Meet Ryan Metzger | Ridwell CEO and Co-founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Metzger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
First, was seeing how many people were motivated to create a future without waste. Before Ridwell, my son Owen and I had a neighborhood project called Owen’s List where we would find local reuse and recycling partners for our stuff. With some room to spare in our car, we offered to pickup from neighbors along the way. 4,000 people joined the cause and motivated us to see how we might do this on an even larger scale. As more people have made the connection between waste and issues facing our climate, interest has only increased and made us even more passionate about our mission to divert as much as we can from landfills so that it can instead be recycled or reused.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Ridwell makes it easy for people to waste less. We do that by picking up reusable and hard-to-recycle items from their doorstep. Our amazing team is constantly looking for great partners for things you no longer need – whether that’s old school supplies, leftover Halloween candy, eyeglasses, Styrofoam, or plastic bags (just a few of what we accept!) We do this research, answer your questions about what happens to them, and pick them up from the Ridwell bin we give each of our members. Coming up with this concept was not easy and took lots of twists and turns, but came after seeing how much interest and ideas there were from people motivated to do their part to make a difference for the communities and the environment around them. We are most proud of the collective impact our members have had — in under 3 years, nearly 3 million pounds of material that might have gone to a landfill has instead been reused or recycled (and we’re just getting started!)

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Seattle, which like Denver, has tons of great ways to spend time outdoors. If the weather cooperated, we’d go on a hike in the Alpine Lakes area before sharing stories over a pint of a local microbrew.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So many of my family members deserve credit! Starting with my mom who taught my the importance of recycling and protecting our environment and then more recently to my wife Erin for encouraging me to turn that passion into a business, and finally my kids Owen and Grant for being both early helpers as well as inspiration to always look to how we can make a better future for others.

Website: https://www.ridwell.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/getridwell

Facebook: https://facebook.com/getridwell