Marcas globais e nacionais estão investindo em iniciativas sustentáveis como embalagens retornáveis, refis de produtos e até logística reversa para reduzir custos e melhorar o posicionamento perante os consumidores

Desenvolvida pela 3M em parceria com a TerraCycle, a iniciativa, que já conta com mais de 5 mil pontos de coleta em todo o país, é a única no mundo a utilizar esponjas de limpeza doméstica

You have got your duster coat, your bomber, your trench….but do you have your puffer?  I hate to inform you require anything but the puffer, substantially like final season, is a should.  Sorry, it just is. There are a lot on the market place but the a single I am feeling the most ideal now is by Montreal label, Norden.         This jacket hits all the style higher notes.  It comes in 3 entertaining colorways and if you are down to hit up the men’s section, you will locate 3 additional dope-ass utilitarian designs there as effectively. The match is that completely cropped oversized style and I know this since I personal a single. It really is the sh-t.  The cozy issue is off the charts but what I also enjoy is that it really is super light so you do not really feel weighed down at all. And wait, get this, it will preserve your tits dry and warm from up to -25 degrees.   But there is a twist: this jacket is created from 100% recycled polyester. YAY no down!  In truth, all their pieces are from yarn created from recycled plastic bottles and when you buy a Norden coat, you are obtaining into their closed-loop production chain. So that signifies when you no longer require your coat, you can send it to their finish-of-life plan to make sure that it is repaired and resold or donated to a person in require. If the garment is broken beyond repair, it will be sent to their partners at TerraCycle, exactly where it will be 100% recycled.   Dear god, this is like the Nobel Peace Prize of jackets.

One of the items I hate to pick up on the beach is shoes: sandals, tennis shoes and flip flops. Hundreds are thrown in trashcans, left on the beach.. all to be washed out to sea. A new look from Parkville is made from flip flops picked up off the beach.  The Flip Flops are collected in Sri Lanka and FlipYarn – takes flip flop waste and up-cycles program into fashion accessories. Launched on Kickstarter in August they made their funding goal! Good news, plus I love the product! This is what they say. ‘All of our sunglasses are fitted with custom spring hinges for maximum comfort and flexible fit as well as with market leading UV 400 scratch resistant lenses – the top standard in the eyewear industry – in both normal and polarised versions. The product comes in a recycled box with a carry pouch, a microfibre cloth and full warranty.’ Picture this.. I have donated 272 pair of shoes since April of 2019. That doesn’t count the number of shoes have sold or given to friends and family. Currently have over 50 pairs in stock (ready to be sold or donated) Rounding off as an estimated 500 shoes in 6 months. That is a lot of shoes, with the majority being flip flops. o    Ocean Sole, a conservation group and recycling collective in Kenya says that 90 tons of flip flops are carried to the beaches every year. o    Terracycle resells and or shreds flip flops to make into benches. o    Flip flops are also reused in doormats.   All this mean, is that there is no way that flip flops should be thrown into the trash. 2016 Americans spent $2.6 billion  the flip-flop. o    220 million pairs of flip-flops a year by Havaianas. (I have 3 pair, like new picked up off the beach) o    Flip Flops have been found in Whale stomaches. o    Birds pick at the plastic in flip flops and eat even more plastic. The problem is most of the shoes i.e flip flops are singles, meaning it can only go to one place.. the landfill unless they are recycled. Most people will just toss them rather take them to the Goodwill (even singles) for recycling. Here in San Diego, a small independent sandal store will also take back shoes. Randalls Sandals, carries all Eco Friendly, Local or Give Back shoes companies. I hope they make it and help clean our oceans and reuse the millions of tons of flip flops going into our oceans.   Flipyarn hasn’t officially launched yet, but you can visit them here: Flip Yarn   

All good things must come to an end. It’s been an incredible tour and we couldn’t have done it without this years’ sponsors. For our final Gear On The Go blog, we wanted to highlight our favorite gear that we had the pleasure of using on the road this season. When it comes to van-ready cookware, Sea To Summit’s Sigma 2.2 Cookset checks all of the boxes. It consists of two marine-grade stainless steel Sigma Pots, two Delta Light Bowls, and two Delta Insul Mugs that all nest neatly inside the largest pot to make the perfect lightweight and compact kitchen set. The Sigma series is Sea To Summit’s most durable cookware option, making it perfect for everyday use in the van.When we’re on the road we’re adamant about making our own fresh and healthy food. The Sigma 2.2 helps make that a reality. Both pots have convenient strainer lids that rest neatly on the pots when they’re not in use. We’re not always able to park on a perfectly level spot to make our meals. The grippy heat-absorbing base ensures that the pots will stay on our two-burner and not slide off. When we’re finished cooking the Sigma is easily cleaned and stashed back inside itself. The Pivot-Lock handle keeps everything nice and secure which we really appreciate on rutted-out mountain roads.

Big Agnes: Skyline UL Stool

The Skyline UL Stool is the perfect companion for minimalist packers who want to roll extra light or van-dwellers who want to save space. Weighing in at about one pound, this stool packs down so small it fits inside a large-mouth water bottle. This is the smallest addition to the Big Agnes line of camp furniture and your butt will thank you for packing it when you don’t have to sit in the dirt after a long day on the trail. One reason that the Big Agnes camp furniture line is leading the pack is their hubless design. This feature saves space and makes for stronger construction. The poles that make up the frame are color-coded and shock-corded making for simple setup. The Skyline UL Stool comes with direction printed on the stuff sack, but you won’t need them. We’re impressed by the Skyline UL Stool. It’s small but mighty and comes with maximum size to comfort ratio.

You've got your duster coat, your bomber, your trench....but do you have your puffer?  I hate to tell you need something but the puffer, much like last season, is a must.  Sorry, it just is.   There are a lot on the market but the one I'm feeling the most right now is by Montreal label, Norden. This jacket hits all the fashion high notes.  It comes in three fun colorways and if you’re down to hit up the men's section, you'll find three more dope-ass utilitarian styles there as well. The fit is that perfectly cropped oversized style and I know this because I own one. It's the sh-t.  The cozy factor is off the charts but what I also love is that it's super light so you don't feel weighed down at all. And wait, get this, it will keep your tits dry and warm from up to -25 degrees.   But there is a twist: this jacket is made from 100% recycled polyester. YAY no down!  In fact, all their pieces are from yarn made from recycled plastic bottles and when you purchase a Norden coat, you’re buying into their closed-loop production chain. So that means when you no longer need your coat, you can send it to their end-of-life program to ensure that it is repaired and resold or donated to someone in need. If the garment is damaged beyond repair, it will be sent to their partners at TerraCycle, where it will be 100% recycled.   Dear god, this is like the Nobel Peace Prize of jackets.

A cross-team collaboration successfully created new packaging for the Bear Naked granola brand, designed for recyclability and sustainable-barrier packaging.

Terry Slavin rounds up a slew of new initiatives as BlackRock enters partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Unilever commits to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025, PepsiCo launches a green bond, and Andrew Forrest's Sea the Future initiative to tax plastic use wins Fortune 500 backing   BlackRock this week announced a partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the latest in a trio of recent developments that hold hope for progress on tackling the plastic waste crisis.   At a press conference in London announcing the tie-up, Evy Hambro, global head of thematic and sector investing at BlackRock, said the BGF Circular Economy Fund, which went live last week, was the first step in an ongoing global partnership with the UK circular economy charity.   The new thematic fund, which starts with $20m in seed funding, will invest in businesses already benefiting from, or contributing to, the transition to a circular economy, and has been designed by tapping into the nine-year-old foundation’s expertise.     Hambro said he had been working on a thematic fund invested in the mining sector over the past three years.   The fund had looked at investing in recycling and more sustainable battery technology, but realised there was a much bigger investment opportunity in the circular economy because it is driven by global megatrends like combating climate change, resource scarcity, technological disruption and rapid urbanisation.   He said when he met Ellen MacArthur at an event in London “it was a lightbulb moment. … I was convinced we could get to a point where we could actually deliver what she was talking about to our clients.”   He said the fund broke new ground, and was the result of complex negotiations between the charity and BlackRock to structure both the portfolio and the partnership itself. “But the more work we have done in this space, the more enthused we get about the impact the companies we are investing in are having on the world.”   Sumana Manohar, head of thematic research for fundamental active equity, who is co-managing the new fund, said it would invest circular economy “adopters” like Adidas, which made 11 million pairs of shoes last year using upcycled plastic waste from the oceans, “enabler” companies like TOMRA, the Norwegian reverse-vending machine company, and circular economy beneficiaries like Ball Corporation of the US, the largest manufacturer of aluminium cans, which has seen a surge in business as food companies seek alternatives to plastic packaging.   The fund will not only focus on plastics, but invest in other companies in the circular economy, including fashion, food systems, mining and e-waste. BlackRock has identified around 800 firms that the fund could back in the future, Manohar said.       Andrew Morlet, chief executive of the foundation, said the links between circular economy and climate are increasingly being understood. He added: “The way we make and use products is 45% of the solution space to reach the 1.5C climate agenda, and companies are waking up to the economic opportunities this represents,” with hundreds of companies, and thousands of products moving into this space.   But he said there was an urgent need to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy, and it was critical to attract investors to back circular economy solutions. “By working with BlackRock we are hoping to raise awareness and interest” in the circular economy as an investment opportunity.   Rob Opsomer, who leads on systemic initiatives at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, pointed out that the foundation already has some financial partners, including Intesa Sanpaolo, the Italian banking group, but the BlackRock partnership was an important further step in a direction that the foundation will increasingly pursue.   Asked by Ethical Corporation whether the fund fell into the category of ESG (environmental, social, governance) or impact investment, Hambro said: “It’s not ESG, though ESG is integral to the focus of the fund. Nor is it a pure impact fund. We are sitting in an area that touches a whole range of points that we think are important for our clients. In a way we’re trying to create value from the transition of the global economy in this [circular economy] direction, but doing it in a responsible way, with ESG embedded in the investment process.”   The BlackRock announcement came on the same week that another global partner in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Unilever, announced ambitious new targets for cutting plastic waste, in line with the foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.   CEO Alan Joppe said Unilever will halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025, by reducing its absolute use of plastic packaging and accelerating its use of recycled plastic, and by helping to collect and process more plastic packaging than it sells.       “We can only eliminate plastic waste by acting fast and taking radical action at all points in the plastic cycle,” Joppe said.   “This demands a fundamental rethink in our approach to packaging and products. It requires us to introduce new and innovative packaging materials and scale up new business models, like re-use and re-fill formats, at an unprecedented speed and intensity.”   Meanwhile, PepsiCo, another signatory to the New Plastics Economy initiative, this week launched its first green bond, with proceeds from the $1bn offering going to fund its commitment to reduce 35% of virgin plastic content across its beverage portfolio by 2025. The bond is led by Morgan Stanley, which in April agreed a Plastics Waste Resolution “to facilitate the prevention, reduction and removal of 50 million metric tons of plastics waste by 2030 through facilitating green bonds as well as other measures in alignment with these goals”.   Unilever’s Jope is one of the CEOs who is backing the “Sea the Future” initiative, launched at the UN General Assembly last month by Australian philanthropist Andrew Forrest, in which a US-based alliance of Fortune 500 firms will agree to a voluntary levy on their use of plastics derived from fossil fuels.   According to Forrest’s Mindaroo Foundation the levy, of between $300-$500 per ton, will raise more than $20bn annually to incentivise use of recycled plastics for production, passing the cost on to consumers, who will pay an extra two cents per bottle.   The funds will be collected and co-managed by a global environmental and industry body, and channelled into new recycling technologies, collection infrastructure, and the recovery of existing marine and terrestrial pollution.     In an interview earlier this year with Ethical Corporation, Forrest, who has put up $300m for the initiative, said he came up with the idea for a tax on polymers while studying for a PhD in marine ecology, which he completed last year. “The way the plastic market is constructed we have absolutely no choice but to destroy our oceans with plastic,” he said. “And the only way to solve a global system-wide problem is through a system-wide solution.”   He said there are at least a billion people in the world who have no choice but to discard plastic into the environment because of lack of collection and recycling infrastructure.   “If you put a tax on polymers, the raw material behind plastic, then you change the fundamental economic value of plastic all the way down the supply chain. That means when it gets used in Indonesia, or Thailand, or in England, no longer is it a waste product, it's a commodity." Other companies that support the Sea for the Forest initiative include leading polymer producer Dow Chemicals, which is also part of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, India’s largest polymer producer Reliance Industries, The Coca-Cola Company, Walmart Inc and Tesco plc. Analytical support for the initiative is being provided by SYSTEMIQ, and McKinsey & Co. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Andrew Morlet told Ethical Corporation: “What’s most interesting for me is that for the first time we are seeing a global response to the problem of plastics that matches the scale of the challenge. If this model that [Mindaroo] are promoting gets off the ground and can be successful it will generate hundreds of billions of dollars that can be directed at the collection infrastructure and polymer-to-polymer chemical recycling.”   He added: “There’s a lot of detail to go through and a tremendous amount of work to get this to reality, but Andrew Forrest has put $300m on the table to get this moving, and that is extraordinary.”   Transitioning from a linear to circular economy will be a major theme at Ethical Corporation’s Transform 2019 event in Amsterdam next week. Speakers will include TOMRA, Ball Beverage Packaging Europe, IKEA, Signify, Philips, Tetra Pak, TerraCycle, The Body Shop, Stora Enso, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rabobank. Ethical Corporation is now part of Reuters Events.

What is Blue Beauty? Plus, Which Brands Are Doing It Right

October 10, 2019   Green beauty has been a trend for years, yet it’s impossible to officially define. For the most part, green beauty products have naturally derived ingredients that are less harmful than the chemicals that traditional products are formulated with. Green can mean the product is better for the environment versus a comparable one, but not necessarily.   And that’s where blue beauty comes in: it’s green beauty taken to a higher level with thought put into the environmental impact of the ingredients and packaging.  

Next level green

The blue beauty movement is being spearheaded by Jeannie Jarnot, founder of Beauty Heroes , a subscription box and retail store in Northern California.       “The prediction was that companies that want to truly lead the way need to go beyond green, go blue,” she explains. “What this means is that companies need to go beyond being sustainable and contribute to regenerating the environment. To me, the Blue Beauty movement is about beauty, lifestyle and wellness brands that go beyond meeting green standards like clean, all-healthy ingredients and conscious packaging—and contribute in some way to helping to restore the environment.”   As for the difference between blue and green, Jarnot calls it ombre.   “Green brands are usually striving to go blue in some way by innovating in packaging, implementing refillable options, compostable solutions or giving back to the environment in a meaningful way through funding, education or activations.”   Beauty Heroes makes a variety of efforts to help the environment. They’re a 1% For the Planet company, which means that they’ve pledged one percent of top-line revenue to contribute to environmental initiatives. Their brick and mortar store is also a TerraCycle drop-off location for hard-to-recycle items. In addition to launching blue beauty brands, Beauty Heroes is also happy to share resources and information with other companies whose values align with theirs.   Beauty Heroes also has a monthly blue beauty topic that they share with their community.   “We want to consistently take a lens at how we as a company, our brands, and our customers can go blue. One of my favorite campaigns was with Chantel Rodgriguez, who worked on a video with us to help inspire our conscious customers to go blue in their day-to-day lives,” says Jarnot.  

The best of blue beauty

One of Jarnot’s favorite products is Aether Beauty’s makeup line.   “Traditionally, palettes are made of plastic and contain a mirror and a magnet, both of which are not recyclable,” she explains. “Aether’s palette contains no plastic, no mirror, no magnet. So, it’s now taken a product that would generally create a lot of waste and made it zero-waste.”   Another brand making strides in the blue market is the hilariously named Meow Meow Tweet, which uses compostable tubes for their deodorant and lip balm. After all, think about how much of that packaging is disposed of (or lost to the universe, if your track record of keeping lip balms to completion is anything like ours).  

Blue by mail

The Beauty Heroes subscription box has one full-sized product along with deluxe-sized minis. However, anyone who has ever received a subscription box knows how much excessive packaging they have, which is pretty much the opposite of being green and blue.   That’s why Jarnot chooses 100 percent compostable or recyclable packaging.   “We don’t use any plastic in our subscription box or e-commerce packaging. Also, we work with two eco-savvy printers who print all of our collateral and stickers on post-consumer paper. And, when it comes to the packaging of the actual products, each month is different, and we look to make sure that packaging is not excessive. Those are some of the ways we are green. The going blue part comes in with all our other initiatives,” states Jarnot.   “We use our platform to talk about conscious consumption, replacing single-use plastic, and offering viable alternatives. I genuinely believe that we don’t have to give up all of our comforts and beautiful green beauty products to be better for the environment. We will need to lose some perceived convenience, but we’ll adapt. We have to!”  

Retail location

In August 2019, Beauty Heroes opened up a brick and mortar location in downtown Novato, California, near San Francisco in Marin County. While there’s a lot of competition, Beauty Heroes is currently the only blue beauty store, making it truly unique in a very saturated market.       “I heard that people wanted to experience Beauty Heroes in person, and I started thinking about a unique concept that would be a space for beauty and wellness hospitality, different from anywhere out there. I got excited about it, and everyone around me was really into the idea,” Jarnot says.   And as compostable as everything at Beauty Heroes is, they’ve designed it to be just as Instagramable. After all, it’s the easiest way to spread the word about blue beauty.