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These L.A. Shops Take Sustainability to the Next Level

  • Writer: Julius Miller
    Julius Miller
  • Dec 21, 2023
  • 2 min read

Inside re_grocery, a package-free grocery store with three locations in Los Angeles, diverting “400,000 items of packaging from landfill” since opening. (Courtesy re_grocery)

Shopping sustainably on a local level can often be difficult — according to the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. is littered with thousands of food deserts, for example, which restrict individuals’ access to fresh produce and funnel their consumption toward unethical brands. However, L.A. presents a far different story, with farmers markets and sustainable businesses popping up on every boulevard and street across the city. Simply put: This city has it easy. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some worthy highlights among its countless stars.


Cosmic Vinyl Cafe sits cozily in Echo Park at 2149 W. Sunset Blvd., just a few blocks from Sunday shopping hot spot Silverlake Flea. Owner Oren Pius has nurtured a community out of other Sunset Boulevard businesses, many of which have their own sustainable practices. Pius hones in on veganism — you won’t find a drip of dairy on his premises, not even hiding between the sleeves of his vinyl records. But it doesn’t stop there.


“All our coffee grinds are given away for composting,” he says. “We try our best to leave as little a footprint as we can.”


Nearby is Miracle Eye, a Latina-owned family-run boutique in DTLA at 1031 N. Broadway that brandishes its “100% sweatshop-free status.” The four queens behind this kingdom are founder Larissa Blintz and seamstresses Gloria (Larissa’s mom and head seamstress/cutter), Lucia (her aunt), and Luciana, whose skills tether dead stock vintage recycled fabrics into stylish garments with a groovy ’60s flair and an ethically handmade-to-order ethos.


Inside DTLA boutique Miracle Eye (Photo by Juliette Davis, courtesy of Miracle Eye)

Keeping your closet green isn’t the only way to think sustainably in L.A. Yes, the number of businesses that promote ethical consumption outside of fashion is small by comparison, but they’re still out there. Take re_grocery, a plastic- and package-free grocery store with three locations in Los Angeles — Highland Park, Studio City and Mar Vista — that boasts of diverting “400,000 items of packaging from landfill” since opening. Through its refillable produce manifesto, the grocery store even got the sustainable badge of approval as a certified B Corp. That accolade comes from a rigorous process of measuring environmental impact, ethics and transparency, with an assessment done every three years.


This story originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Los Angeles magazine.

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