Name: Angie Ringler
Age: 50
Location: Eustis, Florida
Occupation: Eco-Warrior
Free-spirit Angie Ringler has always been a self-propelled sustainable business machine! This Dead Head and eco-warrior has made her own brand of green company that provides ethically sourced and vegan household products, all with the mission to reduce waste.
This evolution began for her as a child in the 80s, when nearly every product was praised for its ability to be easily replaced.
“I grew up with fast food and disposable everything, although I learned about reusing stuff early on,” Angie recalls. “My Dad worked in procurement for the phone company, his job was to find places to send used parts to be reused or recycled. My favorite phone was a corded push button princess style phone that my Dad brought home from work. I loved that phone and I feel it was my first memory of trash being turned into treasure.”
As a student, Angie went to college to become a lawyer, and it was her exposure to the reams of paper produced by those offices that ignited her spark.
“I never made it to law school, but my years in the legal field made me crazy with the tremendous amount of paper waste. I didn’t know about the term ‘eco’ in those days so I guess the green girl in me has always been there, she just wasn’t as vocal as she is today.”
With her entrepreneurial spirit, she began her own business, Tangie LLC, initially striving to produce plastic-free laundry soap alternatives. Although she began with a goal of using natural ingredients, and thereby helping both the environment and her customers, the packaging itself became a means of forwarding her agenda. “As I began to build my business, I realized that if I was selling products in plastic bottles or plastic packaging, I was still part of the problem,” she recalls. “I later made the commitment to not sell products in plastic packaging and to focus on waste free products.” It was this waste-free push that shaped her professional achievements, with Tangie now providing reduced waste options for dish washing, laundry, pets, and personal care. Her day-to-day endeavors include all of the details of running a wholesale and retail business, along with developing innovative ways to further expand on the zero-waste goal. And she no longer has to attempt to manage as a one-woman-show. “I’m fortunate to have built a quality team around me in the last two years and that has made a huge difference in my growth,” Angie says. “I could not be where I am today doing it alone. I equally share my success with my team.” Part of Angie’s mission is to stop and smell the roses, something that she’s acutely aware of as her waste-free company grows and thrives. Her hope is that Tangie and Waste Free Products can continue to develop long after her working days are done.
“My business has taken center stage for several years now and I agreed to that. But my I want to make sure I don’t let the business overwhelm my personal life, and my husband and I can do things together while we are still young and healthy. From the start I knew this business was something I wanted to build and grow, not build and die with.” When she’s not growing her own food in tower gardens in her Florida backyard, running Tangie, listening to an audiobook, or spending some time in nature, she’s putting pen to paper and finishing her own how-to book. So what advice does this earth-saving, waste-slaying maven have for young girls out there looking to save the world?
“Be authentic! When I was young, I never believed it when ‘old people’ would say things like ‘don’t worry what others think’ or ‘do things you enjoy not what others expect.’ It’s taken me decades to realize what they were telling me is true. Being true to yourself is the best you can do and should do. The best I can hope for is that a lucky young girl reads this and gets the chance to enjoy decades of herself, being herself.” Really good advice! For her work providing waste-free alternatives to common household products, we think Angie Ringler is a very Cool Girl! -- Follow along with Angie on Instagram and Facebook!
