The concept of a carbon footprint is simple — our lifestyles affect the planet on which we live. The sustainability movement simply asks that we leave the world a better place than we found it — and it seems like the right thing to do, because it's hard. Convenience is king, and we don't like to give up our plastic bags and water bottles.
But the heart of the sustainability movement is not about being dry, boring and self-righteous. Emily Doubilet, founder of Susty Party, considers creativity to be at the center.
See also: Starting Young: Can You Really Teach Entrepreneurship?
In making sustainability fun, Susty Party most notably has made it colorful. Mashable spoke with Doubilet to learn more about launching a product line in the ecommerce era and the ins and outs of how social media can drive brand awareness.
Mashable: How did you get started?
Doubilet: We launched Sustainable Party in 2009 and it evolved into Susty Party as we began to form our own brand of products. We launched the Susty Party colorful compostable starch plates, our first retail product, in May 2012.
Image: Susty Party
How has sustainability changed over the past few years?
We created Susty Party because we felt that sustainability should be a celebration! The sustainability movement should be fun — why not involve aesthetically appealing straws? At Oberlin College, where I graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies in 2006, I read Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, and its premise is still radical today: “What if humans designed products and systems that celebrate an abundance of human creativity, culture, and productivity? That are so intelligent and safe, our species leaves an ecological footprint to delight in, not lament?”
In the past few years, sustainable products have started to have more personality. Our world is shifting toward sustainability now — which is awesome! We feel that this movement towards sustainable lifestyles will continue to spark creativity, celebration and delight.
What's changed in ecommerce since you first started?
We are continually working to optimize our website, blog and social media avenues in order to communicate most effectively. As technology continues to improve, so does the demand for transparency and responsibility. We look for ways to be more and more accountable to our customers. We constantly re-evaluate: How can we openly, honestly communicate with all our stakeholders and offer them the most innovative, eco-friendly and socially-good products? I'm happy that there's a growing importance on building real relationships and on transparency.
You make original products as well as curate approved products from other companies — what made you decide to do it this way?
We started by scouring the earth for the most sustainable party supplies that were being made (or could be made!), convincing companies and scientists to work with us and curating these products into a one-stop-shop that I had envisioned as an online destination to help people throw sustainable parties. We still have a free best practices guide, and free party signage, available to download on the site in order to help people host events that cut down on waste, and operate in an eco-friendly and socially responsible way.
But as we evolved, we realized there were gaps in the market. We couldn't find products that were colorful, compostable and responsibly made in the USA! We wanted stylish and sustainable items, so we set off to do it our own way, and Susty Party's product line was born .
We still sell other brands on our website, because we don't want to limit people's options and we feel the more sustainable party product innovation on the market, the better. If it is an awesome party-friendly and responsibly-made product, we'd like to offer it to our customers.
Image: Susty Party
What's the biggest challenge for you in finding customers online?
The biggest challenge is figuring out how to get the word out that we exist. And how to do it on the cheap — as we still operate on a boot-strapped budget. So we're experimenting a lot with how to optimize the friendly world of social media. We work to find the outlets that are most effective for our company — and it is an ongoing process.
We are learning that just because Twitter works great for one company, it doesn't mean it will necessarily do wonders for us. One day we checked our numbers and were surprised to see Pinterest was actually driving the most customers to our site, so we have made Pinterest a priority. We've learned to be flexible and to continue to experiment with various strategies until we find one the works best.
Tell me about the best party you've been to this year.
Our Brooklyn showcase party this summer was a blast and the video photobooth speaks for itself:

We basically convinced our interns to throw us a Susty party.
And as a runner up: Natural Products Expo is a twice-annual trade show of companies that sell, you guessed it, natural products. The East show is in Baltimore in the fall. This year our good friends at Runa Tea rented a houseboat instead of staying in a hotel. They invited a bunch of companies and industry folks over one night and it was a great time. We drank Runa cocktails out of Susty Party cups, with Susty Party straws, of course! There was music, dancing and an amazing sunset. The West show is in Anaheim, California this spring. We already have plans in the works for a party to rival Runa's houseboat fiesta.
What's next for Susty Party?
We are gearing up to launch a whole new product line in 2014. The new line includes: printed wooden cutlery, a larger paper cup, a non-GMO PLA cup to rival the SOLO cup, cocktail straws, napkins and the world's first bioplastic tablecloth. We have all hands on deck right now getting the product designs finalized, manufactured and in select stores by January.
Images: Susty Party