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This Earth Month, we're taking a closer look at how inclusive entrepreneurship can help drive environmental sustainability. At ICA Fund, our work is about supporting women founders and entrepreneurs of color in growing community-serving businesses, and we know that building diverse and resilient local economies is crucial to adapting the challenges of climate change. Communities of color are bearing the brunt of climate change impacts, and we believe that it's up to all of us to take action. We're starting at the local level by supporting visionary and innovative entrepreneurs who are leading the way in sustainable business practices. To celebrate Earth Month, we sat down with some of our inspiring ICA entrepreneurs to learn more about how they prioritize sustainability in their work, and what they're doing to make a difference.
AVOCURL | Jasmine Curtis
AVOCURL creates nontoxic, avocado-infused hair products using clean ingredients for curls, coils, locs and waves.
avocurl.com
What does sustainability mean to you and how do you integrate it into your business?
Leaving a low or minimal impact on the environment or finding ways to be regenerative in the process. When it comes to a sustainable business, being able to hire and create sustainable positions for people, and reinvesting that into the community. Extending that to include sustainability health-wise with cosmetic products, there are long term health effects that cosmetics leave on our bodies.The inception of why AVOCURL was started came from my own needs for products that not only worked for my hair, but also didn’t compromise my health. I am really proud that that is the core of what AVOCURL is, being uncompromising in the ingredients we use.
Don Bugito | Monica Martinez
Don Bugito is a Pre-Hispanic snackeria that offers alternative protein snacks made from edible insects and Native American ingredients.
www.donbugito.com
What does sustainability mean to you and how do you integrate it into your business?
Sustainability means that my actions as a business person are not gonna affect the future. There was a reason why I started Don Bugito, and that is rooted in sustainability. So thinking about the future, that's what sustainability means to me. Insects in general, are the definition of sustainability. Choosing insects is not only a cultural thing,but edible insects are one of the most sustainable proteins in the market.
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GDS Cloth Goods | Geana Sieburger
GDS Cloth Goods is a 1% for the Planet business that makes reusable cloth goods for daily rituals–from coffee filters to aprons, their products are transparently sourced and ethically manufactured.
gdsclothgoods.com
What does sustainability mean to you and how do you integrate it into your business?
Sustainability to GDS is both environmental and social. It’s about eliminating negative impacts where we can and reducing them where we have less control. The two biggest areas where we’d like to see change (and where GDS focuses its energy as a business) is in textile manufacturing and in labor across the supply chain.
Pezzy Pet Treats | Mike Mitchell
Pezzy Pets is a B Corp certified business based in Berkeley, CA, that works with small-scale fishermen in Mexico to upcycle invasive “devilfish” (armored catfish) and lionfish into sustainable, healthy pet treats.
pezzypets.com
What does sustainability mean to you and how do you integrate it into your business?
Sustainability is the whole reason we launched the company. We deal with invasive species of fish that cause a lot of environmental issues and have ruined the livelihoods of tens of thousands of fishermen. What we want to do is source all this fish that's threatening native ecosystems and native fish populations help restore these ecosystems by incentivizing the capture and consumption of these fish.
Renewal Mill | Caroline Cotto & Claire Schlemme
Renewal Mill fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and plant-based pantry staples.
www.renewalmill.com
What does sustainability mean to you and how do you integrate it into your business?
Wasted food is one of the largest drivers of climate change. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. At Renewal Mill, we’re building an entire portfolio of upcycled ingredients, sourced from places in the food system where nutrition is being lost (i.e. the byproducts of food manufacturing). Starting with the byproducts of plant-based milk, we’ve crafted a line of premium, high-fiber, gluten-free flours. Our vision is to create a new circular economy of food that closes the loop in today’s current supply chains, keeps valuable nutrition from going to waste, and reduces our impact on the environment.
Entrepreneurs & the Environment
These entrepreneurs have shown us the range of what sustainability can look like, and that it cannot be achieved solely through physical eco-friendly processes and materials. Sustainability is also about creating good jobs, investing resources back into the community, and creating products that work for people and the environment. As we all navigate how to adapt to climate change, we can look to local business owners to expand our view of what sustainability is and support them in those efforts to have a positive impact on our communities.
