Legal pot can do a lot of things — entertain, excite, destress — but it’s not often that you get to do some good for someone else, someone who really needs help, just by smoking up. Superette, the startup Westboro dispensary that has been raking in the praise (and awards) within the cannabis world, is setting out to change that by teaming up with the Ottawa Food Bank to turn recycled packaging into donated food. “Starting in December, and throughout 2020, we will be matching every unit of cannabis packaging that is recycled and brought back to the store with a unit of non-perishable food,” the store’s founder, Mimi Lam, announced to a group of supporters, neighbours and media on Friday morning. The store is initially committing to at least 5,000 items of food per month, and aiming for 60,000 by this time next year. That’s just a minimum, though — if more people recycle their pot packaging, more food gets donated. It will, admittedly, mean that the cannabis users of Ottawa — or at least Superette’s customers — need to up their game in the recycling department. Most people don’t know that cannabis packaging is, generally speaking, recyclable — the catch is that you can’t just throw it in with the cans and bottles and old newspapers, since the cannabis residue inside, however slight, renders it trash in the eyes of regulators. All recycling is done by TerraCycle, a private recycling company who teamed up with Tweed, in Smiths Falls, to develop a cannabis recycling program after a cacophony of complaints about excessive packaging at legalization’s outset. Right now, Superette gets “a couple hundred packages” returned every week. “We’re hoping that the people who aren’t currently recycling will jump on this initiative,” Cressida Firth, the store’s manager, told OttawaMatters. “We have everybody on the floor pushing it.” "It's like the feel-good version of bringing your empties back to the beer store," said one customer, Jane, in passing.

As news of the closures of two cannabis dispensaries rolled through Squamish on Nov. 5, so too did rumours about the only licensed store in town. Linley Mussett, the general manager of Sky High Cannabis Ltd., spoke with The Chiefto clear up misconceptions they've been hearing about edibles, packaging and prices. While edibles are not sold in the form of food at Sky High, Musset said there are other edible products that can be used in the same way, to similar effect. Among their products are oils, sprays, and capsules. (They hope to be adding gummies and cookies before the end of December, based on producers.) "I think they're so used to the convenience," Mussett said of edibles versus oils. "They're so easy, they're tasty. They're used to that small price—$10 to $12 seems really easy at the time. Paying $30 to $40 for a much longer period of time is going to benefit them in the long run, for sure." She said that typically with edibles, it takes so long to feel the effects that people tend to eat more than they need. "It's a lot easier to end up eating too much," she said. Taking too much is likely why the government has been reluctant to greenlight edibles in licensed stores, Mussett said. The dose can be difficult to gauge, which is why Sky High is looking into offering DIY edible cooking classes. They currently sell edible-making kits in store. "We really want to encourage people to start making their own, because there are people who are making edibles already who maybe don't know what they're doing," she said. She thinks the next issue people will soon be talking about is the regulated dose in licensed edible products, which is anticipated to be set at 10mg per pack. Another concern Mussett has heard is about the packaging their product now comes in. While Sky High has a petition in store that calls for producers to reduce the packaging, in the meantime the company asks that customers bring back packaging to be recycled. Sky High works with Tweed and TerraCycle, a cannabis packaging recycling program that recycles packaging from all licensed producers and is in contact with the government. "If people are just recycling at home, the government's not really going to tell what's happening with it," Mussett said. "This way, they can see every week how much we're sending back. We actually really hope people will start doing a little bit more… probably half the people actually bring it back. Bring back the box, any bag, any tube — all of them." As for pricing, Mussett said, like any store, Sky High sets its prices after buying from the BC Liquor Distribution Branch and, contrary to popular belief, many products have stayed at the same price. "Some are more expensive, but everything that we offered before, we do have the same prices — some of the things are actually cheaper," she said. "The options are there, you just have to pick and choose what's best for you." Sky High became the first (and so far, only) provincially licensed cannabis dispensary in Squamish in September. It is owned and operated by Mussett's family, who have lived in the Sea to Sky for decades (Pemberton, Whistler and, as of 2018, Squamish). To be provincially approved, the company had to abide by the regulations (listed at cannabis.gov.bc.ca). Mussett describes the process as very thorough. "My mom used to work for ReMAX for 12 years," Mussett said. "She is a paperwork master." Mussett said every detail had to be just right before the company could get its inspection. All told, the process took around 13 months. "When we got our licence, we were number 63, and now they're at 160-something." As of Nov. 18, 164 applications of the 539 submitted have been approved, according to provincial government stats. Sky High will be hosting a Seniors' Cannabis 101 at the Squamish Manor on Dec. 6 and a general Cannabis 101 (19+) at the Squamish Public Library on Jan. 23. Find more information at www.skyhighcannabis.ca. Her biggest piece of advice is to contact Health Canada or the prime minister with concerns and questions. "If you are passionate about anything, speak up. Let them know—they're the ones who can affect the change and hear you," Mussett said. "We'd be happy to advocate on behalf of anyone."

Cigarettes are the world’s most littered item and pollute the oceans with toxic microplastic. Philip Morris International, the world’s biggest tobacco firm, says even with biodegradable filters, butt-flicking is not okay. Though few people would ever say this publicly, it could be argued that, by killing 7 million people a year, tobacco companies are doing the world a favour by keeping human population growth in check. But tobacco does more harm—or good, if you’re a hardened misanthrope with a disregard for human suffering—than merely killing people. Smoking pollutes the air with all manner of toxins, farmers fell millions of trees to grow tobacco, dropped cigarettes start forest fires, and tobacco companies emit millions of tonnes of carbon in the curing process, guzzle millions of gallons of fresh water to process their products, and use child labour. As if that wasn’t a big enough environmental and societal footprint, tobacco companies are now adding to the world’s electronic waste crisis by pivoting towards “heat-not-burn” products like e-cigarettes that are supposedly less likely to kill their users than lighting up a Marlboro. But an often overlooked impact of the tobacco industry is that, of the 5.6 trillion cigarettes manufactured and smoked by 1.1 billion people annually, two-thirds of their butts are dropped irresponsibly, ultimately ending up in the sea. Cigarette butts, which are made of non-biodegradable plastic fibres, are the most common form of marine litter, and have been reigning ocean pollution champions for more than three decades, according to beach clean up data from Ocean Conservancy, a non-governmental organisation. They are, by far, the most littered item on the planet. Yet it is the makers of plastic bags, drink bottles and drinking straws that shoulder most of the blame for the plight of the oceans. And while a cigarette butt is less likely to choke a turtle or starve a whale than a plastic bag, there have been calls from activists in the United States to ban cigarette filters because of the environmental damage they cause. Researchers have found remnants of cigarette butts, which contain synthetic fibres and a smorgasboard of toxic chemicals used to treat cigarettes, in the guts of 70 per cent of seabirds and 30 per cent of sea turtles. Cigarette butts take anywhere between 18 months to 10 years to break down in the environment, depending on the conditions, and 12 billion butts are discarded around the world every day. Marija Sommer, spokesperson for New York-headquarted Philip Morris International, said to tackle the problem requires the three e’s—empowerment, by providing smokers with places to responsibly dispose of cigarette butts; education, making people aware of the damaging consequences of butt-flicking; and enforcement, fines and other ways of punishing litterers. She added that the role of tobacco companies in contributing to the final ‘e’ was obviously limited. Sommer said that Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco firm that makes about US$30 billion a year from selling cigarette brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield, has been stepping up its efforts to combat littering by getting involved in clean-up operations such as World Cleanup Day, and awareness-raising campaigns. “We need to tell people [smokers] that it’s not okay to litter. We also need to raise awareness that [butts] contain plastic. Filters are made from bioplastic [known as cellulose acetate], but still, they can take years to degrade,” she told Eco-Business. So why don’t tobacco companies, armed with vast resources to pool into research and development, make biodegradable filters? Sommer said a biodegrable cigarette has yet to be invented, that can be handled and extinguished easily and has “the right taste” “If it [a biodegradable filter] altered the taste of your favourite cigarette, you might stop buying it,” she said. And even if the industry developed a biodegradable filter, it would be extremely important not to send the wrong message to smokers that it’s okay to litter, she added.

Butt tax?

Doug Woodring, founder and managing director of Hong Kong-based marine plastic solutions group Ocean Recovery Alliance, said that what tobacco companies are doing now to combat cigarette butt pollution is not nearly enough. Woodring argued that it’s much easier for people to casually flick a cigarette butt than drop a plastic bottle or drinking straw. “Education [to stop butt-flicking]? Good luck with that,” he said. To tackle the problem effectively, serious legislation is required, said Woodring. He proposes a butt tax—not to be confused with anti-obesity legislation—where an additional tax is placed on cigarettes that goes towards a fund for cleanup efforts, or a system where smokers are given rebates for disposing of smoked cigarettes at public collection points. “Without an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law [that makes tobacco companies responsible for post-consumer tobacco waste], or some kind of tax on cigarette butts, not much is going to happen [to reduce butt littering],” he said. Sommer said that Philip Morris supports policy measures that effectively reduce cigarette littering, including EPR laws for tobacco companies, as cigarette butts could be considered single-use plastic. But she added that such laws “need to make economic and environmental sense”. “We are often asked why were are not recycling cigarette butts. This is because they are contaminated with toxicants, and washing butts to make them clean enough for recycling does not yet make sense from an economic or environmental perspective at a larger scale.” Woodring pointed out that recycled butts can be used to make new products. New Jersey-based firm Terracycle has used cigarette butts to make park benches and shipping pallets. Though the recycling process is expensive, Terracycle receives funding from tobacco companies to make the system work. Though EPR laws for tobacco companies do not yet exist, as they do for other companies that make plastic and electronic products, soon they will, Woodring said. “Everywhere, when you increase the tax on cigarettes, you see a decrease in smoking. If you introduce a system that holds tobacco companies to account for their environmental damage, you’ll see a decrease in their environmental impact,” Woodring said.” The world is moving towards EPR systems for all issues, and tobacco companies that make major changes to reduce their environmental impact now could buy themselves time before regulators legislate, Woodring added. One country that has leant on tobacco firms to help combat cigarette butt pollution is France. If firms did not take voluntary action to address the problem they would face legislation, France’s environment ministry warned. British American Tobacco responding by saying it would work with the government to educate smokers and distribute pocket ashtrays, but rejected the idea of a butt tax. Imperial Brands said it encouraged smokers to dispose of butts responsibly, and had no plans to re-engineer its filters to make them less polluting. In June, the European Union issued a directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, a law that will apply an EPR to the tobacco industry. Companies will have until 2024 to comply. Sommer said that Philip Morris is “not waiting for regulations” and is already taking action to tackle cigarette filter pollution, and is also well aware of the impact of the heat-not-burn electronic products the company says it wants to replace cigarettes to bring about its mission for “a smoke-free future”. “We have set up recycling and takeback centres that cover the majority of our [heat-not-burn] devices. This is something we’re doing regardless of the regulations,” she said, adding that the industry needs to work with governments and non-governmental organisations for any measures to be effective. Electronic devices such as e-cigarettes are much less likely to be littered than regular cigarettes, Sommer added. Last week, Philip Morris announced a plan to make all of its factories carbon-neutral by 2030. Though reducing the harm its products do to its customers by encouraging a switch to heat-not-burn products is the company’s main sustainability priority, the firm’s 136-page 2018 sustainability report highlights emissions reduction, biodiversity, deforestation, water, fair working conditions and child labour as other strategic priorities.

When we think about what contributes to microplastics in our waterways, plastic bags and single-use packaging come to mind. However, there is another product often overlooked: contact lenses.   Americans use more than 3 billion contact lenses a year. Of those, 45,000 pounds of them end up in our waterways as one out of five Americans flushes them down the toilet – and even more end up in landfills. Both water treatment plants and standard recycling systems cannot process the contact lenses due to their size and malleability, as explained last year in The New York Times.   The good news is that there is a more sustainable option—as in the One by One Recycling Program, in which consumers here in the U.S. can responsibly dispose their contact lenses and packaging such as blister packs and top foils.   The One by One Recycling Program offers more than 4,000 drop-off locations across the United States for consumers to dispose of their used contact lenses and packaging. The program was born from a partnership between TerraCycle, the U.S. recycling and upcycling company that has long repurposed hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, and Bausch + Lomb, the 166-year-old eye health products company.  

One by One, more contact lenses are ending up in recycled products

  Once the consumer disposes his or her lenses and associated packaging in a recycling bin at a participating location, the waste is sent back to TerraCycle. From there, the contact lenses are separated from the blister packs. Then, the contact lenses and plastic components of the blister packs are melted and made into recycled products; the metal layers are recycled separately, according to Terracycle.   Most recently, the One by One Recycling Program contributed to the manufacturing of training materials, including benches, tables and agility ramps, which in turn are donated to the Guide Dog Foundation, a nonprofit that trains guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired.   “Before the One by One Recycling Program, contact lenses were one of the forgotten waste streams that were often overlooked due to their size," said Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, in an interview earlier this month with Invision Magazine. “Together, we are helping to preserve our environment and transitioning these materials back into the world in a positive way – it’s a win-win for all.”   Since its inception in 2016, the companies behind the One by One Recycling Program said they have collected 16 million used contact lenses, blister packs and top foils. In an interview with TriplePundit, Bausch Health Companies’ Kristy Marks explained that the program’s leaders plan to scale the number of U.S. drop-off locations through exploring partnerships with retailers outside of the eye-care industry as well as growing the number of participating eye-care professionals.  

Consumers are showing more interest in recycling used contacts

  Additional companies are launching their own contact lens recycling programs. Johnson & Johnson has launched a recycling program for its branded contacts in the United Kingdom through a different partnership with Terracycle, while CooperVision is testing a similar program in Sweden.   As the daily disposable contact lens market share continues to grow at 9 percent annually—the fastest-growing segment of contact lenses—more consumers are showing an interest in recycling their contact lenses. For example, one study found that 77 percent of British contact lens wearers would recycle their contact lenses if they could.   “Patients are pleased to hear about it during their appointments, especially those who wear daily disposable lenses and have expressed concern about the added waste they create,” said Gina Wesley, O.D., from Complete Eye Care, Medina, MN, in a public statement. “I applaud Bausch + Lomb for leading the way in providing this solution for my practice and patients and helping to minimize the waste these materials generate."   Image credit: Hubble/Unsplash

First company to partner with TerraCycle to easily recycle baked goods plastic packaging Bimbo Bakeries USA has announced that it is committing to 100 percent sustainable packaging for its entire product portfolio by 2025. Through this commitment, the plastic bags, individual wrappers and cardboard boxes for more than 21 brands of bread, buns, bagels, English muffins, sweet baked goods and snacks will be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Bimbo Bakeries USA is the first commercial baking company in the U.S. to make this commitment.   “We take our responsibility to protect our planet very seriously,” said Fred Penny, president, Bimbo Bakeries USA. “For years, we have taken steps to reduce the plastic used in our packaging and we are now committing to ensuring that packaging we have in the market does not make it to landfill or our oceans.”   This sustainable packaging pledge is part of a greater global commitment by Grupo Bimbo, the company of which Bimbo Bakeries USA is a part. During last year’s RE100, Grupo Bimbo—the world’s largest baking company with operations in 32 countries—committed to sustainable packaging across its entire portfolio around the globe by 2025.   “To make immediate progress in this commitment, we are expanding our partnership with TerraCycle to make all bread, bun, bagel and English muffin packaging easily recyclable starting January 1, 2020,” said Penny. “We have already diverted more than 5 million Little Bites pouches from landfill through TerraCycle and look forward to including the rest of our portfolio in this important program.”   TerraCycle is an innovator that prides itself on recycling items not typically collected in municipal pickup of plastics, glass and paper – this includes most commercial bread packaging, which is currently recyclable as a “4.”   The recycling experts at TerraCycle are committed to their mission of eliminating waste and work with leading consumer product companies like Bimbo Bakeries USA, to recycle products and packaging and prevent it from being landfilled or incinerated. Through the TerraCycle program, individuals can save their Bimbo Bakeries USA product packaging, print out a free shipping label and send it to be recycled. For every shipment of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle, collectors earn points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice.   Sustainability is built into Bimbo Bakeries USA’s Purpose – to build a sustainable, highly productive, and deeply humane company. Notable initiatives include:  

• Reducing company-wide plastic use by more than a million pounds since 2018
• Producing 100 percent renewable electrical energy for all U.S. operations as of July 2019, with energy created through a Wind Farm backed by a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with Invenergy
• Named EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2018 and 2019 for superior leadership, innovation and commitment to environmental protection through energy efficiency
• 14 ENERGY STAR Certified facilities
• Manufacturing operations divert greater than 95 percent of waste from landfill
• 360 company-owned vehicles utilize alternative fuel – propane, compressed natural gas, and electric

  “For more than a decade, we have been executing a strategy internally and with suppliers to reduce our waste and resource consumption, recycle and find innovative ways to accelerate our sustainable practices,” said Penny. “Announcing our commitment to 100 percent sustainable packaging by 2025 on National Recycling Day is one more critical action.”

It is in a constant concern for respect for the environment that the Dental Center Deschênes now proceeds to the recycling of various dental products thus avoiding the burial of thousands of them.   "We have always been very sensitive to the environment," says Dr. Isabelle Deschênes, owner of the Dental Center. "We have been recycling paper, cardboard and ink cartridges for a long time now and we are no longer offering individual water bottles to our customers. It was important, however, to do more. "   It is now possible for Deschênes Dental Center clients to drop their used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers into a specially designed container directly at the Dental Center. It is the company Terracycle, specialized in the recovery of this type of waste, which will handle the recycling at the Dental Center.   In addition, customers and staff using the Center's coffee machine will also be able to collect coffee capsules. The same goes for all latex and nitrile gloves; which can represent more than 2,000 gloves per month.   Dental Center Deschênes 98 Amyot Street # 130, Rivière-du-Loup, QC G5R 3G3 (418) 860-3368 centredentairedeschenes.net

We want it personal, digital, flexible, and eco-friendly, and we’re starting to turn away from plastics, but none of this is easy.  

We’re Asking a Lot More of Packaging Than We Used To — and Suppliers Are Responding

As e-commerce continues its penetration into every corner of our commercial lives, the packages that land on our doorstep have a lot more work to do than ever. The massive amounts of packaging that have accompanied the digital revolution and a surge in single-use products such as Starbucks coffee cups are starting to draw critics’ attention.  

Out With Analog, In With Digital, and Not Just for Replacing Printing

Although digital technologies for producing labels and other printed messages on packaging containers have been around for some time, the last few years have seen an inflection point in producers’ preferences. Sales of conventional analog “flexo” printers have been declining, while sales of digital printers are enjoying double-digit growth. As it does in many other industries, digital is enabling entirely new kinds of connections with end users by making small print runs affordable. One outcome is a rise in the amount of personalization that organizations can offer and that consumers increasingly expect.  

Even more important, brands are beginning to leverage digital technologies that enhance and extend the reach of their packages well beyond the actual package. A great example of this is Coca-Cola’s successful Share a Coke campaign, launched initially in 2014. The campaign involved replacing the Coca–Cola logo on bottles of the beverage with popular American first names. Consumers were encouraged to find bottles with their own names or those of friends or family members, then post on social media about their experiences, using the hashtag #ShareACoke. The promotion took off to the point at which Coca–Cola not only expanded the numbers of names on bottle packaging, but today allows customers to order customized bottles with names on them from the Coca–Cola store. Customers reportedly shared over 500,000 personal stories with the hashtag in the first year alone. Beginning in 2018, stickers with the names were used on the packaging, expanding the reach of the name to, well, anything you could stick it to!

 

Coke is adding a new digital element to its packaging with a program called Sip and Scan™. Users either go to Coke.com or use the brand’s mobile app to capture a photo of an icon that allows them to access treats and enter competitions for prizes. Among these are concert, movie, amusement park, and baseball tickets and exclusive experiences like meeting members of the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) after the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Of course, the company gets some goodies for itself as well — namely a direct connection to users’ phones, location, and purchase history — a data goldmine.

 

Not to be outdone, Coke’s arch-rival Pepsi has a few twists on packaging of its own. One was the launch of “Snackable Notes” — packaging for Frito Lay’s variety packs (Cheetos, Doritos, Lays, and a host of other brands). The packages left a blank space for parents or others to write notes right on the bags. Targeted for the anxious back-to-school months, the blank spaces on the bags are not only meant to encourage people to connect, but to post on social media as well, under the hashtag #snackablenotes of course. The company also launched a donation campaign as well — for every note posted, it contributed to Feed the Children.

 

Shapes Nature Never Designed — Flexible Packaging on the Rise

With advances in materials, it’s now become possible to use flexible packages — pouches, wraps, bags, envelopes, and many more form factors — instead of rigid boxes or cans. Flexible packages allow brands to indulge consumers’ desires for re-sealable, easy to carry and store, lightweight packaging to complement on-the-go consumption. Manufacturers are figuring out how to use flexible packaging to help with the reduction of food waste, carbon footprint, and shipping damages in a variety of formats that go beyond bottles and cans.  

And of course with headlines screaming that millennials don’t even own can-openers, some kind of alternative to the reliable can of tuna fish is going to be necessary.

 

Meanwhile, not all innovations in packaging are welcomed by those who want to get at the goods inside. I was startled to learn that the term “wrap rage” is actually a thing, if Wikipedia is to be believed. This stems from a fundamental disconnect — what works for the manufacturers of packaging can make it well-nigh impossible for ordinary people to get at the contents. Over the counter drugs have to show tamper-resistance. Some packages are deliberately designed to prevent access to limit shoplifting. And others are more about showing the potential customer what is in the contents than actually helping them to access the contents (hard plastic blister-packs, we’re looking at you!). The clamshell package is among the most dangerous, as it is designed to be unable to open with bare hands, resulting in some 6,000 emergency room visits in the US alone each year and thousands of more minor injuries.

 

An innovator in this space is Amazon, which launched its Amazon Frustration Free Packaging initiative in 2007. The idea is to create packages with less waste, that don’t require additional boxing, and which are easier for consumers to open. Vendors apply to be certified and are offered incentives to join the program, which Amazon claims to have used to save 244,000 tons of packing material in the 10 years since it launched.

 

Moving Toward the Circular Economy?

I’ve written before about Tom Szaky, the former Princeton student who founded Terracycle with the mission of eliminating waste. The company got going by using the university’s cafeteria waste to farm worms, then selling the…um…product as fertilizer. “Worm poop” was a memorable way to describe what the company did in its early days. Szaky has recently edited a book that takes the “no waste” manifesto directly to packaging. Called The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular, he seeks to replace the one-way take-make-waste process of packaging with a circular design, drawing the analogy to skins that protect fruit but which can be easily recycled.  

Manufacturers of edible packaging have taken a page out of Szaky’s book. In what I can only think of as a bid to introduce a mature brand to a whole ‘nother generation of consumers, Glenlivit has introduced whiskey pods to the market. Yup, think laundry detergent pods except with a whiskey cocktail inside. The capsules, Glenlivit has told a skeptical public, are made from edible seaweed — just pop them in your mouth — no glass, bottle, or stirrer required. The packaging is made by Notpla, a new entrant in the biodegradable packaging world. Unhappily for those of us who wanted to give the cocktail pods a spin, they were sold on a limited time-only basis.

 

Edible and biodegradable packaging, however, is making its way into more mainstream products. We have straws you can eat (Sorbos Ecostraws), spoons you can eat (Bakeys), decomposable cups to replace plastic ones (Loliware), and even Poppits toothpaste pouches, which are single-use “servings” of toothpaste designed to eliminate messy tubes. Still more important, major brands are beginning to get on the circular packaging um…bandwagon. Unilever, in a move that is sure to put pressure on its consumer packaged goods rivals, just recently made headlines with an announcement that it plans to halve its use of new plastic by 2025. The company plans to use so-called naked packaging (how exciting) for some of the reduction and replacing non-recyclable packaging with the recyclable kind for the rest.

 

Among the more interesting innovations emerging from the concern over packaging waste is the Loop ™ system being piloted by a consortium of brands, inspired by — you guessed it — Tom Szaky, who used the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos to talk leaders of major multinational brands into supporting the idea. Combining a digital platform with a completely different approach to packaging, the system echoes the return of the milkman, as an observer pointed out. The idea is that consumers place orders online for products from trusted brands, which are delivered to them in purposely-designed refillable containers. When the product is used up, the consumer returns it to the Loopstore, which it gets refilled and re-delivered. I have to say, the thought of getting brownie mix and Ranch dressing in re-usable containers has a certain appeal.

 

Who knew that the world of packaging had so much going on!

What about the purpose motive?

ESCANABA — Students in the Escanaba area are recycling candy wrappers after Halloween this year instead of throwing the wrappers in the trash, thanks to Escanaba High School’s Environmental Club. The new club decided the first activity it would take on would be the “Trick or Trash” campaign. Members of the club provided drop-off points for high school, Holy Name and Lemmer Elementary students to dispose of unwanted Halloween candy wrappers for recycling.   “We have gotten a lot of wrappers from kids here,” said Escanaba High School Special Education teacher and advisor to the Environmental Club Jessica Garber.   Club members have also picked up wrappers dropped off at Holy Name and Lemmer.   The company Rubion Global launched a “Trick or Trash” recycling awareness program. Garber received information from Rubion Global to educate students about keeping wrappers out of landfills and getting them into a recycling stream. More than 450 teachers signed up for the program. Escanaba High School is one of nine schools in Michigan working with the program to recycle.   The Environmental Club will close the “Trick or Trash” box when it is full and ship it free of charge to TerraCycle, a waste management company.   “We plan on packing the box as full as possible before sending it back,” said Garber.   Students wanted to have a club that did activities to help the environment after a visit to the Lake Superior Youth Symposium during the 2018-2019 school year. Seventh through 12th grade students from schools in the Upper Peninsula explored unique features of Lake Superior through workshops, field trips, and presentations. They met new friends and discussed how they could be good stewards of natural resources.   “This Environmental Club was thought up by a few students last year who went to the Lake Superior Youth Symposium because they saw the impacts of pollution on our Great Lakes,” said Garber. “We had a meeting to gauge interest at the end of last year, but our first meeting of this year was Oct. 15,” said Garber.   Garber decided there was enough interest to start a club for the 2019-2020 school year and is excited to see how it will grow. The club is so new they are in the stage of deciding the type of projects to engage in. “We have a small group of students who are working on the Environmental Club right now, but we are hoping the numbers will grow,” said Garber.   The first project the club tackled was the “Trick-or-Trash” campaign. The next project is to recycle plastic soda bottles to prevent them from going into the trash bins in the high school. The club now has a new bin to recycle bottles with the recycle number 1 or 2 at the bottom.   “All the bottles are going into the trash now,” Garber said.   Starting Nov. 15, the Environmental Club will start recycling plastic bags, bread bags, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, ice bags, plastic shipping envelopes, “ziploc” bags, cereal bags, case over-wrap, salt bags, pellet wrap and stretch film, wood pellet bags and produce bags. With each bag they recycle the club members get closer to winning a bench from the TREX Company, Inc., a major manufacturer of wood alternative decking, railings and other outdoor items made from recycled materials. The plastic items will be weighed weekly and the weight will be entered monthly on the TREX website. According to Garber TREX is sending the club bins for the plastic film challenge.   “This is a small jumping off point for us and the students are very excited to be making these small changes for the better,” Garber said.

Boca Raton, FL – On Monday, November 18th, the fourth annual Unwrap the Waves recycling campaign announced that it collected a total of 272,595 candy wrappers, satisfying sustainability and Halloween’s sweet tooth all-in-one. Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) also announced H.L. Johnson Elementary School as the recycling champion during its live broadcast among participating schools from Martin to Miami-Dade County. Thanks to rallying support, LMC exceeded last year’s wrapper count by a landslide and cued greater awareness surrounding sustainable packaging and single-use holiday waste.   The Unwrap the Waves campaign kicked off on Saturday, October 19 and capped off on Monday, November 11, summoning a record number of 34 schools and more than seven community partners throughout four counties. LMC will recycle 100% of the collected candy wrappers through TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Program, which will be repurposed into school supplies, such as pencils and notebooks.   According to Stanford University, Americans discard 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than any other time of the year. Unfortunately, the extra waste is estimated to produce an additional 25 million tons of garbage. However, regional and international efforts can reduce this reality.   “Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s candy wrapper push around Halloween goes beyond friendly school competitions,” said Lindsay French, STEM Education Coordinator. “It gives students an up-close visual of the debris that’s generally thrown away after one holiday alone, and provides a narrative that we can enjoy all kinds of celebrations while being conservation-minded to protect Florida’s most treasured ecosystems.”   After announcing the winner, the LMC Education Department challenged students to the next school-wide undertaking called the Blue Holiday initiative. The competition will stir hands-on, STEM-centric lesson plans aligned in Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) for grades K-12. The lesson plan includes two holiday classroom challenges for a chance to win fun sea turtle prizes. One of the prizes for the winning classroom will be a unique opportunity to name a future sea turtle patient at LMC’s Sea Turtle Hospital. Both competitions will have a virtual submission, so any school can participate.   Take learning beyond the classroom! Visit LMC’s website and give the lifelong gift of marine education to a child.   Loggerhead Marinelife Center:   Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is a nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation and educational institution that promotes conservation of ocean ecosystems with a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. The Center features an on-site hospital, research laboratory, educational exhibits and aquariums, and also operates the Juno Beach Pier, which hosts world-class angling and sightseeing. Situated on one of the world’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches, Loggerhead Marinelife Center is open daily and hosts over 350,000 guests free-of-charge each year. The Center’s conservation team works with 90 local and international organizations across six continents to form partnerships and share conservation initiatives and best practices that are core to its mission of ocean conservation. The Center is expanding and has launched its Waves of Progress capital expansion campaign, designed to accelerate and amplify LMC’s conservation and education impact. When complete, the facility will offer one of the world’s most advanced and unique experiences for guests and scientific partners. For more information, visit www.marinelife.org or call (561) 627-8280.