Following the 2016 presidential election, Julie Darrell noticed a decline in environment-related policies. She felt compelled to take action, for herself and her family, as she often searched for non-toxic, plastic-free products.
Finding food that didn’t use plastic packaging was easy; it could always be found at farmers’ markets. But when it came to other products, it was rare and difficult to shop locally. Darrell then decided to launch her own business, BYO Long Beach, to combat plastic waste and encourage sustainability throughout Long Beach.
BYO Long Beach carries a variety of reusable replacements for single-use items and ingredients for shoppers who want to make their own sustainable products. There are large bottles filled with shampoo, conditioner, lotion and body wash, among other things, for customers to refill their empty bottles. They also carry multipurpose cleaners, laundry detergent, dish soap, hand soap, bamboo toothbrushes and bulk herbs and tea.
“We take into consideration the whole lifecycle of the product, how it’s made. The company that we’ve purchased from, we want to purchase as local as possible,” Darrell said. “I think with sourcing we try to see if we can find something local that meets our criteria for low toxic ingredients. And then also what are the ethics of the company.”
BYO Long Beach has two locations, one on Marina Drive and another in Downtown Long Beach with the downtown location celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. However, Darrell didn’t start with two locations ready to go. Before starting BYO Long Beach, Darrell held a workshop to gauge interest from the community.
“2017 is when I had my first workshop to just kind of test the waters and I had a pretty good turnout that night and so it just kind of snowballed from there just doing different farmers markets and pop-up events until I partnered with the good people at Algalita,” Darrell said.
Algalita is a research and education center with a mission to educate people on plastic pollution and offer them tangible solutions. Darrell’s first location on Marina Drive is in Algalita’s building. At first, she only had a shelf of products but quickly expanded to her second location in 2019 and more products. Even with assistance from Algalita, Darrell faced many challenges from the business end.
The pandemic was difficult for all small businesses, BYO Long Beach included. Darrell noticed people were hesitant to try products, afraid of germs that could come with reusing containers. Other sustainable small businesses closed down during the pandemic resulting in Darrell losing some of her sourcing. Darrell continued to battle her struggles, finding solutions and expanding her influence while doing so.
While looking for sources, Darrell came across Long Beach Love Organics, an organic deodorant, lip balm and other skincare products shop. While Darrell loved their products, she noticed that the packaging was plastic. She reached out to Long Beach Love Organics and asked to collaborate in creating a plastic-free packaging edition of her products to be sold at BYO Long Beach. Darrell already had a source for the cardboard packaging, so they started the plastic-free line of Long Beach Love Organics. The product did so well at BYO Long Beach that it became a part of Long Beach Love Organics inventory as well.
“All of the different paths you can go down towards making sustainable choices. This is one small way you can do it, and you don’t have to buy all the products from us but you can make one switch and once you’ve mastered that, you can add to it,” Darrell said.
All of Darrell’s work through BYO Long Beach has not gone unnoticed. She received the Josh Lowenthal Business of the Month award this month, the Women of Distinction award from Senator Thomas Umberg last month and the Corinne Monroe Earth Day Award from the Aquarium of the Pacific last year.
“We obviously don’t do this for the awards. We do it for the passion that we have for the community, and for trying to make small changes,” Darrell said. “Since we started we’ve refilled over 89,000 containers, which is a huge achievement because that reduces the amount of stuff going through our waste stream and recycling centers.”
Darrell continues to expand the BYO Long Beach mission to other Long Beach Businesses through her partnership with the Long Beach Rescues Coalition. They created a map of all the businesses in Long Beach that allow for reusables and provided a green “LB Resuses” sticker to be placed on the front of the businesses.
“So I just want to keep moving on that mission and get more people to not only shop at my store but also support local businesses that support reusables and to bring our coffee cup or bring your own container for leftovers,” Darrell said.
“The green circle that says LP reuses anybody any business has that sticker is telling its customers right off the bat. You are welcome to bring your own container here. So we want to identify as many businesses and add as many businesses we can, that way the city is fully accepting.”
What's Your Reaction?
