About Us

Susty Party creates responsibly made, eco-friendly party supplies and compostable tableware. Parties and events generate the second largest amount of waste in the USA, just behind the construction industry! Susty Party products make parties more sustainable, and sustainability a little more fun.

Susty Party's made-in-the-USA plates, bowls and straws are available in retail stores. The sustyparty.com online store offers a curated selection of Susty Party-approved party supplies from many of our favorite #susty brands.

Our wholesale division sells compostable tableware to businesses, distributors, and food and beverage companies.

We are a certified YouthTrade company and B Corporation. Our shared social, economic, environmental and spiritual values drive us at Susty Party to make the world a better place, while having fun at the same time. Our motto is: Respect Earth & Party On!

How We Choose Our Products: The Badge System and Our #1 Guiding Principle

At the end of the day, we live by our #1 Guiding Principle: We only create and support products that are good for human and environmental health!

The Badge System is our way of ensuring that we live by our Guiding Principle. We make sure that all products sold here on the online shelves of sustyparty.com qualify for at least three of these badges:

Compostable
When something is compostable, it means that it biodegrades quickly and safely under the proper natural conditions. To qualify for our Compostable badge, products must have their compostability claimsverified and certified through ASTM D6400, ASTM D6868 or EN 13432 tests, or by independent third parties, or they are naturally organic compostable materials (such as wood or leaf, without any coatings or additives). Compostable generally means that it should be commercially composted - find your closet facility at findacomposter.com—appropriate composting services may not exist in your area, yet! But in certain cases, such as with our Susty Party Plates and Bowls made from Starch, the products are able to be composted in a home compost pile! We will specify whether products are are commercially or home compostable.
Fair Labor
We make sure all our products come from factories that treat our workers fairly, and that prioritize worker safety and health. However, sometimes factories go the extra mile to certify and verify that their facility implements these procedures. One example of this verification is SA8000, an auditable certification standard based on international workplace norms and human rights. To earn this Badge, factories must have achieved the SA8000 standard or an equivalent reputable third party certification program!
Plain and simple - when we support domestic manufacturing, we help build jobs in the US economy and cut transportation’s environmental impact. We try to source Made in the USA products as much as possible. Sometimes it isn't economically feasible or resource efficient to do so. But as we grow, our goal is to create local jobs and locally produced Sustyware products, as much as possible. This Badge ensures the product is indeed made in the good ‘ol US of A!
All of our products are non-toxic. We wouldn't sell something if it was harmful to human or environmental health! But we want to specify that to earn this Badge, products must be FDA food-contact approved and pass eco-toxcity tests such as EN 13432 which screens out harmful chemicals, plastics and dyes.
Recycled means that the product contains a material that would have otherwise been disposed of in the landfill or incinerator, if it wasn't being used to make a certain type of product outside the scope of it's initial use. When products earn this Badge, we specify how much is post-consumer or pre-consumer recycled content.
To earn this badge, let's turn to Wikipedia's definition of a Renewable Resource to give us a little help: "A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability to reproduce through biological or natural processes and be replenished with the passage of time. Gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel and other commodities derived from fossil fuels, as well as minerals like copper and others, are non-renewable resources without a sustainable yield." So, we consider a resource to be renewable if it has a short life cycle, such as a bamboo (a grass), or plant-based resin, or if it has a longer life cycle like a tree but it is sustainably managed via FSC certification.
Products that can be used hundreds of times, instead of just once! This is always better for the environment than a single-use product. Even though we make disposable tableware, we support Reusable tableware whenever possible.
As a Certified B Corporation, Susty Party ensures that our Operating Agreement includes a responsibility to our community and society - to create benefit and social justice. If the factories we work with are also B Corporations or Non-Profits, we present the products with this badge. Products can also earn the Social Good badge if, by producing them, socially beneficial projects are helped in a significant way, such as 20% or more of profits going towards a charity, or social justice programs are significantly supported such as job training or education to impoverished communities.

And, because we don’t sell products that are harmful to the environment, none of our products:

  • contain non-recycled plastic
  • contain paper that is not recycled or sustainable harvested
  • promote a throw-away culture of waste

Basically we try to find products that create social or environmental good. We use The Badge System, and our hearts, to guide us.

Materials Selection

We do not carry anything made from traditional plastic, paper or styrofoam - but we've found alternative materials that function just as well. Here's a brief run down on our materials:

Bagasse

Sugarcane stalks are crushed in sugar refineries. The fibrous remains of these stalks are called Bagasse. A pre-consumer recycled material, bagasse is a sturdier alternative to paper. In

many ways, it's stronger than paper. It has a natural, porous feel. Our bagasse products are certified compostable by many international standards, including BPI and EN 13432 which also tests for ecotoxicity. Bagasse works well with hot or cold - it's microwave and freezer safe! Ice cream or hot tea? You decide.

Starch

Our Susty Party brand of plates and bowls are made from a new-to-market material: baked plant starch. Specifically, tapioca starch and grass fibers are mixed together to form an oven safe, microwave safe, super sturdy but natural, compostable and non-toxic material that can be colored with mineral pigments. Our starch products are certified home compostable as well as industrial compostable, by many certifiers including OK Compost Home.

Palm Leaf

Fallen areca palm leaves are pressed with steam to create sturdy, leak-resistant plates and bowls. Also known as leafware, this natural feeling material is very sturdy and often used for fancy events. Since they don't have any coatings or additives, they are naturally compostable.

PLA Plant-Based Plastic (or Bioplastic)

PLA, or polylactic acid, is a plant-based resin. Our resin is made in the USA by NatureWorks from

USA-grown corn. They use a tiny portion of the kernel that would not have otherwise been used for food. We are searching for resin that was created from organic farming practices, without the use of GMOs, however it is not yet available. Yet, no GMO content is actually present in the resin, due to the high processing temperature. PLA looks and feels like traditional plastic, however it will melt with temperatures over 100 degrees F.

FSC Paper & Wood

FSC, or Forest Stewardship Council, is an independent, non-governmental, not for profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world's forests. Their certification program for our paper and wood products mean that the trees were sustainably harvested, and therefore represent a renewable resource when managed properly, in contrast to clear cutting of forests to create virgin paper and wood products. FSC certified products can improve worker's health and safety, biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species and participatory forest policy. More here.

Can We Create a Movement Out of Sustainable Partying?

As human beings, we love connecting with each other. Susty Party propels forward the idea that fun human connections and a movement towards sustainability can co-exist. Our dream is to provide products for people to create magical times with each other while also spreading their good intentions to the Earth.

Can we have fun and be green? We hope our products will help! We also have a free guide and signage package to help. As you create a fun and green party, you are a part of something larger. As a conscious consumer you support new systems with your buying power. Commerce is a powerful agent of change.

Susty Party is a Certified B Corp: Business Not As Usual

In addition to a consciousness around our products, we are conscious of how we operate as a company.

We’re proud to be a Certified B Corporation and a Certified YouthTrade company.

When you support a Certified B Corporation, you’re supporting a better way to do business. Certified B Corporations meet rigorous, independent standards of social and environmental performance. They are creating greater economic opportunity, strengthening local communities, and preserving the environment. We are proud to have adopted the strict B Corporation environmental and social standards, written into our legal operating agreement.

B Corps. A better way to do business. Find out for yourself.

As a YouthTrade company, Susty Party's founders are certified as under 35 and part of a movement that creates a market for conscious young entrepreneurs who are inspired by the Conscious Capitalism Institute principles. Youth employment is a missing key to developing a sustainable world. YouthTrade is a project of YES (Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability), inspired by the Conscious Capitalism Institute (CCI), designed to promote entrepreneurship among people under the age of 35 by providing market access for mission-driven companies.

Our Story

Emily’s Story

I grew up with a love for nature while traveling to the oceans of the world with my underwater photographer parents. I studied how to protect the natural world at Oberlin College's Environmental Studies department. But I'm also a performer at heart. I like making people smile. And I've always felt that in order to truly protect the planet, people need to have fun - or as some say, "to change the world, throw a better party!" But parties and events generate a huge amount of waste (just second to the waste generated by the construction industry!). So I set off to make parties more sustainable, and sustainable products more fun!

This was me around 2007 to 2009: I was an artist living in Brooklyn and a sustainability manager at a green countertop manufacturer.

I created performance art and threw parties around environmental themes. I even produced a Global Warming Burlesque Show! I wanted to create fun experiences for people - magical times that inspired them - but not in a way that created more waste or ignorance. I was searching high and low for the best eco-friendly party supplies and tableware. But I couldn't find what I wanted, so I decided to just create my own sustainable party supplies online store! That's when I met Jessica at a party. She joined as a co-owner, we launched our own product line, and the rest is history!

The sustainable systems book Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart has always inspired me, and it’s 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?”

The idea of an ecological footprint that is not only about reducing and limiting, but that is about celebrating human creativity (and that involves the verb "to delight") is what inspires me to keep building Susty Party. Parties and events are an important part of our lives that connect us to each other, and connecting to each other is what keep us going! It's easy to get bogged down while trying to live a sustainable lifestyle. But sustainability should a celebration! And that's what Susty Party is here to do. I'm proud to be building a conscious company that reflects my passion to make the world a better place, and have fun at the same time. Respect Earth & Party On!

Jessica’s Story

Hello! My name is Jessica. People who know me know that I love puppies, going to the beach, playing sports and hanging out with friends.

I grew up in Maryland in the suburbs of Washington, DC and was a huge tomboy until middle school when I realized that my umbro soccer shorts and t-shirts weren’t a good look. I went to public school through 8th grade then went to a private, Quaker high school in DC called Sidwell Friends. I didn’t want to go to private school because I thought the kids would be snobby, but I ended up loving the culture and meeting some of the most wonderful, introspective, caring and loving people I’ve ever met in my life. After high school, I went to Harvard, where I took some very interesting classes, played basketball and met some really great friends. I graduated in 2006 and moved to New York to work at a Wall Street bank. I learned a ton and met some really smart people and role models that have had a big impact on my life.

Why am I telling you this?

Up until this point, I’d lived a pretty awesome, simple and problem-free life, but something felt like it was missing. I had great friends, I had a great job, I lived in a great city, what was the problem???? I finally realized that I missed doing things that would benefit people other than myself. It became clear to me that what I really wanted to do was to start or work for a mission driven company.

Right around this time, I ran into Emily at a party and started talking to her about the company she had recently started (Sustainable Party). I loved her enthusiasm and energy and loved what she was trying to do. I also LOVE a good party!

The most important things to me have always been the amazing people I’ve met and the time I get to spend with them. It makes me happy to know that Susty Party can be a part of people’s most special and memorable moments in life and I'm so happy to be here.

Our Team

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