Stories & Studies
Showcasing Sustainability Leaders in Small Businesses and Organizations around the world
Meet the audacious leaders around the world taking on the challenge of building sustainable systems and solutions. Listen to the podcast stories, hear from Women Entrepreneurs, and learn from small business case studies.
The Green Scene Podcast 
Navigating the world of sustainability in small business, education, and everyday life? We get it, it’s not easy being green. Sit in on the powerful conversations with the trailblazers who are walking the sustainable walk. Each episode packs inspirational ideas that will drive your passion to create a better world for you and the people you love.
The WE Empower UN SDG Challenge is a first of its kind global competition for women entrepreneurs who are pushing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and leading innovation in sustainability and climate change through their businesses. This Contributing Series highlights finalists of the Challenge whose work demonstrates how business models and social entrepreneurship can drive global impact.
“When it comes to fixing the gender divide in the startup world, there’s no silver bullet. Closing the gap requires a concerted effort from all sides of the industry, from founders to investors. Only by leaving behind inclusivity lip service and taking decisive actions to bring women into funds and encourage them as founders will we start to achieve gender equity in the startup world.” - Priyanka Srinivas, 2022 Finalist
Small Business
Case Studies
GreenLight Solutions Foundation is an educational nonprofit that empowers students and professionals with the tools to incorporate sustainability into any business. Take a look at some of the sustainability problems that GreenLight Solutions tackled, and check out the one-pager case studies for a deep dive into steps for success and action plans!
Waste
The City of Phoenix had a goal to divert 40% of their landfill waste by 2020. The Walton Sustainability Solution Service worked with GreenLight Solutions to develop a waste management best practices report.
SPS + Architects Scottsdale office sought to improve their waste management operations. GreenLight Solutions stepped in to collect SPS+ Architects’ office-wide waste data through a waste audit and employee questionnaire.
Arcosanti’s slab and materials yard needed organization to improve accountability and utilization of materials. Arcosanti wanted less waste to be created at their Convergence and FORM festivals.
Tiny Home Developers wanted to reduce their landfilled building materials that are not commonly recycled, such as: lumber, pallets, buckets, flooring and drywall.
Reporting
GreenLight Solutions and Dynamic.RE have teamed up to create an e-book for sustainability in short term rentals. The e-book discusses how to measure sustainability in the various rooms of the home and provides resources for each topic.
EverSmart City, the world’s first smart city fully integrated with blockchain and renewable technology, needs to have access to reliable energy when the sun goes down on their solar panels. They wanted investigation into power storage that could be used overnight, as well as alternative renewable energy sources that don’t rely on the sun.
Building Us H.O.P.E is a nonprofit working to end veteran homelessness by building sustainable tiny home communities. They needed help sourcing and purchasing sustainable and durable housing materials.
TigerMountain Foundation has goals of empowering people through building flourishing community gardens, providing job skills, and helping workforce development. They needed help documenting and communicating their ambitious goals and impacts to necessary stakeholders.
GreenLight Solutions put together a team to complete a carbon footprint analysis of the construction with a focus on the production and consumption of construction materials, building, and infrastructure.
Events
Green Living Magazine needed help marketing their Earth Day Extravaganza, recruiting volunteers for the event, and coordinating waste service companies to provide waste diversion. These challenges provided opportunities for collaboration with green clubs and event waste diversion companies.
At their World Record to End Hunger Event, Valley of the Sun United Way was looking to educate their guests on water scarcity through a game. They also needed to find a solution to their non-compostable cone cups at the water station.
Education & Engagement
GreenLight Solutions was tasked with creating an engaging and educational circular economy presentation for high school students while navigating in-person activities during COVID-19 restrictions.
ShapeUp Us is an organization with programs aimed at nutrition and physical activity. Their curriculum needed a workbook focused specifically on at-home gardening practices.
The Mtuli Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Karonga District of Malawi, South Africa, has a goal to develop sustainable practices that empower local communities and schools. Mtuli Foundation partnered with GreenLight Solutions to provide sustainable agricultural and irrigation practices and expand Mtuli Foundation’s social network.
Valley Metro is a public transportation company that serves the scorching Phoenix, AZ valley. With average summer temperatures hovering at 100 degrees and higher, the sun and heat can be brutal for the the 70-80% of riders that walk to their transit stops.
Augustus H. Shaw Montessori School is located in the Garfield District in Central Phoenix. It is highly affected by the Urban Heat Island Effect, and the campus is largely devoid of proper shading and vegetation. The school has no outdoor amphitheater or landscaped seating for lunch or public events.