Photo by Robert Conklin on Unsplash

Notable Sustainable Companies
in Ohio

Ohio, nicknamed the Buckeye state, is the 7th most densely populated state in the United States and the 34th largest by area. The name comes from the Algonquin word ohi-yo which means  a great river or large creek. The state that links the Midwest and Northeast is home to various Notable Sustainable Companies. We hope you enjoy discovering the efforts these companies are deploying to sustain a healthy and thriving world!

There are many more sustainable companies in Ohio that we may have missed, so if you believe you should be in the Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio, contact us and we will evaluate your sustainable initiative. We did not receive any funding or incentives to feature these companies. Our goal is to create an awareness of sustainable development and encourage others to take part. Companies listed here are also welcome to add our eco-badge to their website at the bottom of this article. 

Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio 

The Chef’s Garden 

We’re kicking off our list of Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio with The Chef’s Garden, which has been delivering specialty products with optimum shelf life, quality, flavour and nutrition direct from the farm to chefs for over 30 years. They match every product from seed with a bar-code system to ensure tracking of their fresh vegetables, micro greens, herbs and edible flowers.

The Chef’s Garden practices sustainable farming techniques that have sustained their farmers for generations, replenish their soil naturally and give it the time it needs to do so. They commit to growing vegetables slowly and gently, in full accord with nature.

One way they revitalize their soil is to let it rest in fallow fields and by planting specific cover crops to enrich it with nutritionally dense compost. Strong, healthy plants can naturally fend off weeds and insects which enables The Chef’s Garden to avoid the use of harmful pesticides and other chemicals.

The Chef’s Garden’s mission is to shape and redefine sustainable agriculture in the United States by creating a template that will attract, inspire, and retain young farmers. Through their own traditional farming practices and philosophy, they hope to encourage the next generation of farmers to value, protect and restore America’s farmland to ensure that the fields continue to produce the safest, most nutritious and flavorful products possible.

RBI Greenhouses 

Did you know that Rough Brothers, Inc. (RBI) is one of the largest greenhouse design, engineering and manufacturing company in North America? They back their design and engineering up by decades of experience and thousands of successfully completed projects.

Their goal is to create a greenhouse that meets every business need, so they often work backwards to create solutions for your end goals – knowing your revenue and yield expectations allows them to determine the exact square footage and systems combinations you need to achieve success. They use the same approach for academic, conservatory and other greenhouses.

And even if you the needs are not commercial, they use the same approach, no matter if you operate a family-owned garden center, oversee acres of leafy greens production, manage horticultural research or run a conservatory. Their team of engineers and horticulturists understand that a greenhouse goes beyond the aesthetic appeal and that it’s what’s inside that really matters.

 

Farm Fare

Farm Fare made it on our list of Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio because they built a software platform that allows small-scale producers and food hubs to work collaboratively through a shared marketplace and management platform while sharing high-cost infrastructure that already exists in a region.

What are food hubs?

A food hub is a small food warehouse that works with small- and medium-sized farmers in their vicinity. Food hubs have sprung into prominence in the last decade — often co-locating in rural locations with proximity to a major metro area — as a solution to bring family farms diversified revenue streams and/or alternatives to farmers’ market sales. A food hub serves as a one-stop shop for buyers, wholesale and household alike, offering a single point of contact from which to access several producers.

Notably, local food has gained the least amount of market share in wholesale channels such as processors, grocery chains, hospitals, and/or schools, as these customers require large volumes at a low cost. Food hubs’ difficulty serving these accounts is because of gaps in product availability, price efficiency and efficient distribution logistics.

Farm Fare custom-built a platform that enables farmers and food hubs to more widely and easily access wholesale channels across an entire region. The key to their model is the power of collaboration.

It allows food hubs, meanwhile, to identify and share expensive infrastructure (ie: warehouses, coolers, trucks, human resources). Beyond SaaS, Farm Fare also provides logistics and distribution services to manage the outbound freight of all cooperating food hubs. Rather than owning a delivery fleet or employing drivers directly, Farm Fare contracts with existing, underutilized food delivery trucks to complete local food routes.

They use the networked food hubs as distribution nodes, and the entire region benefits from what they call “economies of collaboration” — a horizontal integration of independently operated entities — to lower costs. While this model is a proven catalyst for larger market sales, they multiply the impact when they incentivize soil health by granting market priority to farmers who implement soil regenerative practices.

The intersection of supply (inventory), demand (sales) and soil metrics must be tracked as part of a robust local food economy. Farm Fare is redesigning the software to better measure these analytics. Combining these three data sets on a single platform allows farmers to better plan around tillage, inputs, crop rotation, cover cropping and other soil health-building practices as it aligns with their annual, rotating, regional market.

Naturepedic

Naturepedic specializes in the design and manufacturing of quality organic mattresses for adults and children. They only make our organic bedding and mattresses with natural, organic, and non-toxic materials that provide comfort and overall health and safety. Their bedding designs remove the need for fire-retardant chemicals and chemical barriers.

This Notable Sustainable Company in Ohio was founded by Barry A. Cik, a veteran in environmental engineering, with over 30 years of experience chasing chemicals. In anticipation of his first grandchild, Barry went searching for a suitable baby crib mattress. He found that all the crib mattress offerings on the market used harmful chemicals and materials in both the assembly process and the final products.

Rather, Naturepedic believes that Mother Nature provides the best materials for a healthier and more comfortable sleep.

So why not just use organic products that don’t carry the same risks as synthetic and petroleum-based ingredients?

Today, Naturepedic has a large and growing network of retail outlets and signature Organic Mattress Galleries across the country and abroad, and they have launched many new products and models to meet the growing demand for high-quality, non-toxic mattresses and bedding for adults and children.

Design Energy

Design Energy works hard to keep the value of renewable energy & storage in your project and in your community. As an Ohio company, it designs, builds, manages and finances commercial business and residential scale solar power systems, including community-based solutions. The company employs Ohio tradespeople and manufacturing to bring the benefits of utility-scale and community scale solar generation to cities, towns, and villages of Ohio.

Design Energy offers:

• Power Project Engineering
• Management & Installation for Renewable Energy projects from 5kW-100MW

Suzanne Csejtey has worked for over twenty years in the building trades, specializing in environmentally conscious design/construction, HVAC and energy systems. Combining her construction management background with a longstanding commitment to the creation of neighborhood food networks and strong local economies, she was driven to concentrate her work in renewable energy generation, a vital ingredient for local resilience and security. And being a NABCEP Certified PV Professional, Suzanne has advanced training in energy storage solutions and microgrids.

David Dwyer is a LEED AP, a certified NABCEP Professional Installer and a licensed electrician with 15 years’ experience in the renewable energy business. Since 2010 David has led the finance, design, and construction teams for over 20MW aggregate systems in Ohio in residential, commercial and utility-scale projects, all of which are producing healthy returns for the system owners and stakeholders.

Design Energy’s client The Village of Minster ranked No. 1 on the Watts per Customer list, with 2104 watts per customer installed in 2015. The project, sited on 18-acres, is a 4.3-MW solar array and medium voltage connection with 7-MW/2.8-MWh energy storage system.

Read more about the Minster utility solar and storage project. 

 

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Evergreen Cooperative Initiative

Launched in 2008 by a working group of Cleveland-based institutions (including the Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and the municipal government), the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is working to create living-wage jobs in six low-income neighborhoods, with a median household income below $18,500, in an area known as Greater University Circle.

The Evergreen Cooperatives of Cleveland have become a global innovation model for creating more sustainable regional economies. Residents earn an ownership stake as they create thriving businesses while playing a transformational role in building vibrant neighborhoods.

Meet their cooperatives

• Evergreen Energy Solutions: Since 2009, they have been one of the regional leader in state-of-the-art, next-generation LED lighting systems, solar power and other energy-efficient solutions for Cleveland-area businesses, institutions and residential properties. Evergreen clients save moneywith the latest green energy solutions—either for retrofitted or new applications—even as they do their part for the planet by reducing their carbon footprint.
• Green City Growers: Fresh produce doesn’t get any better than this. They supply high-quality, sustainably grown fresh, tasty lettuce, gourmet greens and herbs to leading grocers, restaurants and food service establishments throughout northeast Ohio. Their large state-of-the art greenhouse allows them to grow year-round and deliver produce to customers within 48 hours of harvest. They provide local customers healthier choices for fresh, wholesome food.

 

 

Green Scoop

Green Scoop is the first business in the United States to turn your pet’s waste into ENERGY (natural gas & electricity). Serving the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area, Green Scoop provides yard cleaning and bucket pickup service of pet and food waste and all natural, locally produced cat litter. They also offer pet waste station services for dog parks, veterinary clinics, apartments and other commercial properties.

Founder Jendell Duffner, an innovative entrepreneur with a fascination for how nature works together in complex systems that benefit the environment and ensure that nothing is wasted. To them, this process is called “recycling” but nature does the same thing much more efficiently, resulting in a natural balance and a healthy environment. By creating a business that is environmentally and socially responsible, while making a profit and creating jobs, she is showing that working with nature is good for business.

Next Up: Notable Sustainable Initiatives in Tennessee

Lucky Penny Farm

Lucky Penny Farm is a special place where art, agriculture, and family intersect. Like many small farmers in this country today, a percentage of their income is made off site at work we find enjoyable and important. But it is the time spent at the creamery or farm with the children, goats and gardens that they find most meaningful and memorable. They raise Nubian, La Mancha and Alpine Dairy Goats, make artisan cheese, produce a delicious caramel sauce, Cajeta, and try to grow an increasing amount of the food they put on their family table.

When Abbe established Lucky Penny Farm in Portage County, Ohio back in 2002, she was a young mother, wife and professional fundraiser who was driven by a dream. She wanted to live off the land of her family’s century farmstead, raise goats, make cheese, and feed her family from the bounty of the land and the sweat of her brow. That overflow of goodness has since been shared with an ever-widening audience of devotees who, since catching her vision of cultivating a more sustainable food and agricultural system that we all can live with, share in that vision’s power.

Abbe Turner just wrote the book she wished she could have read before she set out on her farm-based entrepreneurial path 17 years ago. Co-written with her daughter, Madeline, this inspirational collection of stories, insights, and tools is perfect for anyone who loves food—entrepreneurs, eaters, and farmers alike. The Land of Milk & Money spotlights a community of strong women are here to help.

The Land of Milk and Money was written in support of the Rural Action Sustainable Agriculture Program. It is made possible with support from USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and ACEnet. Read more here.

 

 

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Village Bakery & Cafe

Village Bakery & Cafe opened in 2002 with a mission to support farms in the foothills of Appalachian Ohio by nourishing their neighbors and inspiring a culture of interdependence. Their progress is measured by how much they can “invest” their purchasing power in organic, fair trade, and renewable systems, and how little they can contribute to destructive systems. They have a passion not just for ethical food, but for radical progress, and are deeply involved in the growing movement to build a regenerative economy that works for all. Organic producers who incorporate environmental, social and economic concerns into their work are their friends and partners.

They made our list of Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio because of how often they collaborate to increase awareness of local and global issues such as food insecurity, climate change, and environmental injustice. The bakery sits at the heart of much of the social activism in its region, and nothing pleases them more than to feed farmers and activists with organic soups, salads, wood-fired breads, fair trade desserts and coffee.

Among their list of partners, initiatives & projects, we found even more Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio such as:

• Green Edge Gardens: Green Edge is the home of Athens Hills CSA, providing 100% certified organic produce year round to the Athens, and Columbus regions.
• Creekside Farm: Creekside Farm is 125 acres of wooded hillsides, rolling meadows and fertile creek bottoms in Athens, Ohio. The bulk of the farm is situated on a broad clearing bordered by multiple creeks. The southern part of the property opens to the wide creek bottom that gives the farm its name- Creekside.
• Snowville Creamery: They source milk from small local farms grazing cows on their natural diet of grass and non-GMO feeds and forage, using no artificial hormones or antibiotics. Grass grazing improves cows’ health and physical fitness.
• Laurel Valley Creamery: Farmstead Cheese from Gallipolis, Ohio. This family farm is a grass based sustainable producer of Jersey milk that they craft into small batches of farmstead cheese. They specialize in naturally aged raw milk cheese in addition to making several pasteurized specialty cheeses.
• Crumbs Bakery: Crumbs Bakery is a staple of the Athens, Ohio, community, offering a wide range of breads, pastries, pastas and other baked goods. They value all-natural and organic food production, responsible sourcing, and community building.
• Shagbark Seed & Mill: Shagbark Seed & Mill has been offering Ohio-grown, Certified Organic dry beans and freshly milled grains since 2010. Not only are they creating markets for their family farm partners with restaurants, schools, bakeries, and home kitchens throughout our region, they are changing the face of milled products.
• The Bulk Food Depot: The Bulk Food Depot in Athens, OH was established in August of 1997 to offer “Healthy Food” in the form of whole grains and seeds, beans and rice and just about any herb or spice you might want.

Village Bakery Athens Ohio buys from dozens of local producers, with minimal packaging, which lowers their dependence on oil, and understand there is more to do. Five years ago they embarked on a path to switch their energy system to renewable sources, and they’ve made great strides with:

• Energy-efficient appliances;
• eliminating gas;
• installing a shade porch and 20K of solar power;
• and switching to a ground-sourced (geothermal) heating and cooling system.

They use 50% less fossil fuel than 5 years ago, while growing the business, and they’ll stay on track until they get to zero-emmission.  They have worked with four local businesses: Third Sun Solar, AirClaws for geothermal systems, Local sustainable firewood, Fox Natural Builders for their wood-fired oven and sustainable building; plus PearlWind, to confidently claim to be “Powered by the Wind, Soil and Sun, for Generations to Come!”

Third Sun Solar

Third Sun Solar is the premier full-service provider of clean energy systems in the Midwest. They have earned a sterling reputation with over 14 years of experience and over 400 successful clean energy installations. Third Sun guides customers toward the best solar solution, they make solar pay off—in the short term and the long run—for every one of their customers.

Third Sun’s intake specialists gather information to assess whether solar can work for your business. A certified B-Corp, Third Sun’s business is structured with a triple bottom line: the environment, community and profit are considered in business decisions.

In 2015, Third Sun was named one of B Corporation’s Best for the World companies, for scoring in the top 10% of all B-Corp certified companies for their environmental impact score.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams  

This next one on our list of Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio shows just how much every decision makes an impact on our world, even when it comes to desserts.

There are 16 Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams locations in the United States (11 in Ohio, including the flagship in Columbus), and we chose to include this certified B Corp because the founder, Jeni Britton-Bauer, has worked directly with local Ohio farmers to supply ingredients. The farmers use eco-friendly farming practices but not all are certified organic, so staff members visit the farms to personally vet them.

The company has also made a commitment to work toward reducing their impact on the environment and to be stewards of positive impact in our communities. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams was one of the first ice cream companies to source only compostable bowls, spoons, and napkins in their shops—something they’ve done for years. Currently, 95% of what you buy in their shops is reusable, recyclable, or compostable. And they are actively marching toward zero waste in their shops through a critical approach to what comes in (sourcing) and what goes out (waste).

To them, zero waste starts by minimizing the waste they create. Their teams think about every item that comes into their shops and how it gets there.

This includes:

• Sourcing compostable bowls, spoons, and napkins made from renewable sources, such as corn;
• switching from disposable tasting spoons to reusable metal spoons a few years ago;
• working with suppliers to reduce packaging;
• constantly evaluating what’s on their menu to make sure what they offer will be enjoyed by you, reducing their food waste;
• and looking into ways to lessen their water consumption with new dipper well technology, the water baths they used to clean scoopers between use, rolled out in all new shops.

In 2019, they launched their shops’ composting programs. You’ll now find compost bins in their scoop shops where you can throw spoons, bowls, napkins, and ice creams. Instead of sending this waste to the landfill, it’s picked up by their local compost partners and processed into nutrient-rich compost that will either be sold or given away to local farmers and residents.

Their composting partners include Innovative Organics Recycling in Columbus, Rust Belt Riders in Chagrin Falls, The Compost Company in Nashville, WasteNot Compost in Chicago, CompostNow in Atlanta and Charleston, Compost Cab in Washington, D.C., St. Louis Compost in St. Louis, and Crown Town Compost in Charlotte.

 

PureCycle Technologies

https://youtu.be/2c13lUSIn40

PureCycle Technologies views plastic waste as a renewable resource that can be used infinitely. Their ground-breaking patented recycling process, developed by Procter & Gamble, separates color, odor and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene. Their PureCycle Technologies SM recycling service converts waste plastic into virgin-like plastic fully closing the loop on the reuse of recycled plastics while making recycled polypropylene more accessible at a scale to companies desiring to use a sustainable, recycled resin.

The company is building a commercial recycling plant in Lawrence County, Ohio. The standard recycling process grinds up colored plastic to create a dull gray or black material that has few uses, so there’s little demand for old toys, packaging, carpets, or other polypropylene products that could be recycled. At the moment, of the millions of tons of the material produced each year, less than 1% is recycled.

By giving waste plastic more value, it’s more likely that it will recycle the material, and it’s also more likely that plastic will be recycled closer to the consumers who are throwing it out, rather than shipped across an ocean. PureCycle’s first recycling plant will be able to recycle 119 million pounds of polypropylene, creating a demand for nearby recyclers to separate out the material.  The recycling company also aims to quickly scale up globally, with plans to build 25 plants around the world.

Recycling Right

It’s not enough just to recycle. It’s also important to recycle right. Recycling Right is a program by the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) which serves Franklin County and neighboring areas with solutions for solid waste. This is one of the 52 solid waste districts created by the Ohio General Assembly in 1989. They established these districts with the mission of reducing reliance on landfills.

Acting upon that mission, SWACO provides consumers recycling opportunities around Franklin County at their recycling drop off-locations. In Franklin County, a curbside recycling service is available to over 96% of households and SWACO operates over 60 recycling drop-off locations for residents and businesses without recycling services.

By taking just a few minutes to recycle right, you help to reduce pollution, contribute to clean water, conserve limited natural resources and reduce central Ohio’s reliance on landfills.

Find recycling sites near you in Ohio 

Test you knowledge on recyling

Burten, Bell, Carr Development

Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. is a non-profit community development corporation (CDC) founded in 1990 to serve the Central and Kinsman neighborhoods of Cleveland, OH. Their mission is to empower citizens and revitalize blighted and under served communities.

Sustainable development projects sound nice on paper, but they often overlook the communities most in need of a revamp.

Erick Rodriguez, a native of California, has brought a background in urban design and a knack for community engagement to the city of Cleveland. He’s specifically focused on underserved neighborhoods like Kinsman, where 51 percent of residents live in poverty and 96 percent of residents are black.

Through the Rose Architectural Fellowship, a program that pairs young designers and community developers, Rodriguez has helped neighborhoods focus on tenets of sustainability, like food access. The company he works for, Burten, Bell, Carr Development, has launched a teaching kitchen, a mobile market program that distributes fresh fruit and vegetables, and an urban farming initiative — all in Kinsman.

Rodriguez also works with residents in the Climate Ambassadors program, which offers grants and workshops to community members who want to lead their own development projects. Rodriguez says his efforts are designed to connect people back to the land where they live, even as the planet changes. “Especially within communities of color, we’ve been taken away from our relationship to the earth,” he says.

Next up for Rodriguez: a recycled water project at Burten, Bell, Carr’s office building and a small-business incubator called the Box Spot, which will be housed in recycled shipping containers. Read more on Grist

United Plant Savers

United Plant Savers’ mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.

Where once herbal enterprises were few, it is now a competitive marketplace which has increased the demand on wild medicinal plant resources. Other countries with an uninterrupted tradition of herbalism are experiencing a severe shortage of medicinal plants and look to the North American continent for supplying these herbs. This increased usage along with habitat destruction is causing an ever-increasing shortage of wild plant resources, including some of our most treasured medicinal species.

The work of United Plant Savers involves research, education, and conservation of native medicinal plants and their habitats. We hope that you will join us in this worthwhile and important mission. UpS is a 501 (C)3 non-profit organization.

 

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We hope you enjoyed L’Autre Couleur’s Notable Sustainable Companies in Ohio!

L’Autre Couleur is a responsible content marketing & design agency that represents companies making a difference in positive impact & sustainability. We offer end-to-end full service in digital marketing services, ranging from content writing & web design to social media and public relations campaign management.

To work with us on content writing or digital marketing projects, contact us.

This was the 20th post in the Notable Sustainable Companies series; one for every State in the United States. You can expect a Notable Sustainable Companies article for every State in the United States! To stay updated on the up-and-coming initiatives, subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on Facebook. Also, please comment if we have left out any important sustainable companies in Ohio that you believe should be part of our list of top sustainable companies, or if you have any thoughts/comments on the article.

Check out some sustainable companies happening in your neighbouring country.

• Top Sustainable Companies in Washington, DC
• Notable Sustainable Companies in Georgia
• Notable Sustainable Companies in Florida
• Notable Sustainable Companies in Alabama

 

 

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