I stopped eating red meat and chicken when I was only 13 years old because I wanted to sit at the vegetarian table at the hippie summer camp I attended. I never resumed the habit of eating meat, and gradually became glad that I did not as the benefits of a vegetarian diet in our delicate climate became better known.
Although not fully vegan, I’ve become more so over the past few years, mostly thanks to a close friend who launched a vegan food business (I’ve always suspected that I’d be more likely to eat vegan if someone else take care of cooking). That friend, Hannah Levbarg, went vegan (as did her husband) after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and learned about the benefits of a plant-based diet. Shortly after, in 2018, a study from researchers at Oxford University provided a lot of data showing the positive impact on the environment that people can have by avoiding meat and dairy.
“It made a lot of headlines, and we just looked at each other and said, ‘Well, we could have done this 10 years ago, or at the beginning of our lives, but at least we did it now, ‘” he said.
An accomplished cook, Levbarg immediately saw a gap in the Santa Fe vegan restaurant sector and began hatching the idea for his business Liberty Gourmand (libertygourmand.com), which joined the 2019 BizMIX cohort, while continuing to work full time in real estate. He launched in earnest six months ago, and now offers pop-up vegan breakfast, pre-fixe gourmet dinner and a standing pantry where people can order vegan cheese, burgers, desserts and more.
“I never wanted to start a restaurant or food business before this, as much as I wanted to cook,” Levbarg said, “but the compelling nature of what we were dealing with really kind of… there is no ethical choice but to try to throw everything I personally can to get as many animals off as many plates as possible.
Personal and global concerns also prompted Ron Edwards, whose business, Focus Advertising Specialties, recently launched the product EMERGENCY-P, a unisex portable urinal, from his Environmentally Sane Solutions division (environmentallysanesolutions. com). A Marine veteran, Edwards was also diagnosed with MS, in 2006 and, in 2017 had difficulty moving and sometimes making it to the bathroom in time. The product, said Edwards, is made from biodegradable and recyclable materials. At first, Edwards said he thought of his peers—other veterans with mobility issues who might need an alternative to the bathroom—but the product’s broader appeal soon became apparent. The environment is never far from his mind, especially water, he said. In 1992, when he was still living in Tucson, Arizona, Edwards wondered how much water could be saved if people flushed toilets less often.
Bee Wild Outside founder Alexandra Merlino also brought long-standing environmental concerns along with her own skin cancer diagnosis to her quest to create an eco-friendly mineral sunscreen with zero-waste packaging. (beewildoutside.com). A self-described “solution-oriented entrepreneur,” Merlino says “the environment and conservation have always been close to me. And it’s becoming more and more important.”
As executive director of the nonprofit Partnership for Responsible Business, Merlino also works to “identify businesses that are interested in becoming stewards and vocal advocates,” he said. “The voice of business is very important in conservation issues.”
Bee Wild Outside (soon to be launched) placed first in one of the benefit corporation Santa Fe Innovates’ idea pitch competitions last year. Santa Fe Innovates founder Jon Mertz says he’s seen a growing focus on sustainability from startups over the past few years—one that’s likely to grow under the newly formed Center for Responsible Entrepreneurship, a collaboration between Santa Fe Innovates, the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management and the City of Santa Fe.
“In general, there’s definitely more desire to see businesses start up and otherwise be a force for good, whether that’s on some social issues or environmental issues,” Mertz said. . Sometimes, those business ideas grow from the personal experiences of entrepreneurs, he says, but “I think there is… Want to leave a better legacy, we have to start doing a something very positive for our planet.
Glenn Schiffbauer, executive director for the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, says the increased awareness can be seen in many business initiatives, from the use of the chamber’s water conservation program, to increased interest among those company adopting the corporate benefit status of what he expects. as a rise in renewable energy companies as the state moves away from reliance on oil and gas.
A decade ago, he said, “there was a much louder voice in climate denial. They kind of went away quietly, because now you see the wildfires…and the flooding, and the intensity of the hurricanes and the river has dried up.” That changed the conversation, he added, from people “talking about how we’re going to see climate change,” to “people realizing that the climate has already changed.”
Economic & Community Development Director Rich Brown says he expects “Santa Fe in the near future to be a leader in focusing around sustainability and how it relates to economic development,” largely “because because we know that we are an outdoor city, we understand that water is important to us, and we understand that we have a social responsibility.”
That connection between the outdoors and the environment also drives much of the work of the state’s Outdoor Recreation Division, which next month will host an Adventure Pitch competition at the Outdoor Economics Conference in Taos for startups whose “core offering” include outdoor recreation, environment and /or health and wellness (Merlino was a finalist in last year’s pitch). In a statement provided to SFR, ORD Deputy Director Alyssa Renwick described conservation as one of the department’s “core values,” noting that “building New Mexico’s outdoor recreation economy requires first protect the very places and areas that industry relies on… businesses that respond to climate change and work to protect the state’s environment in a variety of ways” from “changing business practices to to continue to advance as far as advocating for protections and conservation policies within the state.”
