Chereen Leong Schwarz’s Colorado Favorites: Three community and cause-supporting business recommendations
April 17, 2025
Note: Direct quotes were edited for typos, to observe AP style guidelines and to fit the listicle structure.
Chereen Leong Schwarz, the woman behind the small business and creative community Smeeny Made Wild, appreciates businesses that are dedicated to the causes they value.
Leong Schwarz highlighted three businesses she has worked with that support other business owners, social causes and community members.
1. EcoEnclose
Leong Schwarz uses EcoEnclose’s packaging materials for Smeeny Made Wild. "They're pretty big now, but everything that they create is made from post-consumer recycled materials.”
Based in Louisville, EcoEnclose sells sustainable packaging products made from recycled and recyclable materials. According to their website, they offer products like polybags made from seaweed and biodegradable water-activated tape made from recycled corrugated cardboard and a starch-based adhesive.
Leong Schwarz said she chooses to use their recyclable products over their compostable line. She explained that people don’t have easy access to commercial composting, and this kind of packaging is not usually compostable in homes.
"I don't want to diminish anyone who is using that, but from a realistic standpoint, for most people, recycled is more sustainable at this time because not everyone has access to commercial composting."
2. Ohana
While customers can purchase handmade knit beanies on Smeeny Made Wild’s website, Leong Schwarz said she also sells them at brick-and-mortar stores, like Ohana’s Steamboat Springs location.
The artist-run shop features items from several Colorado creatives, and Leong Schwarz appreciates their inclusivity and values-led work.
"There's a shop in town that I sell my hats at, actually, called Ohana, and the owners are artists. And so, they put their art on, you know, apparel, and home goods and things like that. But they also curate the shop with over 100 other handmade makers, mostly [from] Colorado. But they're also creating this amazing community space where it is uplifting LGBTQ+, and Black Lives Matter, and public lands, and voter rights and stuff like that. So, they actively give back to a lot of these causes.”
3. Howl Mercantile & Coffee
Leong Schwarz also admires Howl Mercantile, which she said has a lot of similarities to Ohana.
“Very much similar in that way and with, like, a feminist twist; and the owner, I interviewed her in one of my maker series, but she actually has a degree in anti-racism and speaks a lot about that."
According to their website, the shop sells home goods, beauty items, crafts, coffee accessories, outdoor apparel, vinyl and more. They also offer nail appointments and host guests via Airbnb at an apartment directly behind the shop.
Leong Schwarz added that she appreciates the stores on this list for reflecting their values through action and for what they offer their communities.
"I just really admire these brick-and-mortar stores because not only are they living their values, they're also creating safe third spaces for a lot of people that might not feel seen, and I think that's really important. And I think that's why I've never separated politics from business.”
She has found that their approaches to business align closely with her own. “I always talk about the values and of the causes that I give back to."
