Social Responsibility

11 small businesses doing big things for the planet

From lollipops that grow flowers and greeting cards sprouting microgreens, to toxin-free pans pretty enough to display, the companies featured in our sustainable shopping guide are redefining the standards for ethical business practices.

Written by Intuit Blog team
Published Apr 20, 2023 - [Updated Apr 21, 2023]
5 min read

Shopping at a small business doesn’t mean a small impact, especially when it comes to sustainability.

With small businesses representing 90% of businesses globally, there’s a huge opportunity to support brands with climate-friendly practices like sustainable shipping and locally-sourced supply‌ chains with lower emissions, as well as brands focusing on minimizing waste and prioritizing safe ingredients.

The businesses featured below are taking action to reduce their environmental footprint while empowering their customers to do the same as they shop.

Lollipops in bright packaging with flowers around them.

Amborella Organics 🇺🇸

If you plant one of Amborella Organics lollipop sticks, it won’t grow a crop of candy, but the biodegradable, seed-bearing stick will grow herbs or flowers inspired by the flavor of your lollipop. Co-owners and spouses Taylor and Brennan Clarke combined their love of gardening and sustainability to create a waste-free treat you can feel good about eating…and planting!

Caraway 🇺🇸

With so much focus on the ingredients in your meal, we sometimes forget that what we’re cooking in makes a difference too. Caraway is committed to developing kitchenware that’s non-toxic, sustainably manufactured, and designed to be displayed. Completely free of harmful chemicals like PTFE, PFAS, and BPA often found in cookware,—Carwaway products are made with a mineral-based coating that won’t leach toxic materials into your ingredients – a win for your health and the planet’s, too.

Additionally, all orders are free of any single-use plastics, shipped in packaging made from recycled cardboard, and include biodegradable cork trivets.

EarthSuds 🇨🇦

At 19 years old, Marissa Vettoretti discovered the dirty side of soap. Every year, 5.7 billion plastic amenity bottles are sent to North American landfills because they’re too small to be recycled and are often still contaminated with soap.

Fast forward a few years and Marissa teamed up with ‌classmate Daniel Moll to create a solution. They founded EarthSuds: single-use, solid tablets of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that dissolve into traditional liquid products when crushed in water. Plastic-free, compact, and travel-friendly, EarthSuds are as innovative as they are sustainably-crafted.

El Be Goods 🇺🇸

El Be Goods is a women-owned boutique located in Tucson, Arizona, that offers sustainable, ethically-sourced, and fair trade/fair wage goods. In their shop, you’ll find apparel, accessories, home goods, beauty products, and more, with a selection of local, handmade, and imported goods as well. They prioritize and foster the importance of slow fashion at an approachable price.

Gift-a-Green 🇺🇸 🇨🇦

These cards have messages for every occasion and the recipient gets to grow, sow, and eat the microgreens they come with. This zero-waste product uses organic, non-GMO seeds and has recyclable packaging including the seed envelope and mixing stick, so your message can be as planet-friendly as it is personalized.

Good Juju 🇨🇦

Friends, moms, and self-described climate nerds, Lisa and Alexa founded Good Juju to inspire and empower people to make small, incremental changes to their daily routine. They make high-performance hair care, body bars, shave bars, laundry strips, and more, sans plastic. All of their products are naturally-derived and free from chemicals commonly found in their traditional liquid counterparts. They believe that what you put on your body is equally as important as what you put in your body.

With each Good Juju item sold, the company removes unnecessary plastic from the waste stream. Additionally, 1% of each sale is donated to environmental causes like tree planting, ocean cleanup, and kelp reforestation.

Inwit 🇨🇦

Inwit creates products that address the issue of single-use waste in the takeout industry. With waste-free lunch boxes, corporate catering, and on-demand ordering, they’ve been paving the road for the reusable food packaging industry in Canada, avoiding carbon emissions and keeping containers out of landfills.

Their founders believe that climate change is the biggest threat to humanity, and it brings an opportunity for everyone to reinvent the way we live, work, and enjoy life.

LooHoo 🇺🇸

LooHoo makes reusable products that help families create a natural, healthier home, through useful, everyday products like dryer balls and dog toys. They are a Maine-based company using 100% domestic wool to support the local economy and the USA farming industry, creating quality products built to last.

NxTSTOP 🇺🇸

At NxTSTOP, they make sustainable apparel and accessories for the modern day traveler. Every product is designed to meet the versatility that an on-the-go lifestyle demands, and ultimately reduce the number of items you carry in your suitcase to your #nxtstop. A portion of each sale goes toward planting trees, restoring coral reefs, and cleaning up ocean plastic.

PiperWai 🇺🇸

PiperWai is a sustainably-driven brand that produces natural deodorants and hygiene products with eco-friendly materials and packaging. Their products are formulated with plant-based ingredients that are gentle on the skin and don’t contain harmful chemicals like aluminum, parabens, or synthetic fragrances. Their packaging is made with recyclable materials and they also offer a refillable option to minimize waste.

Additionally, the brand is committed to reducing their carbon footprint by using renewable energy sources and implementing sustainable practices in their manufacturing and shipping processes.

Sol Cacao 🇺🇸

Sol Cacao is a sustainability-focused and socially responsible bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in the Bronx, New York. The company was founded in 2018 by three brothers, Dominic, Nicholas, and Daniel, who wanted to create high-quality chocolate while also supporting local communities and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.

Sol Cacao has complete control over the entire chocolate-making process, from selecting the cocoa beans to molding the final product. The brothers pride themselves in both the quality of their product as well as the environmental and ethical social responsibilities Sol Cacao is based on. This includes sustainable organic farming practices, environmental preservation, and ethical sourcing of raw materials.