A bevy of downtown Jacksonville businesses is holding special events for Earth Day on Saturday.
Downtown Jacksonville has become the home for a number of small businesses with sustainability as a key part of their business models.
Colleen Flinn, owner of Gillham House and Nothing Fancy Supply, says shopping at locally owned businesses that carry sustainable products is a great way to support your local community while helping to minimize your impact on the environment.
“I have sustainability items, I have items that are made in the U.S., I kind of focus on things that are made to last, so they might be a little more pricey but, it is higher quality. I carry a lot of food items that are also made in the U.S.
When you buys from other U.S. businesses you are not just supporting our economy, but you’re also cutting back on carbon emissions from being shipped overseas and that sort of thing.”
Flinn’s general store features her Nothing Fancy Supply beeswax food wraps that take the place of saran wrap-type food storage plastics. It also has home goods and local produce with plans to begin offering locally sourced meat soon.
Other businesses with special sales and events for Earth Day include Out Town Books, Just Good Trade, A. Collaborative, Green Haven Co, Willow Branch, Market House Antiques, Rooted Homestead, Allison & Co, Boutique and Pizza Records, and more.
Also located in Gillham House, Pizza Records is also celebrating National Record Store Day with limited releases, live music, and specials just for Saturday.
National Record Store Day started in 2009 and focuses on independently owned record stores. Owner Devin Smock says they have a big day planned for the store’s first time celebrating the national event.
“Every year they send out a list of some three hundred different releases that are special just for that day. Sometimes they are reissues, sometimes they are demos or live cuts, and sometimes they are on a special colored vinyl or something like that.
It’s pretty cool that we are able to do it this year since it’s our first year. And then we’ve got the Foodie Machine Food Truck here, they will be doing breakfast food from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. We’ll also have Esther Kinsaul playing songs off her new album from 10 am to noon.”
Smock says not only will Pizza Records have nearly all of the special Record Store Day special releases, but he also has a huge drop of new and used vinyl hitting the shelves Saturday.
Several stores around the square are also opening early and featuring special pop-up business outlets as well as food, entertainment, and more.
For more information on these events, visit Shop Sustainable Downtown Jacksonville on Facebook, as well as the pages for Pizza Records, Gillham House, and the many other downtown businesses.