Reusable Packaging Companies You Should Know About

by Nicole C. Fitz | Feb 4, 2019 | Environmental Blog, Reduce Plastic Waste, Reusable Alternatives, Sustainability | 0 comments

Reusable Packaging Companies You Should Know About

It is about time! I am excited about the Loop reusable packaging joint venture. This is precisely what’s needed right now—collaboration. Big brand corporations are combining efforts and trying something new to create real change in the consumer-packaged goods market.

No single company, brand, or group is responsible for all our package pollution problems, but we all need to put in the effort to solve them. And Loop is a significant effort.

The Real Issue

Recycling alone is not enough. There is already too much existing plastic and too many variations of materials. At the same time, there are not enough recycling facilities to handle the volume or the different kinds of materials that make up our packaging and a large part of our landfill and ocean pollution problems.

No matter how much waste we as consumers don’t create (think of the zero-waste movement), the packaging and products are still being made. And that is the base of the problem. If we don’t have the packaging to throw away, there will be less of it. If needed packaging is made with compostable materials rather than recyclable, that would be another win.

The only thing missing is the necessary infrastructure to accommodate composting on a large scale, making it as easily accessible as regular garbage disposal.

Even though we are constantly trying to improve our recycling efforts, we are still throwing away a lot more than we are recycling.

Not everyone realizes what happens to plastic after it has been recycled. The process cannot repeat indefinitely. A product can be recycled into a different product, but that product will likely not be recyclable.

In other words, water bottles aren’t recycled into new water bottles. They’re usually made into stuffing for cold weather wear. At that point, we still have a plastic-based product that isn’t going anywhere. So, that same plastic continues to exist on the planet.

Our World In Data

Our World In Data.org published a 2015 article on plastic pollution that showed the vast increase in plastic production from the 1950s up to 2015. It also showed how discarding plastic products had been handled at that time, as well as global plastic waste generation, total plastic waste by country, and several plastic projections.

The charts below show the plastic-producing industrial sectors and the plastic waste produced by each industry globally in 2015. Packaging was the sector with the highest amount of plastic production and the sector that generated the largest amount of waste.

There were 146 million tons of plastic produced for packaging in 2015. There has been a steady increase in plastic production, including bio-based variations, since then.

Though its aim is to reduce waste, the current recycling infrastructure does not easily accommodate diverse or mixed materials, making recycling even less effective.

Even though we are constantly trying to improve our recycling efforts, we are still throwing away a lot more than we are recycling.

“The United States throws away $11.4 billion worth of recyclable containers and packaging every year.”¹ Many of which end up in landfills and oceans.

So, if recycling isn’t the answer to the plastic problem (no one thing is), what are the alternatives?

An Alternative Option

Less packaging.

Individuals are answering the less packaging – less waste call. Every day, a new person or family works toward having a zero-waste household. Though it is not an easy task, it is effective and becoming quite popular.

But if everyone shares the plastic problem, then individuals shouldn’t have to tackle it on their own. There are too many people who won’t be able to go zero-waste, for whatever reason.

What else can be done?

Repackaging.

Brands, corporations, and governments need to work together to find a solution rather than leaving it up to any one entity or the consumers while package production continues at the same pace.

That’s not to say brands haven’t tried to change the package-to-waste process in the past. There have been many packaging redesign experiments and just as many failures.

In 2010, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division made a valiant attempt to reduce the amount of plastic it produced by developing a biodegradable bio-based bag for Sun Chips. The result was that sales took a hit. The reason? Consumers felt that the bag was too noisy.

Judging by the videos on YouTube, the bags were noisy. But weren’t all chips bags noisy when they first came out? Potato chips were initially packaged in wax paper bags. So, that new packaging – cellophane – would not have been easy on the ears. It certainly wasn’t a natural sound, but you get used to it.

Luckily, PepsiCo persevered and designed a new, not-so-noisy biodegradable Sun Chips bag. Although learning that consumers rule with their wallets (and YouTube reviews) was painful, PepsiCo wasn’t the only company to learn the lesson.

A lot of the consumer negativity is usually in response to a change that occurred without the consumer’s awareness. Consumers ultimately determine whether changes, even those that are for the better, will work or not.

But change, coming from the top down, is what we need now.

Loop

The Loop shopping system collaboration allows consumers to play an interactive part that is not so different from how they are already shopping. Those gorgeous stainless-steel containers won’t suddenly arrive on store shelves. Eco-conscious consumers will knowingly order them.

The customer gets the product, but the company owns the package.

This concept would cut down on a tremendous amount of waste. Think about everything you buy from the grocery store, use, and discard the packaging. This cycle creates the continuous production of more packaging. With Loop, you buy the product, use it, and then return the packaging to be reused.

Many big brands are in agreement. The top three producers of what ends up as plastic waste – Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola – are all onboard. Many familiar names have also joined, such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Mars, Clorox, and Danone. UPS is also participating and will be a large part of the program as they will deliver the reusable products to your door (and pick them up).

Just order from any brand partners on the Loop store site or the brand’s site. Your products arrive in a Loop Tote, which is also used to return the empty product containers. The reusable packaging is durable and elegantly designed. You won’t want to hide it. And that specially made for Loop stylish packaging belongs to the brand.

When your product runs out, you get a new delivery. The best part is – there is nothing to throw away. All the packaging is returned, cleaned, sanitized, and put back into circulation.

On the Loop Store site, there are 25 brands, 11 of which are currently in use in my home, and several that I would consider simply because they are a part of this program.

Loop launches this spring in Paris and New York.

Reusable Packaging Innovators

When I first learned about Loop from the January 25th GreenBiz Circular Weekly, I was impressed that so many brands were already on board. But I was also happy to learn about other packaging innovators who have been up and running for a while in the U.S.

I looked into these companies because I hadn’t heard of them before.

LimeLoop
GO Box
Package Free Shop

LimeLoop

“Reinventing the way goods are sent and received.”

The LimeLoop (not to be confused with TerraCycle’s Loop) process is simple and hassle-free for the online shopper. The store ships its merchandise to you in a LimeLoop reusable bag. When you receive the package, you remove your items and secure the bag with the provided zip tie. You then place the pre-paid return label in the same slot the shipping label was in and return it via your mailbox or postal service. The bag can then be reused countless times, up to 10 years.

The bags are made of upcycled billboard vinyl lined with recycled cotton and waterproof. Because the bags are flat, they are easy to ship in a standard USPS mailbox.

LimeLoop also provides the shipper (e-commerce store owner) with a software platform that allows them to track the bags after they’ve been shipped, get customer feedback, and monitor the environmental impact of the bags’ use. The more the bags are used, the more trees, oil, and water are saved, and each shipper will know the exact impact they are making.

These bags remove the need for the items to be individually wrapped in plastic, placed in a box, and shipped in yet another cardboard box. You would receive your shipment and have nothing to throw out after.

Wearwell, Toad&Co., and Maika are brand partners. Imagine the overall environmental impact if even half of e-commerce clothing sites in the U.S. shipped goods using LimeLoop.

A Reusable Twist on Takeout

Bold Reuse (formerly GO Box) is a new take on take-out.

It’s Taco Tuesday. You pull up to the drive-thru of your local taco restaurant and place your order. You get tacos.

But you also get a million packets of hot, mild, and in-between sauce. You get napkins, the packaging in which each taco is wrapped, possibly some plastic utensils, and a plastic bag to help you carry it all to your home.

Or maybe you have the food delivered. It’s the same for burgers, pizza, Chinese food, and anything else you don’t cook for yourself. You get the meal and a lot of packaging with it. Packaging that ends up contributing to landfill methane and carbon dioxide gases.

“Food delivery is a $43 billion business in the US today.”²

The take-out and delivery services that are so convenient are also significantly contributing to our pollution problems. The items are used for an hour at the most, possibly, several times a day by countless individuals. The packaging mounts up quickly, even if you recycle most of it.

“Containers and packaging alone contribute over 23% of the material reaching landfills in the U.S., and some of these discarded materials are food-related containers and packaging. Additionally, packaging makes up a majority of the litter that ends up on our beaches and other waterways.”³

Enter Bold Reuse

The Portland-based company offers reusable takeout boxes for restaurants and food truck vendors. You go to your favorite lunch spot, order, and then take your meal away.

But instead of throwing away the takeout box when you’re done, you return it to one of the drop sites around town. Nothing to throw away. The reusable containers are then picked up, taken to be cleaned, sanitized, and put back into circulation. The pick-up vehicle? A bike.

An impressive 80+ participating food carts and restaurants in the Portland area offer reusable containers. There are also several drop-site locations.

How do you find the drop sites? The entire program is done by mobile app, making the zero-waste concept interactive with consumers. Download the app to join, pay a yearly or monthly subscription, and the mobile app shows you the restaurants using the GO Boxes and the drop sites.

*Some of this information has changed since GO Box evolved into Bold Reuse. New post with updates about their rebrand coming soon! In the meantime, check out their website for current details.

The Package Free Shop

In New York, there’s an entire store catering to less packaging. It’s called the Package Free Shop. The Brooklyn-based store offers package-free products and shipping. It promotes a zero-waste lifestyle and provides enough items to make it a one-stop waste-free shop.

Unfortunately, not every item can be completely package-free. Some products, like toothbrushes, require packaging by the FDA for health reasons. So, the vendors they source are doing their part to provide products with minimum packaging or packaging that is 100% recyclable or compostable. The shop works tirelessly with its vendors to find ways to avoid unnecessary packaging.

Their online shipping is plastic-free, completely recyclable, and compostable, and it comes in an upcycled or 100% post-consumer box. The shop even has an in-store waste recycling program where shoppers can bring difficult-to-recycle or non-recyclable products.

They teamed up with TerraCycle (the company behind Loop) for the bins to help people dispose of things like plastic toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, spray bottles, dryer sheets, and even computer cables, printers, and copiers.

These are just a few of the companies working to reduce the flow of waste on their end so that we can have an easier time doing the same on ours.

The Opposition

The only opposition to a system like this would be if the number of consumers and businesses who refuse to change outnumber the ones who will.

Consumers have brought down well-intentioned and well-thought-out plans for sustainability and environmental benefit in the past. As consumers, we don’t like change. We don’t want inconvenience. And we really don’t like spending extra money.

All of those things come before the environment for a lot of people. Not to mention the throw-away culture that has persisted (and gotten worse) for decades. It’s not even a matter of convenience. It’s a habit, a way of doing things, second nature for so many of us.

One of the best things about Loop, and there are several, is that some major brands are behind it. Profit is not the primary motivation. Sustainability and the environment are the top concerns.

No One Thing…

Loop is not going to single-handedly end overflowing landfills or ocean pollution. Neither is the zero-waste lifestyle. However, combining these two ideas has an excellent chance of reducing the existing problem by not continuing to add to it.

An important thing to note is that people, designers, organizations, e-commerce, and brands have all recognized their part in the plastic problem and are looking for ways to correct it. We have a lot of work to do and a long way to go. But we are getting closer. Loop is a huge step in the right direction.

When we all work together, it will make a difference.

[1] https://www.rubiconglobal.com/blog-statistics-trash-recycling/
[2] https://www.vox.com/videos/2018/1/3/16842068/climate-lab-takeout-food
[3] https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/reducing_wasted_food_pkg_tool.pdf

Additional Information

https://www.waste360.com/plastics/greenpeace-report-names-top-producers-plastic-trash
https://earth911.com/business-policy/how-many-times-recycled/
Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2019) – “Plastic Pollution”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution’ [Online Resource]

How to Dispose of Your Epic Pile of Plastic Bags

by Nicole C. Fitz | Aug 9, 2018 | Environmental Blog, Recycle, Reduce Plastic Waste, Reusable Alternatives | 0 comments

How to Dispose of Your Epic Pile of Plastic Bags

Grocery Store Plastic Bags

Everyone, it seems, is against plastic bags. They pile up pretty quickly. They’re flimsy and sometimes barely make it from the grocery store to your car, so you double-bag it and end up with even more bags.

At home, you try to reuse them. Maybe you take them back to the store to use in your next round of groceries. But more than likely, after you’ve done all you can with them, you throw them away. And hope they break down before becoming a whale’s main food source.

Or, you can bring reusable bags to the store.

Reusable Bags Instead of Single-Use Plastic Bags

I tried this for the first time recently. I gathered all the reusable shopping bags I’ve acquired over time from green markets, where they give them to you when you arrive. And also from grocery stores in London where you have to buy them. I’ve also purchased a few from my local Miami grocery stores, where it was optional.

One has a thermal lining, which is great for the frozen foods. The one from Sainsbury’s is made from 33% recycled materials.

I hadn’t noticed how many I had collected over the years, always intending to take them grocery shopping next time.

I strolled into the grocery store, determined not to leave with a single plastic bag. At checkout, I told the cashier, “Please, no plastic bags. I’ve brought my own.” I packed my reusable bags as quickly as possible while the people in line stared, and the cashier rolled her eyes at how long it was taking. However, I didn’t let any of that deter me.

I was happy to discover I hadn’t even used all the bags I’d brought. I bounced back to my car, grinning with glee at my environmental accomplishment. Unpacking the car at home was quicker because I didn’t use as many bags as when the cashier packed them. I was quite proud of myself.

It’s More Than Shopping Bags

At home, looking at the unpacked groceries, I saw plastic bags everywhere. The fruit I put in the lightweight plastic produce bags. The bread bag. The bag the potatoes came in. The toilet paper wrap. These were all versions of plastic bags I had never considered before.

It left me feeling a little defeated and wondering, “How do I recycle all of this?”

There is more to the “plastic bag” than just shopping bags. I know it helps to avoid adding a load of plastic bags to the garbage bin. Nonetheless, I had a realization. We need some plastics, regardless of how we feel about it.

Plastic bags and films are too lightweight and clog the recycling machinery. So, you can’t usually recycle the bags through your curbside pick-up programs.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t recycle them.

Store Drop Off for Recycling Plastic Bags

You can take plastic grocery bags and several other kinds of plastic wrap back to the grocery store and place them in a designated bin for recycling plastic bags and films. Many major grocery chains have plastic bag recycle bins available.

There are several ways to find the closest drop-off location.

Plasticfilmrecycling.org

The Plastic Film Recycling site has a plastic bag drop-off directory. Type in your zip code to see a list of the grocery stores near you that will accept plastic bags, films, and wraps for recycling. The bags don’t have to be from that store. Any participating store will accept bags and wraps from another store. Just be sure to check what is allowed at each location because it varies.

Earth911.com

Earth911 provides more detail about recycling, including a quick search list for various recyclables.

If you search for “plastic,” you get a list of the kind of plastic in relation to its resin identification code and where you can drop it off based on your zip code.

What is a resin identification code?

A resin identification code is the number in the middle of the recycling arrows on some products. Each number represents a type of plastic determined by its properties. Typically, for plastic bags, resins #2 and #4 are recyclable.

High Density Polyethylene – Used for milk, water, shampoo, laundry detergent and dish wash bottles, cereal box liners, grocery bags, and retail shopping bags.

Low Density Polyethylene – Used for dry cleaning, newspaper, bread, fresh produce, and household garbage bags. Also used for shrink wrap, milk carton and hot/cold beverage cup coatings, squeezable bottles, and toys.

That’s a lot to take in (and lookup) when you just want to know what bin to put something in when you’re done using it. That leads to another helpful website.

How2Recycle.info

How2Recycle is a standardized labeling system that is sorely needed. It skips over the resin numbers and instead clearly explains how to recycle the packaging, removing a lot of the mystery of “How do I recycle this?”.

Environmentally conscious brands that have partnered with How2Recycle have these labels on their products. And there is an impressive list of brands. The site provides plenty of information about recycling that we need to know but don’t usually look up.

If you’re thinking it’s just a few bags, consider that in 2015, the EPA reported about 4.13 million tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were generated. Only .53 million tons of that was recycled. Around 2.89 million tons ended up in landfills. And quite a bit of that ended up in our waterway systems and oceans. That was years ago. Imagine the numbers today.

We tend to feel comfortable separating our garbage into green or blue bins and not looking back. Yet even if we avoid taking another plastic shopping bag from the grocery store, we will still have to dispose of other kinds of bags. We should do that as responsibly as possible.

Stainless Steel Straws and More Great Alternatives to Single-Use Plastics

by Nicole C. Fitz | Jul 5, 2018 | Environmental Blog, Greener Than Before, Recycle, Reusable Alternatives, Sustainability | 0 comments

Stainless Steel Straws and More Great Alternatives to Single-Use Plastics

Straws. I have to admit that I own a huge bag of single-use plastic straws. I am one of many who use them daily but never thought about the damage they cause to the environment.

Like many others, I didn’t think twice about their small size. I didn’t add up the number of straws I used in a week, a month, or a year. I hadn’t considered the collective impact of every person like me who uses them daily.

Think about every restaurant meal – coffee stirrers in the morning, straws for lunch and dinner, drink stirrers at the bar. I didn’t multiply those numbers by every restaurant in every city and state across the U.S.

I don’t know those exact figures, though I tried hard to find them. But that’s no excuse to assume that the total number is reasonable.

Straws are not recycled due to their size.

The 500 Million Straws Claim

People say the “500 million straws a day in the United States” claim is incorrect. They attribute it to a child’s guess for a science project. But is it really that inaccurate? Consider how many just one restaurant distributes in a day. Additionally, how many restaurants are there in the United States? I think 500 million might actually be very accurate.

I don’t have the data to back this up. I’m just taking a realistic look at my straw use and multiplying that by every person in the U.S. who buys a coffee in the morning, grabs a meal on the go for lunch or dinner, or uses them at home.

The specific number doesn’t really matter. Whatever the number is, it’s too high.

The Real Issue About Straws

Straws are not recyclable due to their size.

I didn’t know that even though straws may be made from recyclable plastic (polypropylene resin ID 5), most recycling plants can’t process them.

According to livegreen.recyclebank.com, “As plastic travels down conveyor belts while being sorted, small items like bottle caps and straws fall through the cracks and end up being sent to the landfill.”

The number of straws collected in beach clean-ups along U.S. coastlines proves this.

Before I was aware of the damage to the environment that I was contributing to, I realized that continually spending money on a one-time-use product was a waste. It’s true that you can wash and reuse plastic straws. But ah…no.

A Personal Shift

So I invested in bigger (also plastic) straws that gave me a much less queasy feeling about washing and reusing. I thought that I had done something really good by using these. I even found a way to clean them using fuzzy sticks, before I found actual straw cleaners.

I’ve had them for a few years and, because they are durable plastic, I could theoretically have them forever.

An Alternative Option: Stainless Steel Straws

Finally, I discovered stainless steel straws. It was late in the straw game, but I found them. Initially, I thought they would be uncomfortable. Then I looked over at the coffee tumbler that I took to work every day. Yep, stainless steel. My teeth have been fine with the tumbler. They’ll be fine with the straw.

Finding stainless steel straws was easy. They are available at Walmart, Amazon, Etsy, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other retailers.

The Opposition

If you believe, like I did, that straws are an insignificant size, are not widely used, or are recyclable, please consider the above information.

There are some genuine concerns when it comes to plastic drinking straws. Some people need them due to being physically impaired, sensitive teeth, or medications that make them sensitive to metals.

Fortunately, even more straw options are available from several manufacturers. For example, soft silicone straws, large reusable dishwasher-safe plastic straws for shakes and smoothies, bamboo straws, good old-fashioned paper straws, and glass straws are also available. There are also carrying cases and keychain straws that guarantee you’ll have one wherever you go.

The Bigger Picture

Will using stainless steel straws stop plastic straw production in its tracks? No.

Is it actually making a difference? Yes. It is a small step by many today that will lead to significant improvements tomorrow.

The pounds of plastic floating in the ocean didn’t just show up yesterday. So we have to start somewhere.

Congratulations to Seattle for banning plastic straws and utensils! We are on our way to a better future, one small step at a time.