We’ve got exciting news to share! For the past few months, we’ve taken a closer look at the impact we have on the place that we call home. As Champions of Local, it was simply as natural as bees attract to flowers as we would with the Champions of Sustainability—Sustainable Pittsburgh. Sustainable Pittsburgh, a local non-profit, offers a program that recognizes small businesses for implementing sustainable actions that are good for the environment and the social fabric of their communities called the Sustainable Small Business Designation Program. And just as the bees make with the flowers, we created sweet GOLDen honey and earned a GOLD designation through the program’s assessment, the highest certification level!
Here are some sustainable practices embedded into love, Pittsburgh:
1. We are LOCAL. Staying local when you shop is a great way to take part in sustainability efforts. It supports the local economy while saving energy/emissions from transportation and production. On top of that, most of our team walks or takes public transit to the shop. We like to stay involved with the communities we are planted in, whether that is through community meetings, service, or donations.
2. We love RECYCLING. What can be recycled will be recycled. Other than recycling according to the city guidelines, we only buy recycled paper bags for you to walk out of our shop with. We buy our supplies with recycled content when we can to play our part in saving trees and reducing waste.
3. We can’t stop UPCYCLING. We find ourselves upcycling even when we don’t realize it. From saving packing paper and bubble wrap from packages we’ve received to reuse when we send packages, to cutting paper into scrap paper, to thrifted furniture, to artists who create with upcycled materials, you can pretty much find something that has been upcycled at every glance in our shop.
With many other sustainable efforts intertwined in the way we do business, we also like to give opportunities for you to play a role in that. Keep your eye out for promotions at our shop as a way for you to participate in our sustainability efforts!