Jessica Cichowlas, Owner of BYOC Co. (Interview 23/100)

Jessica Cichowlas is Owner of BYOC Co. a refill store in Ann Arbor, MI with a focus on local manufacturers and products that don't harm the environment. If you're not familiar with refill stores, don't worry. She explains what they are and what separates them from traditional large retailers including the impact of encouraging manufacturers to incorporate closed-loop systems to eliminate waste (think: sending containers back to manufacturers for sanitization & reuse and using only recycled materials to create new products). We talk about how she got to where she is now as owner of a refill store and what lessons she learned along the way, including the shift in how she views monitoring her time related to her working style. Her 2025 Mantra: “I like the way I work and the way I work serves me.”

We talk about the drive to find solutions to the problems that we discovered as kids learning about the depletion of the ozone layer and the impacts of recycling using the family computer to fall down early rabbit holes. We also talk about the positive things that have come out of those spirals and with the forward momentum of folks banning together to push the envelope. BYOC's hometown of Ann Arbor, MI, is leading the charge with the A2Zero movement focused on achieving community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030 by providing resources to citizens to transition their daily lives into a carbon-neutral functionality. As small business and city-wide initiatives continue to spread, so does the impact of those focused on intentionally improving environmental outcomes. Keep it up!

Shout out to: A2Zero in Ann Arbor, MI.

Bonus shout outs to: 

• Meals on Wheels
• Bee Joyful
• Environmental Working Group (EWG)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Lindsey McCoy, Co-Founder & CEO of Plaine Products

Find more with Jessica & Andrea on the Capitalism for Green podcast (Apple | Spotify)

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