Female Entrepreneurs Driving Sustainable Business Practices

Watching the shampoo, body wash and laundry detergent containers pile up in her recycling bin, Bring Your Own Long Beach owner Julie Darrell felt like she needed to do more to protect the environment. She saw her bathroom shelves grow with individually packaged products, thanks in part to the relentless marketing campaigns for household goods and personal care items leveled at women on a daily basis, she noted. Something needed to change, she thought.

“I felt like there was more I could do,” Darrell said. She had already made waste reduction a part of her household’s everyday routine, and wanted to help others do the same. When she realized that there were no stores focused on providing package-free products in Los Angeles, Long Beach or Orange County, she knew she had found her niche. “I can’t be the only one looking for this,” she remembered thinking to herself. Since last year, customers can now refill their laundry detergent, baking soda, shampoo and many other pantry and household items at her East Village retail location.

Darrell is one of many female entrepreneurs driving the implementation of sustainable business practices in Long Beach. Many are part of the city’s green business certification program. The program recognizes businesses from a variety of industries – from hair salons to architecture firms – that have shown a commitment to sustainability by complying with a number of requirements set by the California Green Business Network. Of the 32 green businesses currently certified in Long Beach, 15 are led by women and three have a male-female team at their helm.

Read more in the Long Beach Business Journal