These businesses are making an impact in our community, by employing community members as well as positively affecting our environment. Impact businesses are proof that for-profit enterprises can be stewards of social and environmental change, creating that triple-bottom line.

In August, Philadelphia’s SustainPHL Awards will highlight and celebrate these community changemakers. Join us to celebrate these visionaries and announce the recipient at the SustainPHL Awards on August 16 at WHYY!

SUSTAINPHL IMPACT BUSINESS LEADER NOMINEES 2018

• Circle Compost
• Cycles PHL
• Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants, LLC

CIRCLE COMPOST

This local company aims to keep food waste out of landfills, all by making Philly a more compost-friendly city. Circle Compost picks up organic materials from businesses and residents alike, and turns them into compost that is then donated to urban farms. Determined to avoid CO2 emissions, the company does over 90% of its residential pickups by bicycle.

Circle Compost reports that in 2017, it prevented approximately 138,002 lbs of organic waste from going into landfills.

“Our team is passionate about fighting climate change and creating sustainable practices so that our children and children’s children inherit a healthy planet,” said owner David Bloovman.

CYCLES PHL

This isn’t your standard bike shop. In addition to selling bicycles and parts, North Philly’s Cycles PHL runs an open shop program, allowing anyone to use the shop’s tools and equipment to fix their own bikes, with the help of a professional mechanic.

It also hosts monthly events, like bikers’ scavenger hunts and camping trips, in order to help people become more comfortable on two wheels and empowered to make bikes their primary form of transportation.

Plus, Cycles PHL sells refurbished bicycles in order to offer more affordable options.

“Our shop is a purposefully inclusive space, giving every interaction our fullest attention and humility to redefine how a bicycle shop operates in an equity-based world,” said owner Jacob Kenney. “Our drive is a vision of mobility equity, which takes form in our minds as a bicycle and the folks who ride them.”

BOYER SUDDUTH ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS, LLC

BSEC helps schools and universities operate more sustainably, in the hopes that these institutions will inspire their students to follow their lead.

The company assists these schools in defining and achieving their green goals through strategic planning, assessment and analysis, team building, project implementation, measurement, and reporting. Common goals include “greenscaping” schools to reduce the need for pesticides and watering, and cutting down waste through composting, recycling, and source production.

BSEC was founded by two women passionate about all things green: Mary Ann Boyer, a former teacher and EPA scientist, and Anne Sudduth, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Business Network.

“We believe schools can best achieve sustainability goals when operations, institutional behavior and curriculum are aligned to support a shared vision,” the company said on its website.

Join us at SustainPHL on August 16th to find out who will become the 2018 Impact Business Leader recipient!

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Brianna is a Philly-based journalist and Baltimore native with a passion for reporting on urban sustainability and environmental justice. In her free time, she's an amateur vegetarian chef, Harry Potter trivia champion and occasional world traveler. View all posts by Brianna Baker