Environmental sustainability is one of the founding principles of Seattle Good Business Network’s mission. We work to support businesses and local communities get access to technical assistance through EnviroStars and facilitate circular economy initiatives that are collaboratively designed to strengthen Seattle’s transition from a linear, extractive economy to a more regenerative one through waste prevention, reuse, and repair strategies.
This is a regularly updated site. If you have additional ideas or needs please contact us
Featured Resources
EnviroStars is a one-stop shop for Washington businesses to access environmental assistance and gain recognition for being green. Through the program, businesses can receive free technical assistance, connect with rebates and resources, and follow a clear path to sustainability.
Seattle Good Business Network, in partnership with the City of Tacoma and the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD), is excited to officially launch the Washington Materials Marketplace. This online platform aims to create a closed-loop, collaborative network of businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs where hard-to-recycle waste and by-products become another organization’s raw material.
Assessments & Education
WA Materials Marketplace – A closed-loop, collaborative network of businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs where hard-to-recycle waste and by-products become another organization’s raw material
B Impact Assessment – The B Impact Assessment (BIA) is a free, confidential platform designed to help measure and manage your company’s positive impact on your workers, community, customers and environment.
Green Cleaning Seattle- An eco friendly cleaning company which uses only biodegradable products. They have office and commercial cleaning services available.
Ecograder – What does your website’s carbon footprint look like? Find out for free with EcoGrader! Learn how you can reduce your website’s carbon footprint through a free, or discounted consultation.
Impacti – The digital platform for sustainable businesses. They make it easy for all companies to make sustainability your business. They believe sustainability tools have to be accessible, affordable & connected to make sustainability everyone’s business.
Ridwell– Takes your hard-to-recycle stuff and makes sure it goes to a good home, be that a domestic recycling facility or a local nonprofit. Offering pick up service.
Blue Daisi Consulting offers guidance for small businesses that want to work towards zero waste and implement more sustainable business practices
Cascadia Consulting helps businesses become more environmentally friendly in many areas, including land use, recycling practices, and resource conservation.
Durable Dish -Providing sustainable event management services. Much of their dishware comes from the Dearborn Goodwill store, giving the dishes a second life and keeping them out of the landfill.
Sustainable Business Consulting offers strategic business assessment, resiliency planning, sustainability strategy consulting, brand enhancement, and more!
GreenBlue – A nonprofit dedicated to advancing sustainable use of materials. With online resources, consulting services, and studies available. Partner of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
Mind Over Markets is a marketing consulting service that works with your sustainable business to create clear and simple messages.
Commute Seattle is a nonprofit Transportation Management Association that provides free services and technical assistance to help businesses develop commuter benefits program to support the use of sustainable commuting habits, and provide a roadmap to flexible, affordable commuting options. If you’d like to set up a free consultation, please contact Nick Abel at: moc.elttaesetummoc@akcin, or 206-613-3233.
Seattle Public Utilities’ Water Footprint Request form – Puts you in contact with an EnviroStars representative to help better understand your water footprint.
RainWise – If your business or home is in a targeted sewer overflow basin, you may be eligible for rebates to hire a trained RainWise contractor to install a rain garden or cistern. See if your property is eligible, find a contractor, and apply at RainWise Rebates.
King County’s Solid Waste Division – Lets you search and find out where to dispose of any material. You can find how to dispose oils, grease, appliances, batteries, furniture, you name it!
EnviroStars – Upgrade outdated equipment and technology to increase efficiency, lower utility bills, and save the environment.
King County’s Solid Waste Division– Lets you search and find out where to dispose of any material. Here you can find how to dispose oils, grease, appliances, batteries, furniture, you name it!
Green Business Waste Audit Tool – This SPU tool helps you assess your business’ waste practices by guiding you through the steps, from audit to action, needed to reduce waste and increase recycling.
Six Steps to Saving Money and Reducing Waste (PDF) – This guide, assembled by SPU and Resource Ventures, walks your through six steps that help your business and the environment.
EnviroStars Sustainability Kits – Order free waste signage, spills kits, water conservation kits, and pollution prevention kits courtesy of Seattle Public Utilities.
See what is compostable at your business – Seattle Public Utilities’ official list of what is commercially compostable. Flyers available in 14 languages.
B Corp certification is the only certification that measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance.
The B Impact Assessment evaluates how your company’s operations and business model impact your workers, community, environment, and customers.
From your supply chain and input materials to your charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification proves your business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance.
With a mission to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a global thought leader, establishing the circular economy on the agenda of decision makers across business, government, and academia. With the support of its Core Philanthropic Partners SUN, MAVA, People’s Postcode Lottery, and The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation and Knowledge Partners Arup, Dragon Rouge Ltd, IDEO, and SYSTEMIQ the Foundation’s work focuses on six interlinking areas:
- Learning – Developing the vision, skills and mindsets needed to transition to a circular economy
- Business – Catalysing circular innovation and creating the conditions for it to reach scale
- Institutions, Governments, and Cities – Creating the enabling conditions for a circular economy to thrive
- Insight & Analysis – Providing robust evidence about the benefits and implications of the transition
- Systemic Initiatives – Transforming key material flows to scale the circular economy globally
- Communications – Engaging a global audience around the circular economy
The Circular Economy Learning Hub – Dive into an intro on what, how, why, and more about the circular economy
Why and How to get started on circularity – The Circular Guide
Measure your circularity – Circulytics (Companies must apply to be able to submit their qualitative and quantitative data. The insights generated in this scorecard help companies identify opportunities to design out waste, keep materials and products in use, and generate environmental benefits.)
ResCom Platform (Resource Conservative Manufacturing) – a collaborative decision-support platform based on product lifecycle management and material information management software modules. Tools include but are not limited to: Ideation, Workshops, Assessments, IT, Games)
Toolkit for policymakers – a step-by-step methodology and demonstrates its application through a case study in Denmark. The circular economy offers business leaders and governments a clear opportunity for long-term growth that is less dependent on cheap materials and energy, and which can restore and regenerate natural capital.
Circular Economy General Resources – an interactive Kumu Map
Schools and Colleges resources – a series of lesson plans provide a good introduction to the circular economy, and can be taught in sequence or as stand-alone lessons.
ASBN, formerly the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), believes in the power of business to build a better world and a truly sustainable economy.
Sign up to join here!
Seattle Good Business Network members (Seattle Made, Northwest Sewn, Seattle Good, and other partners) can receive a 20% discount on their first year of membership. Contact Seattle Good Business Network to get your code and then sign up with ASBN to get exclusive benefits starting at:
- 10+ exclusive webinars every year
- Access to online skills training workshops
- In-person events in numerous states
- Share your news and events in our monthly Policy Update
- Discounted pass to the Annual Conference
Alternative Eco-Friendly Packaging, printing, and more!
Modern Species – A local sustainable packaging design studio that helps small brands take the leap from regional to national success & also support in-house teams with brand-savvy, sustainable design.
Studio Wild– A graphic design studio with services including brand design, workshops, and printed materials.
Girlie Press– Woman owned business in Seattle that does all types of printing, from CD packaging to scented envelopes. (Ask about their Conservation Cover paper that uses 100% recycled content!)
United Print. Signs. Graphics – an eco-conscious, locally-owned business and commercial print industry resource.
Elevate Packaging offers bags, pouches, and labels, and more; a complete one-stop compostable packaging solution for sustainable business.
Good Start Packaging provides compostable food packaging made from renewable plant based materials like corn, wheat, fiber, and sugarcane.
Futamura has a long list of products, from sustainable cellulose to activated carbon products. This international group has centers in Asia, Europe, and the States.
Bee’s Wrap is a plastic wrap alternative produced by a certified B corp headquartered in Vermont. Various sizes are available, starting at 7″ by 8″ and all the way to 14″ by 52″.
Mightynest has a search engine to shop sustainable products, most notably for kitchen and cleaning uses. Subscriptions for monthly boxes and discounts are available.
TekPak Solutions produces “Omnidegradable” packaging: biodegradable packaging that doesn’t degrade on the shelf. Offering both stock and custom packaging options.
Clearbags offers a variety of eco-friendly bags, both clear and opaque. Their signature transparent bags are as high clarity as any traditional plastic bag you can find.
ePac Flexible Packaging has been built to create custom packaging for small to medium businesses with a quick turnaround time. Featuring many sustainable options and digital based printing platform, ePac can help your business as a cost effective sustainable packaging option.
Tricorbraun has many different packaging options for different industries, from sanitization to agriculture. Their Biotrē packaging line offers an array of pouches and bags to hold your products, and is 60% compostable.
ArMetallizing- Metallized labels are a more sustainable alternative to traditional plastic coated labeling. Their metalized paper can also help your packaging pop out.
Online Labels- A marketplace of 100% post consumer waste white labels among other label material types. No minimum order.
Lightning Labels- Offering a variety of eco-friendly labels made from post consumer waste, recycled vellum, and stone.
Sunshine POS- Retailers of receipt equipment and supplies. Offering custom printed preprinted rolls and BPA free printed thermal receipt paper rolls.
POS Supply – A wide array of point of sale equipment and supplies, including digital displays, software, and many printing brands. They carry many types of eco-friendly printer rolls, available here.
Sendle is the first 100% Carbon-neutral shipping service, complete with compostable mailers. Sendle has competitive pricing, is a certified B Corp, and is great for small and medium businesses – Sign up for an account through this link to access premium rates.
Evergreen Packaging offers cartons, paperboard, paper, and other sustainably-sourced fiber products. They also offer equipment & parts services.
EcoEnclose offers mailers, boxes, tape, bags, packing tissue, and plenty more, all clearly noted as compostable, recyclable, upcycled, or biodegradable. They even offer free sample kits.
AllPak Container has boxes, palettes, pop displays, totes, customizable items, and much more. A tier 3 champion level EnviroStars and Renton based company.
Trojan Litho offers performance consumer packaging, with Forestry Stewardship Council products available. Renton based company used worldwide.
Biomass Packaging has bags, office & shipping supplies, cleaning & janitorial supplies, food & table service, and custom printed items, all made from plant based materials.
Naturbag produces high performance compostable and biodegradable alternatives to traditional plastics, including bag liners and cutlery. They are committed to a sustainable and circular future.
BioBags focuses on producing bags and films that can be composted in municipal facilities alongside typical organic waste. BioBags is on a mission to keep food scraps out of the landfill.
(Seattle Based) Impact Bioenergy creates portable bioenergy systems that take in food waste and put out energy and compost. Contact them to see if they can help your business.
EcoProducts produces disposable sustainable products, such as plates, utensils, containers, bags, and liners. They also provide services, such as life cycle analysis reports, marketing, and zero waste consulting.
FoodBiz Supply is an online marketplace for compostable and biodegradable products for food-related businesses, from catering to bakery.
RESTAURANT-FOCUSED
Plastic Free Restaurants – A nonprofit eliminating petroleum-based, single-use plastic from restaurants and schools by subsidizing the purchase of reusable replacements.
Events and Webinars
WA State Recycling Association (WSRA)
Past:
WRED: COVID-19 Impacts on the Recycling Industry Webinar. Part 1 | Part 2 – covers MRF’s perspective and challenges, Municipalities’ and haulers’ challenges and strategies for planning a continuity of operations plan, what the industry and municipalities are doing to protect workers and much more
Reduce, Reuse, Reboot! Electronics Recycling in Washington State – Electronic Recycling! This includes presentations on the state of electronics recycling, what happens with electronics once you’re done with them, and discussions of what’s on the horizon.
GreenBiz Webcasts
This webcast features a conversation between Paul Polman and GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower. Paul Polman has been an executive at Procter and Gamble, Nestle, and Unilever, and has received many awards for his sustainability oriented business approach. He is currently chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, and co-founder of Imagine, an organization dedicated to eliminating poverty and curbing climate change.
Free online July 16, 10 am PST. Click Here to register
SDG Ambition: Scaling Business Impact for the Decade of Action.
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a set of 17 goals in place to help the world achieve a more just and sustainable future. However, businesses are not on track to deliver on these goals by 2030. This webcast explores how companies can implement best practices, set realistic goals, and ingrain SDGs into their company.
Free online July 21, 10 am PST. Click Here to register
How Businesses can Overcome Barriers to Achieving Climate Goals
Based largely on research from NRG Energy and the GreenBiz Group, this webinar focuses on how businesses can adapt to the challenges climate change poses. GreenBiz Vice President and Senior Analyst John Davies leads the discussion on a wide variety of climate related issues, from risk management to green energy.
Free online event July 14. Click Here for instructions of requesting the recording
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition hosts:
Designing Flexible Packaging for the Future of Recycling
Wednesday, June 17th.
Design for recycling has become an imperative for CPG companies and their supply chain partners alike, and is a key component of many companies’ pledges for the environment. What may appear to be a mere R&D project at first, quickly becomes a more intricate undertaking for formats like flexible packaging for which collection and recycling programs are still developing. Increasingly, packaging designers are faced with the challenge of designing packaging today for the infrastructure of the future. This Masterclass unpacks the recycling equation is its main constituents (design, collection, end markets, and consumer participation) and zooms in on the role of forward-looking packaging design to drive positive system outcomes. The session takes a closer look at two initiatives in particular – Project Barrier and CEFLEX – and discusses their take on what makes flexible packaging desirable for recycling.
What are the Solutions and What Does the System of the Future Look Like?
Wednesday, June 17th.
What is the problem we are trying to solve for plastic packaging? How do we address both low recycling rates and the threat of loss of social license to continue to use plastics? How do we keep valuable materials in circulation and ensure the system will realize their value? Looking at the ASTRX framework (Applied Systems Thinking to Recycling), we can identify where certain plastics suffer losses while navigating through today’s recycling system and how it is important to design packaging for the needs of today while also preparing for the system of the future.
Contextual Trends in Sustainability and Consumer Behaviour Pre-COVID Inisghts from GlobeScan, Where We Left Off, and Where we May be Headed
Wednesday, June 17th.
Eric Whan, Director at GlobeScan, shares relevant global opinion research and its implications for the future
Envirostars:
The Relaunch Green webinar series:
June 18 and 25
These two webinars provide information and resources on how businesses can reduce operational costs, boost confidence, and become more sustainable as they reopen. Put on by the Envirostars team at Seattle Public Utilities.
The first webinar focuses on waste disposal and best kitchen practices. A recording is available here.
The second webinar includes information on more sustainable water management, from preventing sewage backups to water conservation. A recording is available here.
Circularity 20: Accelerating the Circular Economy
This three day event, streamed online from Atlanta, explored the theory behind and practices required to create a circular economy. Included tours, tutorials, and break out sessions with thousands of other business leaders.
Recordings available at Greenbiz.com
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