This week Zero Waste Canada decided to give a shout out to three start-ups businesses working hard to grow their businesses. Taking a great idea making a product and then finding people who will use and buy is always a challenge. One expert likened growth hacking to building an engine while you are barreling down a freeway.

Here are three different start-ups offering products that reduce waste.

Launched by entrepreneur Andrew Stromotich from Gibsons, British Columbia his platinum silicone products offer a solution to single-use plastics. Andrew’s product line includes bagz, pouches and lids.

His products are boilable, bakeable, sterilizable, dishwasher-safe, airtight and watertight, not to mention multipurpose and endlessly reusable.

As a start-up, Andrew has used crowdfunding such as Indiegogo to help finance several product innovations.

To market his products he has a website, twitter and facebook. He also used video presentations to show the uses and benefits of his products.

Karen Moore and her sister Lisa wanted to help other women become more healthy, environmentally friendly, and confident during their period. Karen, who is currently a student in the health field and Lisa, an ESL teacher used their sewing skills to turn a hobby into a product – colourful reusable pads.

SmartyPantsPads are a Canadian made product made from cotton, flannel, Zorb( a highly absorbent fabric that can absorb 10 times its weight) and a polyurethane laminate as a moisture barrier. The benefits of using cloth menstrual pads include both saving money and reducing waste. You can do the math: assuming a woman menstruates for 40 years, buys $8 pack of disposables every other month, it eventually adds up to $1,920 over her lifetime. If she’s using a pack a month, that’s $3,840. A half-dozen set of reusables for the same period, at an estimated cost of $84, replaced every five years, total only $640.  An average woman will use up to 16,800 disposable pads and tampons during her lifetime.

SmartyPantsPads are currently available on Etsy. Karen has a Faacebook page to promote the product.

For three years this start-up based in Munich Germany been doing research in the area of sustainable packaging. Leaf Republic wants to push the market a bit further towards sustainability. Believing: “Revolutions are not started by a market leader, but by lateral thinkers following a clear vision: Not to work within the system and to accept the standards as given, but to change the system and to set new standards”, Leaf Republic is the very first company to develop sustainable one-way disposable tableware and food packaging material made of nothing but tree leaves.

The tableware and packaging is made leaves with no synthetic additives, no colouring, no glue and no trees have been cut down. The product is biodegradable in 28 days. It is free from petroleum derivatives and genetically modified components.

The company has launched a 29 day Kickstarter campaign to introduce its’ green, biodegradable and vegan tableware (one-way dishes) to the public.

Leaf Republic has a well-organized marketing campaign that makes use of social media, media announcements and a website.

Check out these innovators and help them grow.