2021 • year nine

2021 was a big year for our sustainability efforts. I continued to look at all of our business practices, scrutinizing each one to find out how we could be better at creating less waste and helping, instead of harming our environment. Many of those changes are happening behind the scenes, but the most visible change that many of you may have noticed is that we cut ties with many of our brands and vendors — 25 in 2020 and another 25 in 2021 — because they didn't meet our sustainability standards. But the good news is we've found so many new brands doing incredible work at redefining what ethical and circular business practices can and should look like.

As I've been challenging myself to do the same, my sustainability journey has taken me to an unsuspecting place: The Cape May County dump. I'm not joking when I say it was a trip that changed my life. As I walked around the dump facility, I was horrified by the amount of waste that's accumulated and the plastic that all over the ground. It just seemed obvious to me that we can do better. So, now I'm obsessed with trash! I decided to launch Ocean City's only community compost. For anyone who's interested in finding out more about the program, check out our website :)

Also, in 2021, we redesigned our front desk, which was a project I'd held off doing for a long time. The desk that we used for six years was Larry's old desk, and, honestly, I was a little too sentimental about it. (Don't worry: It's sitting safely in my garage, awaiting a new purpose in the near future). I get asked a lot about how I know how to build things. I went to fashion design school and learned how to make clothes — luckily, woodworking is pretty much the same. Which, I guess is proof that, as long as you go to college and learn a skill, you can apply it in many different ways in the real world.