Many of us ask what it takes to start a business as a high schooler, let alone make a positive impact in our communities. Ava Jackson is a 12th grader at Western Albemarle High School, has accomplished both with her initiative “Green Crozet.” 

Green Crozet has partnered with eight local businesses, including The Yellow Mug, Parkway Pharmacy, and Bluebird & Co, to help them have more environmentally friendly business practices. Jackson lets businesses pick two different pledges to qualify for the Green Crozet partnership. In return Jackson gives the business recognition on her website, and a sticker with her business emblem, a green flag of Crozet. 

Jackson first started the business a year ago after watching the crawdads in Beaver Creek slowly die out, “Every time we went there were less and less crawdads. It was sad because it was a sign that the environment was failing,” she said.

This experience prompted her to start thinking about the impacts that business around Crozet had on the environment. Through her studies at the Environmental Academy at Western she was able to think up Green Crozet. 

Ava is able to run all of the business by herself, though she credits the design of the logo to her sister, Carissa Jackson. Ava is looking to pursue business after high school. She wants to be able to expand the business into the Charlottesville area. 

Green Crozet has helped Ava change her views on the way businesses work around town. She learned how to deal with the rejection from some of the businesses she approached. It has not only grown her understanding of business dynamics but also helped her tie her new business into her Environmental Studies.