Green Teens: A growing company with an impactful mission
By Atalie Sherman
Starting a successful business in high school is nearly unheard of, yet Owasso teens Seth and Sydney Sherman did just that with their company, Green Teens Curbside Recycling LLC. Their hard work as high schoolers set the foundation for a successful family company that is creating jobs, supporting three college students and serving people right here in our community.
After hauling their own recycling for many years, a move out of town in 2016 showed Seth and Sydney Sherman how inconvenient recycling was for most people.
As the family continued to haul their recycling, they thought to themselves, ‘I bet someone would pay for a service like this,’ and began to market their idea, spreading flyers around their neighborhood.
Photo of Green Teen’s truck and trailer provided by Green Teens Curbside Recycling LLC
Sydney, Seth and their dad started with five customers in Owasso, first driving around a pickup truck and picking up recycling curbside. Later, they purchased a new work truck and trailer, acquiring new customers for both their convenience and their mission: helping to conserve natural resources.
In 2020, only a few years after starting their business, the company received a grant from PepsiCo Recycling for their service to the community. This $5,000 grant grew their customer base and allowed them to purchase more recycling bins. When this happened, managing the business became increasingly challenging for the brother and sister team. Expanding into more cities around Owasso and hiring another driver became the right solution, allowing the teens to reach over 200 people and take in greater amounts of recycling.
Photo of Seth and Sydney Sherman recycling, provided by Green Teens Curbside Recycling LLC
Today, Green Teens continues to succeed, adding new customers in several communities through north-eastern Oklahoma. Providing customers in Owasso, Collinsville, Verdigris and soon other communities like Claremore and Skiatook with two black recycling bins, Green Teens sorts, transports and does their best to recycle every bit of their customer’s recycling. Keeping their customers in-the-know with their bi-weekly reminders to set out bins and even patiently waiting for customers that accidentally forget, has shown, above all, that their customers are the priority. Sydney and Seth’s dad, U.S. Navy veteran Jake Sherman, continues to oversee operations as his kids continue their school careers in college.
Photo of Seth and Sydney Sherman provided by Green Teens Curbside Recycling LLC
Since their beginning, Green Teens has been focused on putting their kids, Seth, Sydney and fellow Green Teen Chevy, through college. Currently, Sydney Sherman has started Nursing School at TCC, Chevy is taking classes at TCC and Seth Sherman is pursuing Finance at OSU, all able to pay for college with the proceeds from Green Teens. For them, Green Teens will continue to support them financially until they graduate, allowing them to reap the benefits of the hard work they put in to sustain their company as teens.
By seeing a need in their community and working to fill it, the Green Teens found a great way to positively affect their community. As students at Owasso High School who were heavily involved, the hard work they put into their business continues to benefit them and their local employees. As Green Teens continue to expand locally, their desire to provide a valuable service to their community becomes even more impactful.