SCALE UP Cohort 9: A Deep Dive into Sustainability
In 2022, it's more important than ever to invest in local self-reliance, ensuring Arizonans thrive for years to come. The businesses who have graduated in the 9th cohort of SCALE UP are clearing the path ahead! Join us in celebrating and congratulating these businesses and their innovative sustainability projects.
Is your business or nonprofit ready to launch a transformational sustainability project? Please reach out to Kelly Liska at kelly@localfirstaz.com to learn more and get started!
GTGB’s medium-sized hydroponic grow box kit
Green Touch Grow Boxes
About
The ability for anyone to grow healthy fruits, vegetables, and medicine at home year-round is what Green Touch Grow Boxes (GTGB) co-owners Sarah Ziegler and Kemya Matthews are all about. They offer both preconstructed and custom-built hydroponic grow systems, along with a comprehensive curriculum to enable people to build their own system. Their kits are specifically designed to be accessible and water and energy efficient while maximizing harvest yields when compared to the needs of outdoor growing, which is not always an option for everyone.
How They Scale Up
Sarah and Kemya are designing Green Touch Grow Boxes to be as water and energy efficient as possible so they can pass on the savings to their customers, aiming for greater than 70-90% water savings with 30% more yield when compared to soil gardening. They are also launching a pilot to calculate savings from energy generated by solar panels installed at their business that will be used to run on-site greenhouses, reduce GTGB’s energy costs by 20% or more while producing fruits and vegetables that will be made available to members of their community.
Higherwire’s E-bike / E-scooter battery made with recycled lithium-ion cells
Higherwire
About
Higherwire was founded to create a circular process for lithium batteries. Founder and CEO Trevor Warren and his team disassemble, test, and repurpose otherwise “spent” batteries found everywhere in laptops, EVs ,e bikes, power tools, and other consumer electronics into new renewable energy solutions like rechargeable battery packs and solar energy generators. This process prevents chemical waste from entering landfills, avoids mining for new precious metals, and will help to decarbonize energy generation.
How They Scale Up
Higherwire recently moved into a new facility in Tempe, AZ and is immediately working to minimize energy consumption from their operations, meaning a reduction in overhead costs and GHG emissions. With Higherwire regularly receiving hundreds of lithium batteries to repurpose, the battery testing process is their most energy intensive process. They are innovating a creative process to re-use energy from unusable cells to test and charge viable cells.
Moroso Medical Center in South Tucson
Moroso Medical Center
About
Moroso Medical Center is a holistic medical practice located in South Tucson that specializes in naturopathic care, acupuncture, medical marijuana, cupping therapy, and more. Business owner Dr. Heather Moroso prioritizes education for clients to make healthy decisions for themselves, while treatment and care is individualized and focuses on treating the root cause of sickness. Moroso Medical Center also features CBD and herbal products like chiltepin muscle rub that are made with ingredients grown on site and a space for community members to attend wellness classes.
How They Scale Up
Dr. Moroso is benchmarking the current water use of her operations. as well as medicinals garden to “circularize” water use and build a 100% water harvested garden. Action has already been taken towards fixing and preventing future leaks in water fixtures, re-using gray water, and harvesting rainwater. Future actions include utilizing rainwater in the making of essential oils, garden expansion with plants that will build water retention on the property and respect the ethnobotany of Tucson, making it both an edible and educational experience.
Goodmans Interior Structures
About
The folks at Goodmans Interior Structures, a family-owned business, have been creating great lifetime furniture experiences for their customers since 1931. Much more than a furniture company, they work closely with businesses, schools, government agencies, and healthcare providers to curate environments that are cost-effective, productive, and adaptable. Fun fact: Goodmans has been committed to sustainability and community connectedness for years. Their Phoenix showroom built in 2005 was the second building in Arizona to achieve LEED-CI certification.
How They Scale Up
Goodmans is implementing a company-wide transformation in its business operations to conserve energy and water, reduce waste, and recycle furniture. Part of Goodmans success has been maintaining a culture of transparency and accountability. They are pioneering sustainability for furniture dealerships, and are tracking and recording sustainability metrics with the plan to release an ESG report (An ESG report is a document made publicly available that measures a company’s impact on the environment, relationships with employees, customers, and the community, and how the company is governed). They are using the expertise and collaboration of SCALE UP to strengthen the foundation of their new sustainability department. Overall, their goals include creating a circular economy, maximizing impact, and benefiting the community.
Solar panel install by AZ Energy Pros
Arizona Energy Pros
About
Arizona Energy Pros have been in the business of providing sustainable, state of the art solutions for the everyday needs of Arizonans since 1977. They are a full-service electrical and solar contractor for both residential and commercial projects, including cost-saving lighting retrofits, home electric vehicle (EV) charging station installations.
How They Scale Up
As a business that helps families and local companies make their buildings more sustainable, Arizona Energy Pros walks the talk and is engaging in a comprehensive plan that will conserve resources and save on costs. They are implementing a comprehensive waste reduction program that includes recycling decommissioned solar panels into new components, and auditing their current energy, water, and fuel consumption to make future improvements. Finally, they are planning to meet the need to reduce carbon emissions in Arizona by adding commercial EV charging station installs to their extensive list of services.
Tumbleweeds Urban Farm Organics
About
Based in South Phoenix, Tumbleweeds Urban Farm Organics is all about replicable regenerative agriculture - meaning they make farming practices that replenish the health of the land, water, air, and people available for all. They grow organic seasonal produce, operate an organic seedling nursery for local farmers, and provide free education to the public about self-reliance, nutritional literacy, and stewardship for the environment.
How They Scale Up
Tumbleweeds Urban Farm Organics is launching a pilot to turn food waste into fresh produce. Tumbleweeds will partner with plant-based restaurants to collect their food waste which prevent food from entering the landfill and lowering the cost of waste collection for the restaurant. Collected food is composted and used to grow fresh produce that will be made available to the restaurants, creating an opportunity for ‘circular’ cuisine.
American Specialty Plastics Recycling
About
Keeping landfills free of car bumpers and ensuring they are remanufactured into new ones is what American Specialty Plastics Recycling (ASPR) is all about. ASPR collects bumpers from body shops across the valley, cleans them of metals to be recycled, and partners with Plastics General in Chandler to grind the bumpers down into flakes which are then sold to manufacturers as raw material for new products.
How They Scale Up
ASPR is benchmarking their current operations and making a plan to scale up to a size that allows them to capture every possible car bumper in Arizona. This will prevent tens of thousands of bumpers from entering the landfill annually and ensures more recycled materials are used to manufacture new parts for the automotive industry.
Check out examples of other participants and their projects!
Do you work for, own, or know a business or nonprofit in Arizona that is thinking about sustainability? Interested in joining us for our next cohort of SCALE UP? Reach out to nick@localfirstaz.com or check out www.localfirstaz.com/scale-up to learn more.
