These Local Businesses Are Taking Sustainability to the Next Level

Sometimes, it’s not enough to want to do better. You need a healthy dose of gumption to get there. That’s especially true for small business owners who are trying to go green.

For Mickey Rizk, the general manager of Le Mal Nécessaire, going green meant figuring out how to re-use all the fruit that goes into making his bar’s elaborate cocktails. Shah Kash, the founder of Letter Bet, had to figure out how to integrate water-based ink into his small-batch screen printing business. As for Fabien Loszach, of PortFranc, well, he briefly had to figure out how to ship slippers across the Atlantic via sailboat. "It’s one thing to figure out when a boat leaves shore," he says, "but it’s another to know when it gets to its final destination."

All three will tell you it’s not always easy to reduce your environmental footprint. But the rewards more than make up for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.