation with a producer,” Baird said.

Research and collaboration keep Philly’s refill shops afloat

For Philadelphia’s refill store owners, finding the balance between sustainability and profitability means conducting diligent research and maintaining close relationships with suppliers, partners, and other business owners.

When Emily Rodia and Jason Rusnock opened Good Buy Supply at 1737 E Passyunk Avenue in December 2020, their mission was for the low-waste storefront to function as a general store, where regular customers would make multiple trips during the week, buying only as much as they needed at a time.

Rodia prioritizes sourcing products from local brands and sustainable businesses throughout the world.

“There is a lot of research and communication with vendors that go into getting a product into the store,” Rodia said. “Whereas a typical store doesn’t really care about how things get shipped and what that waste and product looks like, we’re looking at the whole circularity of any product that we bring into the shop — where it came from and what the end of life is going to be for it.”

Customers are encouraged to bring their own jars to fill at the store’s bulk refill stations with soaps, multipurpose cleaners, lotions, laundry detergent, and more. The refillable products are delivered to Good Buy Supply in eight 30-gallon drums, which, once they are empty, are sanitized, refilled, and returned to the store with more product.

Rodia said sharing lessons and experiences with other local refill shop owners — like Ray’s Reusables in Northern Liberties and Narberth-based SHIFT — has been crucial to staying in business. She is also part of a Facebook group of other U.S. refill shop owners throughout the United States and Canada. “We’re the best resource for each other,” Rodia said.

Ray Daly, founder of Ray’s Reusables, 935 N. 2nd Street, said one of the challenges in running a refill business is how time-consuming it is to keep up with sanitation — an issue that Rounds’ employees say the startup company ran into early on.

At Ray’s Reusables, employees must regularly clean the pumps at the refill stations, as well as wash dishes and glass jars that customers drop off as part of the store’s recycling program.

For both Rodia and Daly, the joys of maintaining a sustainable business outweigh the challenges.

“I think it hadn’t occurred to me how much the store would mean to people, or maybe I took it for granted,” Daly said. “I was working during a street festival and a woman came up and said, ‘Thank you so much for being here.’”

Devi Ramkissoon, executive director of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, said that the government must also play a role in supporting sustainable businesses.

She pointed to policies like Philadelphia’s Sustainable Business Tax Credit, which had been a benefit for qualifying businesses for 14 years until it expired in 2023. It offered businesses up to $4,000 towards their Business Income and Receipts Tax for going above and beyond to achieve sustainability outcomes.

“Our city policies play a big role in helping to incentivize businesses to take those actions,” Ramkissoon said.

But ultimately, it will be consumers who keep Philly’s sustainable businesses thriving for years to come.

“The more demand consumers have for truly sustainable products and services, the more we will see the business sector respond accordingly,” Ramkissoon said. “It’s push and pull from both directions.”