TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

“Temos que proibir cigarros com filtro”, dizem especialistas

Filtros são ineficazes e são o principal tipo de lixo coletado do meio ambiente globalmente. Por isso, devem ser banidos, defendem Thomas Novotny da Universidade Estadual de São Diego (EUA) e colegas da Escola de Higiene e Medicina Tropical da London School (Reino Unido) em artigo opinativo da British Medical Journal.

Hasbro lança no Brasil programa de reciclagem brinquedos e embalagens

TerraCycle Include Brazil Hasbro

Em parceria com a TerraCycle, brinquedos e embalagens da marca poderão ser reciclados pelos consumidores brasileiros

Café Royal et Terracycle lancent un nouveau programme de recyclage des capsules de café

TerraCycle Include France Café Royal

Café Royal s’associe à Terracyle pour lancer un programme de recyclage des capsules de café de la marque Café Royal. « Dans le cadre d’un processus de traitement des déchets avec TerraCycle, les capsules en aluminium usagées seront broyées afin de séparer le café de l’aluminium », expliquent Café Royal et Terracycle dans un communiqué commun. Le marc de café sera composté et l’aluminium fondu. Les capsules, une fois recyclées, serviront à produire de nouveau objets, « comme des cannettes ou des cadres de vélos par exemple », soulignent les deux partenaires.

Science has a garbage problem. Why aren’t recycling schemes more popular?

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Research institutions need to reflect on their attitudes toward plastic waste and make sustainability a priority. Whether it’s encouraging the use of reusable cups, banning plastic straws, or charging customers for plastic bags in grocery stores, it’s clear that some companies and policymakers are beginning to take measures against the growing issue of plastic waste. It’s easy to imagine science as an answer to our current sustainability crisis, as it offers the development of new environment-friendly materials, low emission technologies, and the production of discoveries and evidence that can help us fight climate change. But could those working on the solution also be contributing to the problem? According to an audit at the University of Washington, disposable gloves, made from nitrile or latex, are a laboratory’s main contribution to landfill waste, making up around a quarter of the waste sent to the trash by scientists. Gloves contaminated with chemicals are considered hazardous waste, and must be disposed of accordingly to ensure public and environmental safety. Some researchers choose to reuse gloves that are still clean after one use, but this is not always possible — gloves can get sweaty, tear, and are sometimes tricky to put on once they’ve come off. Importantly, gloves are mainly a prevention measure and do not always become contaminated, so they are thrown in the trash rather than the hazardous waste bin, ending up in a landfill. Instead, gloves could be recycled. In the last five years, the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry has diverted one million gloves — 15 metric tons of plastic — from landfill waste. The department was the first in Europe to sign up to the KIMTECH Nitrile Glove Recycling Program, also known as RightCycle, run by Kimberly Clarke Professional, a multinational consumer goods corporation, and TerraCycle, a company that specializes in recycling unconventional items. The scheme is operated not only in the United Kingdom, but also in the United States, with laboratories at the University of California Santa Cruz, University of Illinois, University of Texas Austin, and Purdue University signed up to the program. Between 2011 and 2017, more than 360 metric tons of waste — about 24 million gloves — were diverted from landfill because of the program. The nitrile gloves are turned into plastic granules that, after blending with other recycled plastics or being milled into a powder, form composite raw materials that can later be processed and turned into bins, garden equipment, furniture, or even rubber flooring and ground covering for sports facilities. Tim Calder, Waste Management Officer for the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, came across the scheme when talking to a Fisher Scientific representative who mentioned the nitrile glove recycling program. Calder bought 200 collection boxes in February 2014 and notified laboratory staff that they could take one to their lab on request. Since then, when the boxes are full, they are taken down to a larger collection point in the school’s stores facilities, which are emptied every six to eight weeks by TerraCycle. “I was involved with sustainability at the University and looking for new opportunities,” says Calder. He believes the initiative has been successful because “the staff and students here have been happy to do their bit.” According to a 2015 estimate, around 5.5 million tons of plastic are produced in bioscience research facilities alone every year — so why aren’t recycling programs more popular? The reason why many single-use plastic products, including laboratory gloves, are not conventionally recycled, is that doing so is not usually economically viable. Collecting and processing them through regular streams costs more than the value of the material left at the end. However, this particular recycling scheme works because TerraCycle collects a range of hard-to-replace plastics, from a variety of institutions, which are processed and then combined to make composite materials that can be processed into useful products. Participating laboratories only have to pay for the transport of the gloves to their nearest collection warehouse location. The School of Chemistry is currently the only department at the University of Edinburgh to take part in the RightCycle program, despite sharing a campus with other science facilities. Even when individuals have the initiative to adopt more sustainable practices in their labs, it is difficult to know where to start, or how to design programs that can be upheld in the long-term and will be embraced by students and staff. Each university or research institution has different protocols for how laboratory waste streams are handled, so a collective effort between building managers, laboratory staff, and department heads is crucial for the success of such initiatives. The implementation of the glove recycling scheme in current universities has often relied on the initiative of staff or students, which is often rare as researchers are often already too busy to spend their time developing sustainable policies for their departments. Institutions should instead fund a position dedicated to supervising the management of waste, someone who can liaise between their institution and recycling companies, as well as looking at how to make sustainability a priority in the department’s policies. In fact, there are other laboratory materials that recycling programs could target: researchers go through plenty of other single-use plastic items daily, such as pipette tips, petri dishes, and vials. Currently, chemical contamination limits the amount of material that can be recycled, but future efforts should focus on finding ways to neutralize equipment contaminated with common solvents to enable their recycling. To reduce plastic waste, facilities could also look at replacing plastic equipment with reusable glassware where possible, or recycling the plastic packaging in which chemicals are purchased. The question of sustainability in the lab goes beyond plastic waste, with increasing efforts to adopt a “circular economy” approach by recovering used solvents for reuse, sharing leftover chemicals between departments, and creating chemical management systems to ensure an efficient distribution of resources. As these lab practices become more widespread, they will serve to not only minimize waste, but also save funds and materials.

A SOLUTION SO THAT HALLOWEEN CANDY DOES NOT END UP IN THE TRASH

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Some time ago, I discovered TerraCycle , a company that offers to collect non-recyclable materials otherwise to give them a second life. They sell boxes to harvest these materials, online or at Wholesale Office. TerraCycle was founded by Tom Szaky in 2001. While a student at Princeton University, he founded the company to divert waste from landfills. Quickly, TerraCycle has become the world leader in the collection and processing of hard-to-recycle waste. Solutions for Halloween Halloween after Halloween, I really wanted to find a solution for the candy packaging that ended up in large quantities in the trash. Even though my kids do not spend Halloween for quite some time, I know this is a need for many other parents. I then made the link between my need and the company TerraCycle. PH effect was the perfect answer! Refusing and reducing should be the priority, but for many children, picking candies is one of the great pleasures of life! So, I think giving people the opportunity to divert candy wrappers from landfills is a great idea. That's why Effect PH has partnered with various companies to pick up these candy wrappers after Halloween. All candy wrappers are accepted as well as pastilles, chocolate bars, small snacks, gums and even small bags of potato chips. All you have to do is collect the candy wrappers and carry them to one of the collection points. If your business, school, or child care service wishes to work with us on this project, contact us at helene@effetph.com Pickup points Here are our pickup points where you can go carry candy wrappers during their opening hours, from November 1st to November 21st, 2019.

Célestine Café : 868 King Street West, Sherbrooke
Silo - Organic Grocery Bulk : 385 Rue King Est, Sherbrooke
L'écolo Shop : 655 King Street East, Sherbrooke
Boutique Folles from here : 24, Place Bourget Nord, Joliette 349, L'Ange-Gardien Boulevard, L'Assomption
KryceeDesign : Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (contact her via Messenger to bring her the packaging)
Shop Artemire / Frip'o diapers / Purple Pineapple Purple : 291 Rue Alexandre, Sherbrooke
123Zero - Zero Waste Grocery : 2389 Main West, Suite 140 Magog
Jouvence : 131 Way of Youth, Orford
Avrac A'davrac Grocery Store Zero Waste : 4844, Boulevard Bourque Sherbrooke
Students from École Gareau de l'Assomption can bring their packaging to the school.
The children and parents of the CPE Magimo (both facilities) as well as the childcare services of the coordinating office (educators and parents users) can bring their packaging to the CPE Magimo .
Students from École Des Aventuriers, 78, Cardinal, Sherbrooke , will be able to bring their packaging to school.
The children and parents of the Carosse Citrouille as well as the childcare services of the coordinating office (educators and parents users) can bring their packaging to CPE Carosse Citrouille .
The children and parents of the CPE Manche de Pelle will be able to bring their packaging.
Students and parents of L'Orée School of the Bois de Saint Lazare can bring their packaging to the school. Two boxes will be made available to people. One will be located in the school for the students. A second box will be outside the school to pick up candy wrappers from people in the community who do not attend school.
The students of the Séminaire de Sherbrooke will be able to bring their packaging to the school in the undergraduate hall through their new option Citizens of the World.
Students from École des Deux Rives in Sherbrooke (Bromptonville) will be able to bring their packaging to the school.
Students at the Maisonneuve School in Sherbrooke will be able to bring their packaging to the school.
Students at Desranleau School in Sherbrooke will be able to bring their packaging to school.

Burt’s Bees is Spreading Awareness About Climate Change; Here’s How You Can Also Make a Difference

TerraCycle Include USA Burt’s Bees

Ethical beauty brand Burt’s Bees is a trusted label when it comes to natural-focused skincare and cosmetics, and while they’ve been a major advocate for pollinator health for over a decade, the brand recently took a very public stance on climate change to protest the widespread dismissal of such environmental issues during the UN Climate Summit last month. On September 26, the brand blacked out their content across social media channels as a part of their new campaign to raise awareness to the harmful effects and to spread the idea that our future relies heavily on nature, and how we take care of her. Burt’s Bees partnered with National Geographic to launch the Burt’s Bees #ChangeForNature campaign, and when the social media “lights” turned back on, the brand encouraged consumers to make a pledge to embark on their endeavor to cut down on food waste and single-use plastics for the sake of well, our environment’s vitality. According to Burt’s Bees’ co-founder, Roxanne Quinbly,“we take from nature, and so we must protect it. We believe people and organizations – large and small – have the power to take action and make a difference. That’s why Burt’s Bees is donating $10 to the National Geographic Society for each person who makes a ChangeForNature commitment. 13 Reasons Why actress Alisha Boe also joined Burt’s Bees for their campaign, by becoming their new spokesperson and using her platform to spread awareness. She encourages her followers to make their pledge to Burt’s Bees, who donates a $10 to the National Geographic Society for each pledge they receive. Taking on this role was a natural move for Boe, who plays her part in protecting mother nature by eating a plant-based diet, avoiding single-use plastics, and remaining committed to raising awareness to maintain a thoughtful dialogue about environment and climate change. “Climate change is incredibly important because it affects our future and the generations to come. I feel like it’s been ignored for a very long time and it’s important for us, my generation and younger people, because it’s our future and we don’t to be limited by the repercussions of generations before us neglecting our environment. Which is why it’s important for us, collectively, to make a change,” she says.

Aside from Burt’s Bees campaign, the brand also has major plans to help fight climate change, as well as to help beauty enthusiasts reduce their footprints. “While we’ve passed many milestones in sustainability over the brand’s 35-year journey, Burt’s Bees is always striving to do more. For example, we send zero waste-to-landfill through our composting and waste sorting process, and still aim to reduce our waste-to-energy to less than 10% of our overall waste. With 18.5% waste-to-energy in 2019, this means aggressively seeking new ways to recycle or divert waste,” says the brand. They’re also looking to refine their sourcing process as an area of growth because “we strive to care for both the natural world and people our sources originate.”

In addition to your pledge, there are also several other ways that you too can help spread awareness and cut down on the carbon footprint as a thoughtful consumer. For instance, Boe takes her sustainable practices on-set — not just in her personal life. “On-set, we are environmentally friendly because everything is paperless, script wise. They also installed dispensers for reusable water bottles. There have been fires in Northern California for the last two years and that’s a direct result of climate change and temperatures rising, so our set is very environmentally aware and mindful to try to not attribute to that.” Burt’s Bees also offered us a few tips for responsible consumerism.

Look for products that avoid over-packaging and use mixed-materials

Loop Review: A Waste-Free Packaging Service For Returning Containers

TerraCycle coca cola Nestle Unilever Include USA UPS Procter & Gamble Loop Clorox Häagen-Dazs Hidden Valley

The service promises to help you cut waste. It’s better at emptying your wallet. When I first heard about Loop, a reusable packaging service designed to help cut down on waste, I couldn’t wait to try it. As a conscious consumer, I am proud of my reusable straws and grocery bags, but I struggle to find affordable, plastic-free alternatives to some of my favorite food brands and household items like shampoo. Plastic packaging has become a frequent target of activist groups campaigning against the deluge of garbage entering the oceans. Items like candy wrappers and soda bottles are some of the most common pieces of trash found on beaches during cleanup efforts, and a handful of giant consumer goods companies are largely responsible for the mess. Several of these companies, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestle and Coca-Cola, have partnered with Loop, redesigning some of their products’ packaging to discourage people from trashing it. Launched by recycling company TerraCycle, Loop delivers products from name brands like Clorox and Hidden Valley in packaging that can be returned, refilled and redistributed. The service made its debut to much fanfare at the World Economic Forum in January. The returnable, reusable containers are meant to stay in circulation longer than traditional packaging in an attempt to slash not only waste but also climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. But does it really work in practice? That’s what I wanted to find out. Loop launched a beta test in May, and I signed up for a trial membership over the summer and used the service for two months. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t exactly what I expected. For an in-depth look at what it’s like to use Loop, check out our full review below.

LOOP Haagen-Dazs ice cream in a metal tin, designed for the Loop service.

HOW IT WORKS

After creating a personal account on the Loop store website, you can start shopping. Available products include groceries and items for housecleaning and personal hygiene. The most popular things sold on the service so far have been cleaning products, such as Cascade dishwasher pods and Clorox disinfectant wipes; foods like Häagen-Dazs ice cream; and personal care items, including Pantene shampoo and conditioner, according to Loop representative Lauren Taylor. I placed two orders over the course of my trial, purchasing rolled oats, dry salted almonds, nut butter, coffee, all-purpose cleaner and gummy bears for my first order, and just coffee and oats for my second. They all came in metal containers except for the nut butter, which was in a glass jar. I was disappointed to find that the service offers only a limited number of products, and I was stunned at how much it costs to buy this stuff from the Loop website. (More on that later.) The goods are shipped within two days through UPS and arrive in a very sturdy and large tote bag. Once you’ve emptied the reusable containers, you load up the tote and send them back to be cleaned for reuse. You don’t have to ship all your empties back at the same time ― which makes sense because, as I discovered, my gummy bear supply doesn’t run out at the same rate as my all-purpose cleaner supply. You can also set up your account to automatically refill products in your tote. Loop is currently available in only a few states along the East Coast: New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, and in Washington, D.C. It also ships to Paris. Next year Loop will expand to London, Toronto, California, Germany and Tokyo, Taylor told HuffPost. She didn’t share how many users have signed up so far, but she said Loop will add more brands and products to its online store as more people use the service. Joan Marc Simon, executive director of Zero Waste Europe, called Loop “a good initiative with the best intentions,” adding that there’s a lot that needs to change about it. I agree, but there are also some great things about the service, so let’s start there.

LOOP Procter & Gamble, one of the multinationals that partnered with Loop, designed packages for multiple brands — from personal hygiene products to cleaning supplies — to be sold on Loop’s website.

WHAT YOU’LL LIKE

1) It’s not too complicated to use

Disposable packaging is tough to quit because it’s incredibly easy and convenient. For a service like Loop to be successful, it has to be as simple and hassle-free as throwing out a candy wrapper, said Simon. Loop isn’t quite as simple as that, but it’s not too difficult to figure out. The online shopping experience was smooth, and the goods arrived as described on the website. Returning Loop’s big tote bag with the empty canisters was easy enough, though not as easy as taking out the trash or recycling. I made a quick pitstop on my morning commute to drop off the goods at a UPS and a day later received an email confirmation that my empty products had been received and a deposit refund was on its way to my credit card.

2) It’ll make you feel good about yourself

As someone who reads and writes a fair amount about plastic, I have serious guilt over my consuming habits. Every plastic soap dispenser or soda bottle I toss away contributes to my sense of personal failure. Even though I bought only a few items from Loop, those were items that didn’t end up in my trash can. Taylor said that Loop has “prevented the manufacturing of thousands of single-use, disposable packaging.” Simon agreed that reusing packages with Loop makes sense as a way to reduce waste. Knowing that Loop was helping me slash my plastic use, even in a small way, made me feel good.

3) It will change the way you think about waste

Testing Loop deepened my sensitivity to waste and made me want to be more proactive. I became more skeptical about the materials around me: Did I have to buy a plastic tub of coffee grounds, or could I wait a day to stop by the store that offers beans in bulk? It seems promising that Loop has convinced several large consumer goods companies to rethink packaging, and it’s easy to envision a world where every company follows suit. Erik Loomis, a history professor at the University of Rhode Island, cautioned me about being too optimistic: By touting their participation in so-called sustainable programs, these companies get an image boost that distracts from how they operate on a global scale and discourages the public from asking what they could be doing better. “If we’re going to actually deal with climate change, we have to deal with the big questions that hold corporations responsible,” Loomis said. Fair enough.

WHAT YOU’LL DISLIKE

1) It’s not cheap, and the product range is limited

It’s easy to rack up a large bill with Loop. Though there’s no membership fee (hooray!), there are plenty of other costs built in. You not only have to purchase the products and cover shipping costs, you also must pay a deposit for each reusable container, since you’re essentially renting those from the company. The tote bag is a $15 deposit, and a glass jar of cake mix requires a $3 deposit, while a bottle of body wash takes a $5 deposit. It adds up fast. My first order came to a whopping $85.70. For only six items! To be fair, $32 was for packaging deposits and $20 was for shipping. And I snagged a $20 discount as a first-time customer. For my second round of orders, I bought only two more products, so the total was $37 with the deposits. After using the service for two months, buying a total of eight products and receiving refunds for all my deposits, I paid a total of $69.70. (HuffPost provided funds for the purposes of reporting this piece.) Some of the products in Loop’s online market seemed overly expensive to me. Part of the issue here is that Loop offers just one brand per product (for now), with no cheaper, off-brand alternatives to choose from. Never before have I purchased a $14 nut butter ($16, including the jar deposit), but there were no other options. I can usually find similar goods at my supermarket for less than I can on Loop’s website because there’s more choice outside Loop and I can hunt for a bargain.

LOOPProduct selections are limited on Loop’s website. Some categories offer only one choice. If something you want seems too pricey — like this $14 nut butter — you can’t shop around for a better deal. Some of these prices are prohibitive if you’re on a tight budget. Which made me wonder if the service would ever become affordable for people who don’t have piles of extra money lying around. Loomis said services like Loop turn environmentalism into “a consumer movement,” something that can be practiced only by well-off people. Right now, Loop is too burdensome for the average working person. The service, he said, appears to have been created “by rich people for rich people.” Taylor said that Loop will keep partnering with additional brands to offer more choices and that most of the current prices are “comparable” to what you’d see in a brick-and-mortar store. She said that Loop doesn’t want to be a luxury service made just for the rich.

2) It’s not totally waste-free

The whole point of Loop is to slash the amount of trash produced by shopping. The company even developed a reusable tote bag to avoid cardboard boxes and packing material. But when my first order arrived, I noticed something odd: Every item, including the tote bag, comes with a plastic seal on it! I asked Taylor about this, and she said it’s a quality control measure. The seals are meant to prove that items haven’t been tampered with during shipping. You can actually send back the plastic seals, along with your empties, to be recycled, Taylor added. Loop’s parent company operates a number of experimental programs for hard-to-recycle items like these. So you don’t have to worry about the plastic wraps ending up in a landfill or an incinerator.

KATE BRATSKEIR My tin of rolled oats, with the clear plastic seal around the lid. Loop says you can send these seals back with your empties to be recycled by its parent company, which specializes in hard-to-recycle items. When it comes to reducing greenhouse emissions, the results are murkier. Online shopping can in some instances have a smaller carbon footprint than in-person shopping, but there are many factors at play here, and they’re tough to measure. I’ll point out, though, that fast shipping uses more resources ― and Loop ships pretty quickly. Using the service instead of driving a car to the store is probably less carbon-intensive, said Simon, especially if lots of people sign up for Loop. “One shipping vehicle can transport [totes] for hundreds of families, which is better than having hundreds of families driving to the supermarket individually,” Simon said. But, in my case, I would have walked to the grocery store instead of driving, so I’m not convinced that having goods delivered to my door by truck is my best option for slashing emissions.

3) It takes up a lot of space

The Loop tote bag is huge. Seriously huge. It drove me and my husband crazy, occupying all that precious floorspace in the living room of our teeny New York City apartment. We also don’t have a lot of countertop space to hoard the reusable containers. Though Loop didn’t totally fit my lifestyle, it might work just fine for someone with more storage space.

4) Sometimes visiting the corner store is just more convenient

It takes a couple of days for the service to send you new items when you run out. That’s not a huge inconvenience, but it could be a problem if you’re waiting on a product you use every day, like bath soap or shampoo. On its website, Loop recommends ordering everyday products two at a time, in case you run out unexpectedly. Ordering two bottles of shampoo is easy in theory, but it takes some getting used to if you’re not a big online shopper, which I’m not.

LOOP Look at the size of the Loop tote. It’s huge. And if you live in a tiny apartment, like me, its size is kind of a pain.

THE TAKEAWAY

After using Loop for two months, I decided it’s not the best fit for me. The service isn’t quite ready for prime time, though parts of the experience I liked. I was willing to put up with some inconveniences ― such as paying the deposits on Loop’s reusable containers and stuffing the enormous tote bag behind my couch ― if it meant I’d create less waste. But ultimately the price of buying items through the service was too steep. I would definitely try it again in the future if it were cheaper and the product selection improved. Loomis, the history professor, thinks it’ll take more than that for Loop to succeed at replacing plastic packaging. “If you want to make [reusable packaging] accessible, you need the government’s investment to make it part of American policy rather than a boutique consumer item.” When I asked Simon, the zero-waste expert, if he thought Loop would ever go mainstream, he wasn’t overly optimistic. “I hope the system succeeds, but for the moment I would be surprised if it does,” said Simon. “It definitely needs to be fine-tuned and simplified, but I guess that is the rationale behind the pilot: to learn from mistakes before scaling up.” Taylor said the service will get better as it grows. She added that Loop isn’t meant to be a silver bullet for plastic waste: “There is no single solution to solve the waste crisis we are in.” Charlotte Maiden Publicist, U.S. Public Relations Loop Global Office: (609)-393-4252 ext. 3712 Cell: (732)-865-6154 1 TerraCycle Way Trenton, NJ 08638 USA www.terracycle.com Eliminating the Idea of Waste® Please consider the planet before printing. This email and any attachments thereto may contain private, confidential, and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, copying, or distribution of this email (or any attachments thereto) by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copies of this email and any attachments thereto.

Sustainability Is The New Black

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This season, we’ve seen a number of retailers and brands offering new, sustainable ways to enjoy fall fashions -- making the act of completing your perfect look good for your wallet and the planet. Of course sustainability isn’t a new trend per se, but we’re seeing it take shape in an entirely different way across the retail industry. Companies like Express, American Eagle, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Nike and Urban Outfitters all launched subscription or rental services for their clothes/products, seemingly taking a page out of successful business platforms like Stitch Fix and Rent the Runway (currently the largest drycleaner globally!!) who offer clothes through personalized boxes or rent-to-own basis. A recent survey by ratings and review platform Clutch found that more than half of online shoppers (54%) are members of subscription box services. Luxury consignment platform The Real Real is also growing, with reported earnings projecting its revenue will jump 51% to $71 million versus a year ago. The trend of subscription boxes and rentals is more than just about busy consumers who are on the go and don’t want to invest in updating their wardrobe every season. It also pinpoints a shift in the retail industry as more companies are looking to become environmentally stable. According to eMarketer, for luxury marketers, all circular business models are profitable on a per-garment basis, with rental being the most notable (61%), followed by resale (39%) and subscription rental (30%). On top of that, consumers are clearly more focused on reducing the amount of waste they create. Brands like J.Crew and H+M are making it easier with their garment recycling programs to help create a sustainable fashion future. And companies like TerraCycle are making sustainability more accessible with their Loop offering, which combats single-use waste. Brands are quickly trying to get involved in the initial pilot and many are attracted to the old “milkman model” of having products delivered to your doors and empties taken to be washed, refilled and brought back. L’Oreal has also made strides to offer more recyclable packaging and containers. We’ll still see a bit of a paradox when it comes to Gen Z -- one of the most environmentally-conscious demographics -- as they struggle with their commitment to the environment and the attractiveness of what’s new and now. Despite all this, they know they can get better deals on fashions that are also good for the environment. Forever 21’s recent store closings are one clear example of the fact that producing inexpensive clothing at scale while operating expensive retail locations cannot compete with nimble, digital businesses and their social/influencer marketing efforts. Only time will tell if the industry’s youngest consumers are encouraging this move to a more sustainable model, but they will demand that brands be authentic and not just create purpose marketing for the sake of saving face. Amidst all of these changes, brands are still looking for ways to acquire customers, better understand them and keep them. Consumers don’t need more choices--they just need simpler solutions that save time and money. Adding sustainability on top of convenience and relevancy is one way for brands to quickly attract new customers. But marketers also need to have a true, authentic connection with consumers and they need to pay attention to the things that matter, like investing in the right materials that are also good for the environment (i.e. metal straws, bento box packaging, etc.). More importantly, they must have leaders in place who are focused on saving the planet and humanity versus driven by shareholder value at any cost. One thing is for certain: when you think about the future of your brand, you'd better make sure it’s end-to-end purpose-based: built to be better for the planet, better for you and better for humanity.

Gerber and Terracycle Partner to Launch National Recycling Program

TerraCycle Include USA Gerber

Gerber has partnered with international recycling company TerraCycle to help give hard-to-recycle baby food packaging a new life. How it works: Parents can sign up on the Gerber Recycling Program page and mail in packaging that is not municipally recyclable using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. As an added incentive, for every pound of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle through the Gerber Recycling Program, collectors can earn $1 to donate to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. According to Gerber, the baby food industry should help create a world where babies thrive, and this partnership is one of many steps toward its goal to achieve 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025.

Vets or eco-warriors: shouldn't we be both?

TerraCycle Include USA ZWB

When I first started working in general practice after graduating I realised how detrimental the impact of providing veterinary care is to the environment. The amount of waste generated, the harmful chemicals used and the vast amount of energy consumed for day-to-day running of a practice was disconcerting. As a profession known for our compassion of living creatures and the natural world, I felt like this was counterintuitive - surely veterinary work and environmental sustainability should go hand in hand? Achieving carbon neutrality and zero waste production as a veterinary practice will certainly be challenging, but with these goals in mind I began thinking about what steps we should be taking to move in the right direction. Together, as a team of green-minded individuals, we set about becoming more environmentally sustainable as a practice. First we implemented easy wins; simple changes in behaviour that cost nothing but reduce our energy consumption. Energy saving mode is programmed on the printers and computers, the washing machine is only run if there is a full load, lights and computer monitors are routinely turned off when not in use and washing is hung on the line rather than tumble dried. Whenever a light needs replacing, we swap it for an LED bulb which is up to 75% more energy efficient and has a much longer lifespan. I'd argue that replacing traditional bulbs with LED bulbs is one of the most simple yet effective eco-friendly habits you can adopt both at home and at work! Keen to recycle as much of our non-hazardous waste as possible, we sought quotes from waste disposal services to find out that recycling collection was just as expensive as general waste collection which may prove too expensive for small businesses like ours to invest in. At present our cardboard and paper waste is collected by the council, however we collect mixed recycling for my boss to dispose of at home in her domestic wheelie bins. We also signed up to become a collection point for the Terracycle pet packaging recycling scheme; they collect and reuse “non-recyclable” waste that would otherwise end up in landfills or being incinerated. Clinical waste is one of the biggest challenges to reducing total waste as, by law, it has to be incinerated and cannot be recycled. We have tried to reduce the amount we generate by using re-useable scrub caps, gowns and drapes. A paper has recently been published concluding that there is no disadvantage to using reusable cloth drapes from an infection control standpoint, which was our main concern. Another change we made was switching to smaller clinical waste bins so people have to think twice about what is genuinely clinical waste and what can be recycled. Cardboard-based clinical waste bins (such as the Bio-bin) are a good alternative to the usual plastic bins but we could not justify the additional cost in a small practice, so as a compromise we re-fill the plastic bins, and only dispose of the bin bags once full. To reduce our water consumption, we have switched to Sterillium to achieve surgical sterility (this also reduces waste, as there is no need for packaged sterile scrub brushes and towels). Another way we minimise our water consumption is by only running the washing machine on a full load. In an effort to reduce the paper used at the practice, the anaesthetic monitoring chart is printed on the back of the patient admit form, we always print double sided, and we look at urine results and blood results on the computer rather than printing them out. We make sure any paper we buy is PEFC certified so that we know any paper being used is ethically sourced. We also encourage clients to receive reminders by email or text rather than by post to further reduce the waste produced as well as saving on postage. When we have lunchtime CPD, we request that the visiting companies provide lunches that are plastic free and ideally locally sourced. This often results in us receiving delicious salads and sandwiches from the local delicatessen in paper boxes…perhaps one of the best perks of our eco-friendly efforts!! We also have a large stash of re-useable cups with the practice logo on for staff and visitors to use rather than disposable cups. Veterinary practices have a lot of power through procurement (obtaining equipment and supplies), and we decided to put this to good use to drive change in the market. We support green-minded suppliers and have swapped many consumables with eco-friendly alternatives; syringes made from renewable energy, biodegradable examination gloves and recyclable autoclave bags, amongst others. We now also stock pet toys specifically made from materials other than plastic, it's amazing what you can find out there when you look for it! We had a discussion about further energy reduction measures such as replacing the old boiler for a more efficient model (as recommended by an energy consultant), switching to a green energy supplier or generating our own electricity on-site through renewable technology. Being a small independent practice these are unfortunately out of our budget for now, but if funds allowed in the future, this would definitely be the next step. It is likely that these changes would even make a return on our investment through reduced energy bills in the future. We did however invest in applying Solar Sentry window films to the windows in the waiting room and consult rooms, which reduce heat loss in winter and prevent excessive heat gain (and glare) in summer, thereby reducing both our heating and air-conditioning bills. My practice is by no means perfect, and there is a lot more we could improve on, but we are trying to do everything within our means at this point in time. Our aim was to do our bit for the planet to help prevent further global warming. Clients really appreciate our eco-friendly business ethos and we have cut our energy bills too! Becoming environmentally sustainable certainly has many perks, and the eco-conscious mind-set is more contagious than the flu. I wanted to write this blog to inspire other practices to embark on eco-friendly ventures as I believe that every practice has scope to reduce its environmental impact, whatever the size or budget. It would be incredible to see the veterinary profession leading the way in taking responsibility for our environmental impact, and setting an example for other industries to follow! I am forever on the lookout for new ideas for how we could further develop our sustainability efforts, so please get in touch at brookfieldvets@hotmail.com if you have any suggestions, I would be very grateful.