Scale Up Graduates Launch 10 Innovative Small Business Sustainability Projects
🎉 Congratulations to the 10 incredible businesses that completed the FIRST 2020 cohort of SCALE UP! Each business developed a unique project plan to reduce energy, water usage, waste, and/or transportation in their business. Many used the slower COVID times to make important improvements to reduce carbon emissions while also incorporating equity, resiliency, and community into their plans. Here is a quick overview of some of the inspiring projects, and stay tuned for project updates!
Imago Dei Middle School (Tucson)
ABOUT
Imago Dei is a small, independent, tuition-free private school in downtown Tucson that offers grades 5-8 for children from low-income families.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Imago Dei chose to focus on their emerging T.H.R.E.A.D. (Together for Hope, Resiliency, Empowerment, and Development) Project, which is a new small business partnership established between Imago Dei Middle School and local Tucson-area refugee entrepreneurs. The refugee partners sew fair-trade, all-cotton face masks to donate and sell here in Tucson and receive 100% of the funds raised. Since March 2020, they have sewn 20,000 masks and earned $70,000.
LOCAL IMPACT:
Already, THREAD is reducing energy by sourcing and producing all materials locally (purchased/donated cotton for masks, thread, sewing machines), which cuts down on the energy needed to create and also transport materials long distances.
As THREAD is currently housed in the Imago Dei Middle School building, they are working to ensure both the project and its host organization are as environmentally and socially conscious as possible by reducing water, electricity, gas, and waste.
Imago Dei completed a water audit during SCALE UP, which showed that if low flow faucets, toilets and urinals were installed, it would result in projected efficiency savings of 60-70% and annual water savings of $338.
Ultimately, Imago Dei’s project is supporting their ongoing efforts to break the cycles of poverty while ensuring greater equity and sustainability goals are met for the community.
Learn More about Imago Dei at www.imagodeischool.org/THREAD
BRINK (Tucson)
ABOUT
BRINK is a purpose-driven strategy & creative agency that uses design & technology to elevate our communities and culture.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Already, BRINK has worked towards a culture of sustainability. They have solid energy efficiency, a baseline for waste stream consciousness and recycling practices, good overall team awareness of sustainability, and a true desire to do better. For SCALE UP, they focused on making their media studio space as sustainable as possible, including reducing office waste and energy consumption, and encouraging and supporting green transportation alternatives.
LOCAL IMPACT
BRINK has two stages for their project. First, they plan to establish a formal internal Green Team so employees can take ownership of the sustainability improvements, and develop a green culture in their business. From there, they want to focus on waste reduction and local procurement - including reducing Amazon purchases by 50% - and create a community garden/cool corridor space with composting facilities. They also want to increase community involvement and outreach around social and climate justice, especially in the immediate neighborhood and with the houseless population.Learn more about BRINK at www.brink.com
Witnessing Nature In Food (Phoenix)
ABOUT
Witnessing Nature In Food (WNIF) is a full-service organic caterer whose mission is to inspire, create, and celebrate clean organic farm-to-table food so that flavor, health, and the planet are celebrated each and every day.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
WNIF is already a leader in healthy organic dining experiences. They have completed the Local First Arizona Green Business Certification and they are a Gold Level Phoenix Green Business Leader. WNIF won the City of Scottsdale Environmental Quality Award and has been featured by Green Living AZ Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Fox 10 News, and Channel 3 News. SCALE UP was the next step in their sustainable adventure.
LOCAL IMPACT
WNIF is going to continue to work on tracking and addressing waste, electricity, and water use in targeted ways. They are starting with a water audit to understand how much water they are using and address costs and usage proactively since it is their second-largest expense. They learned benchmarking skills to track their past, current, and future water usage. Learn more about Witnessing Nature in Food at www.witnessingnature.net
Natural Building Works + Harris Herman Enterprises (Tucson)
ABOUT
Harris Fletcher Enterprises is building an affordable housing project for refugees and veterans. Their goal is for this building to be a model sustainability project emphasizing natural building methods, including embodied carbon. The owners are disabled vets who experienced long-term poverty as children; now they are creating solutions for those experiencing financial, housing, and food insecurities.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
The goal of this project is to provide sustainable low-income housing, and they wanted to learn more about how to do that through SCALE UP and be a community model. Ultimately, they want this affordable green housing to bring hope to despairing communities.
LOCAL IMPACT
They plan to only use ENERGY STAR and WaterSense appliances and plant edible fruit trees to create an urban forest. This will result in a projected 25-50% energy savings, which is also a significant cost savings. They also plan to plant edible fruit trees to create an urban forest and reduce the heat index. They are starting by working with the Watershed Management Group to develop a conceptual design of their property. Learn more about Natural Building Works at http://www.naturalbuildingworks.comLearn more about Harris Herman Enterprises at www.harrisfletcher.com
Local First Arizona Community Kitchen (Phoenix)
ABOUT
The Local First Arizona Community Kitchen is available to food entrepreneurs who are looking to start or grow their business and need a fully equipped and licensed space. The Kitchen is for small and large food operations and keeps everything at a low cost. Local First Arizona believes that through food, we can cultivate inclusive and creative communities for generations to come.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Already, Local First Arizona operates Good Food Finder, where families and businesses can discover Arizona’s farmers, farmers markets CSAs and more in order to shorten food supply chains, improve access to local, healthy foods, and create a healthier, sustainable food system in Arizona. Now, the team wants to pair more data with their values to make their community kitchen and resident entrepreneurs more sustainable.
LOCAL IMPACT
Their goal is to reduce waste in the kitchen by completing a waste audit for three waste streams: trash, recycling, compost. This project was chosen because it is most easily tracked by LFA. By understanding the amount of waste being generated it is believed that we can identify better ways to handle and mitigate that waste. Through their initial waste audit, they found they were sending 1,980 gallons of waste to landfill monthly. Their goal is to reduce this number by focusing on composting and recycling cardboard for the kitchen entrepreneurs, while simultaneously building community.
Learn more about the LFA Community Kitchen at www.localfirstaz.com/community-kitchen
Pop Cycle (Tucson)
ABOUT
Popcycle is an eclectic gift shop in downtown Tucson with art & apparel made from recycled & repurposed goods.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
In 2018, Popcycle went through SCALE UP and conducted a LED lighting replacement, and saved a significant amount of energy each month. This time, they are focused on re-envisioning their space to prioritize sustainability and safety. They are working to find ways to better practice social justice so they can be a part of the solution to help our community be more just and more equitable.
LOCAL IMPACT
The team will measure their waste stream by tracking every way that they reduce waste and determine new ways to reduce and reuse based on the benchmarking process. Learn more about Pop Cycle at https://popcycleshop.com
Good Eye Living (Tucson)
ABOUT
Good Eye Living is a modern buy -sell- trade marketplace offering unique quality home goods
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Good Eye Living is focused on renovating their brick and mortar and hope to re-open their mixed retail shop as a more sustainable environment.
LOCAL IMPACT
The Good Eye team is making adjustments for a post-COVID world to implement as many sustainability measures as possible. They plan to expand their knowledge on sustainability and environmental justice and to incorporate those practices into their business and daily lives. They will start by incorporating low-flow toilets and LED lighting.
Learn more about Good Eye Living at https://www.goodeyeliving.com
International Traditional Knowledge Institute Foundation (Tucson)
ABOUT
International Traditional Knowledge Institute Foundation (ITKIF) focuses on artisanal food products and crafts through their Creative Knowledge Platform. They also promote sustainable solutions based on Traditional Knowledge systems and the use of innovative practices and internet-based tools. ITKIF has adopted the UN2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals as its guide in every supported project. The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The 17 Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
ITKIF has the goal to help supply chains be more sustainable and reduce waste through developing a framework to benchmark food supply chains.
LOCAL IMPACT
ITKIF will develop a comprehensive framework for benchmarking local food supply chains and will start with a case study focused on the grain supply chain. Their plan is to benchmarked input suppliers, processors, distributors, consumers, and waste disposal, and other sustainability metrics.
Sustainable Tucson (Tucson)
ABOUT
Sustainable Tucson is a nonprofit focused on building an equitable community in harmony with our natural desert environment that will thrive long into the future. Their Charitable and Faith-based Sustainability committee is reaching out to underrepresented communities through their houses of worship to show them the benefits of sustainable infrastructure measures including shade trees, green infrastructure, and solar.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Sustainable Tucson partnered with the Eritrean Orthodox Church to help them reduce energy and water costs and implement sustainable practices.
LOCAL IMPACT
The Sustainable Tucson project team is developing a holistic, integrated plan for faith-based organizations, with a particular focus on green infrastructure, including capturing rainwater, providing shade and beautification, and reducing energy use.
Learn more about Sustainable Tucson at www.sustainabletucson.org
Project Greenhouse (Tucson)
ABOUT
Project Greenhouse is a new residential development project in the Santa Rosa neighborhood of Downtown Tucson. They are striving to make the project a model example of sustainable construction and sustainable living.
HOW THEY SCALE UP
Project Greenhouse wants to work towards a negative carbon footprint in the design of this “sustainable living village” concept.
LOCAL IMPACT
Their plan is to install rooftop solar, rainwater harvesting, and permaculture gardens, and source materials locally and sustainably. Through SCALE UP, they will track the energy and water savings, as well as social impact, resulting from these sustainability measures
