New South Philly Business Features Sustainable Eco-Friendly Products

By Bamboo Grove on January 9, 2021

A well-deserved kudos goes to Emily Rodia and Jason Rusnock, an ambitious young entrepreneurial couple from Pennsylvania who haven’t let the staggering setbacks of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak drive away their dreams of opening an eco-friendly shop in the heart of their South Philadelphia neighborhood.

According to the latest annual report from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the average individual American consumer produces and disposes of 4.9 pounds of trash and refuse each day. And that’s just a statistic from a normal year, let alone 2020 specifically, which started out well enough, however, after just a couple of months, an incredible amount of people and families in the United States and around the world suddenly found themselves having to self-isolate, shelter-in-place, and quarantine…at home.

Beginning back in mid-September during the thick of the pandemic, newly-engaged couple Emily Rodia and Jason Rusnock opened a unique, alternative business for their local Philly community designed to draw in environmentally-conscious consumers while also reducing the incredible amount of unneeded & unnecessary plastic packaging waste that’s piling up in our landfills. Good Buy Supply is a retail store where customers are able to bring in their own personal reusable containers & bags in order to shop for a wide variety of eco-friendly goods, including but certainly not limited to:

• Biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes and bandages
• Shampoos, soaps, and lotions without the extra plastic packaging
• Home-cleaning supplies and general hygiene products

Although their inventory still arrives in the typical fashion, the couple works diligently to acquire manufacturers and suppliers who share the same eco-minded vision and values as they do. “It definitely is difficult. What I had to do was really make sure all the vendors we were working with have protocols in place with how they’re manufacturing, how they’re shipping, and the ingredients they’re using,” Rodia said.

Within the past decade, the interest in purchasing sustainable products has increased significantly, especially within the Gen Z and millennial crowd. As a matter of fact, nearly 48% of this particular age group stated that they would purchase these particular types of environmentally-friendly goods over the name-brand products that currently line the shelves of all the popular big box stores. “We are hoping to help people realize that while some of the items at these larger places are cheaper,” stated the Good Buy Supply store owners. “They are made with less concern for the environment and the people making them.”

Sources:

• In the middle of a pandemic, a South Philly couple open an eco-friendly store
• National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling