Two trade groups are encouraging recycling efforts at convenience stores nationwide with a new effort—“The Value of Can and Bottle Recycling.” The new guide from the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) offers tips and suggestions for improving current practices, how to effectively communicate the goals of the program with staff and customers, as well as a checklist to help retailers reduce contamination in their recycling bins. “We frequently survey consumers and retailers about various issues. In one recent survey, we found that more than half of all convenience store customers say they’d like to see more recycling at their local convenience store,” says Carolyn Schnare, director of strategic initiatives for the Alexandria, Va.-based NACS. “In-store recycling is more commonplace, but recycling at the pump is where 70 percent of American drivers say they dispose of trash from their vehicle while refueling.” Additionally, about half of all Americans shop at a convenience store each day, contributing to 165 million transactions daily, which presents an additional opportunity to promote recycling. “Consumers want to be good environmental stewards,” said Robert Budway, president of Washington, D.C.-based CMI, in a statement. “And having the ability to recycle aluminum beverage packaging away from home is a win-win for can manufacturers, convenience stores and consumers. We believe that increasing away-from-home recycling of aluminum cans will benefit the entire recycling system.” For customers, recycling at a convenience store needs to be just that—convenient. “When we asked consumers what they do with recyclables if there isn’t recycling available at the gas pump, almost half said they will carry it in their car until they find a recycling container,” says Schnare. “With 70 percent of customers cleaning out trash from their cars when fueling up, having a clearly identified recycling bin will give them a convenient place to easily sort their trash and their recyclables.” The new guide is intended to help retailers improve their recycling efforts specifically at the fuel island. It provides guidance for retailers that sell fuel, which includes of the 153,000-plus convenience stores in the U.S., about 122,000 locations that sell fuel. “We are working with a small group of retailers, industry suppliers and sustainability experts to identify additional resources, partners and programs to encourage recycling of traditional and nontraditional items at convenience stores,” says Schnare. “We also work with Keep America Beautiful to offer stores free cigarette butt disposal receptacles and with Terracycle to give them an avenue to recycle the cigarette butts after collection.” Implementing recycling opportunities at convenience stores can be challenging given the different municipal regulations and waste company procedures that can widely vary. “For larger convenience companies with multiple locations, every store’s location may have a different set of rules on what can and cannot be recycled, which makes it challenging for a company to execute consistent operational procedures,” says Schnare. “Also, contamination is often cited as a challenge—a fineable offense in some cities—which is often a result of customers not recycling properly.” However, there can be an upside in dealing with the varying waste infrastructures. Depending on the municipality and hauler contract, there is a potential for cost savings by reducing the amount of waste picked up if proper recycling is diverted into the correct waste stream, according to Schnare.

Flexible packaging suppliers launch innovative products to improve pouches’ environmental impact

 

 

GU Energy Labs Trash Brigade Makes a Difference

  GU Energy Labs takes trash, and protecting the places we play, seriously.  In recognition that its products create a fair amount of trash, the athletic nutrition company partners with TerraCycle, an upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products.   GU’s Senior Brand Experience Manager Celia Santi says, “There is nothing more deflating than seeing spent gel packets on the road or trail during a run or ride. We encourage all athletes to stash their trash, and we are excited and proud to offer our community a way to reduce all of our impacts on the beautiful places we play.”   GU’s Community Development Manager — and pro rider — Yuri Hauswald does his part to clean up, too. He, along with a dedicated crew of volunteers, has picked up litter after the Death Ride course for the past five years. And it’s not just GU packaging they find. Hauswald says, “The crews on Monitor and Carson encountered more outdoor user litter than sports nutrition and came away with piles of trash that had been left/thrown intentionally.”   Learn more about GU’s partnership with TerraCycle and sign up for the GU Trash Brigade at guenergy.com/join-the-brigade.

Outdoor Retailer, like all of the trade shows we attend, had plenty of snacks and samples to keep us fueled through the show. The big difference was, there was a lot more real food, too. As in, rehydrated camp food, from a surprising number of new and established players in the packaged meal category. And we’ll get to those, but first there are a ton of new bars to, um, digest, plus a few new things we got in after the show that are totally worth mentioning. Starting with Clif Bar, they’ve added the Whole Lotta line of date-based snack bars to their ever-growing line of mostly organic energy bars. At Sea Otter, they showed off the bite-sized nut butter filled bits, too, giving you not just new types of bars, but new ways to eat them when you’re on the bike, too. The great thing about the Whole Lotta bars is they add peanut butter, pumpkin seeds and pea protein for 10g of protein per 240-calorie bar. There’s also a good bit of fat, too, so they should fill you up (as much as any little snack bar can, anyway). Blue Dinosaur’s Paleo Bars and (at the far end and below in blue wrapper, new protein bars) were some of the best tasting real food bars we’ve had. The protein bars don’t taste like your normal, dry, whey protein bars…   …perhaps because they use peanut butter, egg white protein, and collagen to deliver a little more than 25g per bar. Epic Provisions got started with meat bars made from bison, turkey and other lean animals. Now, they’ve expanded with some insanely good pork rinds that are baked, so there are no cheap bad-for-you vegetable oils to ruin the nutrition. Seriously, if you like rinds or even just potato chips…anything crunchy and salty…you owe it to yourself to try these ASAP. Also new are their breakfast bars, which use dates and egg whites to deliver something a little more morning-friendly. Also tasty, if just a tad on the dry side. ProBar has added smaller “bite” sized options that are meant more for eating during a ride or workout…but they’re the same ingredients as their “Meal” bars, which are among the larger ones on the market. Or, at least, the most calorically dense. Those will get two new flavors soon, S’mores and Blueberry Muffin.   Trail Truffles use all natural, plant-based ingredients to deliver protein, carbs and fat in a dessert-like format. Bags are $6.50 each and they come in four flavors. Shār Snacks (pronounced “share”) is a new trail mix that’s not just delicious, it’s eco-conscious. Well, at least the packaging is, as it uses zero plastic and is completely compostable. And as the name suggests, it’s easy to pour out so you can share with friends. The lid doubles as a little bowl, too, and it’s available in larger bulk 1lb and 2.5lb bags (in case you really like to share). De-Hi Crispy Beef Jerky was an interesting new take on traditional dried meat snacks. The meat is sliced much thinner, and then dried almost completely so that it achieves a potato-chip-like crunch. It’s quite good, and apparently really popular in Hawaii!

New Dehydrated Camp Meals

Flap Jacked has expanded their protein-packed instant pancake mix lineup to include “Mighty Muffin” flavored juat-add-water oatmeal bowls. And the Cookie Bars make a delicious breakfast (or on the bike) snack. Oh, and check out the gluten-free pancake powder, too! Now that breakfast is covered, let’s check out the massive new dinner menu:   Mountain House is one of the big brands, and they have a new curry flavor that’s delicious. The bags have a new look, and they’re now using Terra Cycle packaging so that the bags can be upcycled into other things down the line. Retail is $9-12 per pouch, 2-3 servings each. They’re also reducing artificial flavors and colors and stuff, which seemed to be a trend among many of the brands. Good To-Go offers plenty of ethic dishes made with real foods and all gluten free. Peak Refuel is your bro-tein option if you’re looking for a high protein meal option. They say there’s two servings per bag, but let’s be real, if you wanna get swole, that’s lookin’ an awful lot like a single serving, amiright? ReadyWise and Simple Kitchen offer a mix of dinner and breakfast meal packs, plus a new dried fruit series for a natural snack to keep you fueled. Only problem? Their website isn’t quite finished yet, but you can find the dried fruit snacks here and on Amazon. Tasty Bite sets itself apart by being vegetarian, and by being ready to eat. Just heat it up (if you want), or put some over rice…which they also have in a ready-to-eat pouch. The Indian Madras Lentils are killer and available at Costco, too!

Drinks? Coffee?

Bar Country’s Pocket Cocktails has dried drink mixes so all you need to bring is the booze to make an adult bevvie. We tried a few and while they are no match for the real thing, they’re maybe better than just doing shots. Bivouac Coffee does things a bit differently straight from harvest. The beans are naturally processed, meaning sun dried before being shipped for roasting. They say this processing method saves a whopping 7.9 liters of water per cup of finished coffee, which is about four days worth of drinking water for the average human. They’re a little more expensive, ranging from $15-$21 per 12oz bag (mainly because this method takes a lot longer), but it was a really delicious cup of coffee!

New protein recovery drink

Blonyx is a new brand with a new concept…egg white protein shakes that taste like chocolate milk. Except with no lactose, dairy or egg-y flavor. It’s a clean formula, using filtered egg white powder, organic cane sugar, cocoa and a bit of sea salt (plus lecithin and guar gum to help it dissolve and thicken into a milk shake-like consistency). Each serving delivers 20g of highly bioavailable protein, plus a 11g of sugar to aid in recovery.

The practice of recycling has everything to commend it:  On a finite planet, it conserves resources; it is meretricious allowing us, as it does, to pin a mental merit badge on our chests as we ready the assigned recycling bin once a week; and it is an activity that is all good.  We are saving the planet, albeit in a small way, from some of the excesses of the developed world.  And when everyone does their share, the impact has to be unavoidably significant.  Right.  Or, does it?   If we examine what we recycle, that is paper, glass, metal cans and plastic, the junk mail and other paper discarded is the most copious but plastic is close.  Almost all of it used to go to the developed world’s great recycling bin in the east … China.  It absorbed some 95 percent of EU recyclable waste and 70 percent from the US.  But China began to grow its own domestic garbage with the growth of its economy.  The consequences have not been unexpected.  China announced a new policy in 2018, named inexplicably National Sword, banning the import of most recyclables, particularly plastics and contaminated materials.   Since then China’s import of such recyclables has fallen 99 percent.  Needless to say, metals and glass are not as seriously affected.  For the American recycling industry, it has been a major earthquake.  First, about 25 percent of recyclables are contaminated and not recyclable.  Then there are plastic bags.  Not only are these, too, not recyclable but they tend to jam up sorting machinery. The sorting of waste sent to China had been taken over by families in port side communities.  It became their livelihood, retrieving whatever fetched a price and dumping the rest.  Piling up in ad hoc landfills, it washed down waterways into the ocean.  They were not the only culprits.  Thus we have had the phenomenon of whales being washed up dead, starved because stomachs were full of plastic — 88 pounds densely packed in the stomach of one found in the Philippines and 50 pounds inside another in Sardinia.  China’s ban on waste imports has been followed by Malaysia and Vietnam.  In March of this year, India joined them.   As the outlets for their waste disappear and as most of the plastics are not recycled, self-reliance has been forced upon developed countries.  All to the good for the environment, because it will also curtail the use of plastics out of necessity.  The truth is only a fraction of plastic waste is recyclable, generally the white transparent bottles of which some are preferred.  Most ends up in landfills.  A 2017 study in  Science Advances determined that 90% of plastics ever produced are still in the environment.  Yet in the past six decades an estimated 8 billion tons have been produced.  Moreover, the usage trend is upwards and in 2014 some 311 million tons were produced worldwide.   There is though a small movement to restore reusable bottles, and a company called Loop Industries may be on the right track. Their founders announced at the World Economic Forum in 2019 that they aim to return to the milkman model, reusing bottles for everything from edibles to shampoo and detergent. Loop has partnered with Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo, and other large companies.  Perhaps, if we all return to the milk bottle model of the 1950s  — refilling containers to be used again — there may be greater hope for the planet.  The good news is, some towns and states have already banned single-use plastic bottles.   Another intriguing possibility is to use the millions of tons of crustacean shells discarded.  Scientists are now able to extract chitin and chitosan from shrimp and lobster shells.  Still, in the research stage, the process has to be made industrially feasible, and there are also problems with hazardous waste as it uses potent chemicals like sodium hydroxide.  Biodegradable chitin and chitosan can be used as plastic substitutes to make surfboards and anti-microbial food packaging.  Scotland-based CuanTec has developed a bacterial method that has eliminated 95 percent of the sodium hydroxide and also cut energy use by a third as the bacteria do all the work.  They use shells from the langoustines common in northern Europe, and have already signed a contract with the large UK supermarket chain Waitrose to supply flexible film for packaging fish.  The film’s antibacterial properties extend fish shelf life by three days.   An unexpected and more insidious source of plastic pollution is synthetic clothing.  Researchers have determined that acrylic clothing may release more than 700,000 plastic fibers in a single wash.  Polyester releases about 500,000 fibers, and a poly-cotton blend releases about 137,000.  These fibers end up in the water we drink and the fish we eat.  Making matters worse is the presence of microplastic at depths up to the 1000 meters, investigated by Choy et al in the deep waters of Monterey Bay using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).  The ROV collected the samples at ten different depths.  Maximum pollution was found, surprisingly, not at the surface but from 200 to 600 meters below.  They also collected red crabs and found plastics in the gastrointestinal tract.  Giant “sinkers,” the particle filtering mucous houses used for feeding by larvaceans and discarded after use, were collected at depths ranging from 251 to 2967 meters to overlap and extend the range of the research.  All contained microplastics.   Clearly, ridding the oceans of plastic pollution is an almost insurmountable problem.   Japanese manufacturers have come up with a washing machine filter to catch microfibers, which may provide some aid if more widely distributed.  Yet we still do not know the efficacy of such devices.  Curbing the problem at the source is still the most sensible if we wish to sustain the planet.  It is up to us.   Returning to the cheap, convenient and therefore ubiquitous plastic bags, there is hope, for now, there are several different types:  the most common are conventional plastic bags, then there are compostable bags designed to be recycled in industrial composters, biodegradable bags, and two types of oxo-biodegradable bags.  The latter degrade in open landscapes or on water surfaces like oceans.  None degrade too well in landfills.  There is, however,  another problem with compostable biodegradables:  to repel water and oil these have in them perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in which a hydrogen atom has been replaced by fluorine.  Known as PFAS, these persistent chemicals leach out of the plastic and remain in the compost to be absorbed by plants and later by humans to accumulate in their bodies.   However, it’s back to landfills for the non-recyclables.  In 2015, the US alone produced 34.5 million tons (or 13 percent of total municipal solid waste) of plastic waste from which a small fraction (9 percent or 3.1 million tons) was recycled, 5.4 million tons was incinerated with energy recovery and about 26 million tons ended up in landfills.  Burning reduces volume by 87 percent.  However, open burning produces pollutants including dangerous dioxins, so safe combustion requires a contained environment.   Unless there is a change, the plastic problem appears likely to keep growing.  In 1950, the world produced only about 2 million tons compared to over 300 million tons in present times.  The UN has taken a first step by adding plastic waste to the Basel agreement on hazardous waste — 187 countries have signed up, the US under the Trump administration remains an exception.   Engineering institutions have become aware of the problem and are educating their young members.  As reported in their July 2019 issue of IET Member News, the British electrical engineering professional body has two competitions sponsored by Greenpeace and Greenseas.  For the Greenpeace prize, teams have to come up with methods, technologies and alternative delivery systems to reduce plastic packaging in supermarkets.  And the Greenseas challenge requires competitors to develop a robotic machine to clear beaches of plastic cigarette stubs.  The machine has to be large enough to collect a reasonable amount and painted brightly to attract attention and inform the public of the problem.  Then there is OceanX Group, headed by a young engineer, that is developing automated monitoring and cleanup technology to remove plastic from waterways and better to detect sources.  It employs artificial intelligence including drones.   The inescapable upshot of all of this is a need for education.  Sorting recyclables initially and disposing non-recyclable material into the curbside waste bin could save energy later, and many man-hours.  Changes in the kind of plastic material produced may also help.  For instance, just reducing the coloring used in plastic bottles eases recycling as these additives are expensive to remove.  Also tax incentives for manufacturers can only aid recycling efforts.  However, the now evident danger to the food chain begs including the cost of safe disposal (like controlled combustion for example) in the price of items.  Above all, the total amount of plastic generated can no longer keep increasing; it has to be reduced.  

The PA Recycling Markets Center will host the PA ReMaDe Conference - Advancing Circular EconomySeptember 18-19 in Bethlehem at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

How can marketers and their suppliers create more sustainable cosmetics and home cleaning products? Summits developed by Ecovia Intelligence provide some answer New York, New York was the site of Ecovia Intelligence’s Sustainable Cosmetics Summit and the Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit, which were held several weeks apart from one another. Combined, the events attracted attendees from raw material suppliers and finished product manufacturers who were there to get tips and tactics from peers as well as experts outside the industries about issues surrounding sustainability—a topic that won’t go away. “Over 200 senior executives combined attended these summits to discuss some of the major sustainability issues facing the cosmetic and home care industries,” explained Amarjit Sahota, chief executive officer, Ecovia. Some of the pressing issues that came out of these events, according to Sahota were:

• Closing packaging loops to combat plastic pollution;
• Addressing health and environmental impacts of products;
• Targeting wider consumer segments, especially Millennials and Gen Z, with green products; and
• Emergence of new green brands, such as Seed Phytonutrients and Love, Home and Planet.

Supplier Ideas Many sustainable ideas originate from the supply side of the household and personal products industry. That was clearly evident during the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, held in May, when a number of raw material producers took to the podium to provide insights into what makes their products and business models sustainable. Michael Birman of Mibelle Biochemistry explained how plant stem cells can protect and activate human epidermal stem cells. He noted that, in contrast to human cells, every plant cell can regenerate new organs, such as leaves, stems, flowers and seeds or even the whole plant throughout their whole life. In addition, plant cells can de-differentiate under certain conditions and become stem cells. With this in mind, Mibelle has developed PhytoCellTec, a technology to de-differentiate plant cells and produce stem cell cultures in large quantities. The technology makes it possible to cultivate cells of endangered and rare plant species, which helps preserve rare or limited plant stocks. Furthermore, PhytoCell Tec technology allows for the production of active raw materials without harming the environment, as it requires very little plant material, no agricultural land to produce biomass, significantly reduces water consumption compared to conventional biomass production and requires no fertilizer, pesticides or other chemicals. Mibelle’s three stem cell products, derived from apple, grape and alpine rose, provide two different modes of activity: general protection of skin stem cells and plant-specific activity; i.e., apple stem cells promote longevity, grape provides enhances UV protection and rose imparts resistance properties. Croda has been providing sustainable solutions to the personal care industry for decades; for example, it relies more and more on non-fossil energy and 60-70% of its materials come from biobased feedstocks. Chris Sayner explained his company’s idea of a sustainable ingredient supply chain and the growing importance of clean beauty trends such as transparency, safety and responsibility. He reviewed Croda’s Ingredient Integrity program and noted that more sustainability efforts will reshape the personal care industry in the future. “Brand integrity is under constant scrutiny by consumers and NGOs and third-party certification is increasingly important at all levels in the supply chain using publicly available standards and a transparent standard development process,” explained Sayner. “Life Cycle Analysis will become increasingly important in judging the sustainability of personal care consumer products.” Genomatica offers natural glycols for personal care and Damien Perriman explained the benefits of using Brontide natural butylene glycol in personal care formulations. Glycols offer a range of functionalities including humectancy, emolliency, solvency, viscosity reducer, preservative booster, freeze-thaw stability and improved sensory feel. Brontide provides all of those benefits, but contains no heavy metals and with a much lower global warming impact. “If 100 tons of petroleum-based butylene glycol was converted to Brontide, it would be the CO2 equivalent of 33 homes’ electricity use for one year,” observed Perriman. Sustainability Management The Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit was held last month. Presenters included executives from Unilever, Gojo and Earth Friendly Products, as well as presentations from trade associations and non-government organizations. Keynote speaker Steve Cohen of The Earth Institute at Columbia University detailed the importance of sustainability management; e.g., organizational management practices that result in sustainable development, and economic production and consumption that minimize environmental impact and maximize resource conservation and reuse. “We view sustainability management as the third and current phase of environmentalism,” Cohen explained. “The goal of sustainability management is to use technology and human ingenuity to increase the size of the economy while reducing environmental impact.” It may seem unattainable, but it can and already has been done. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, from 1980 to 2015, the US GDP grew by 153%, the US population increased 41%, vehicle miles traveled grew 106%, but air pollution declined 65%. According to Cohen, to reach the next level of sustainability requires an engaged citizen base, accurate science and measurement, technologies for renewable production, public policies and organizational practice that use knowledge of environmental impact and are flexible by design, and a change in culture, norms and values about consumption and lifestyle. “Technological change results in economic change that, in turn, causes social change; social change creates a context for political change,” explained Cohen. “Sustainability requires all levels of society—government, the private sector and citizen participation, in order to succeed and move forward.” Unilever executives have been warning about the environmental impact of FMCG products and consumer habits for decades. Clotilde Balassone detailed the emergence of Love, Home and Planet (LHP), Unilever’s new home and personal care company that is anchored in a love for the planet. As as result, all LHP products are packaged with recycled materials, sustainably sourced, water conscious and created with “benevolent innovation,” according to Balassone, who detailed the company’s work with the Givaudan Foundation to ethically source essential oils. She went on to promote LHP’s Dry Wash Spray, which is designed to refresh gently worn clothes without having to wash them. “It’s like dry shampoo for your clothes,” Balassone explained. Consumers just apply Dry Wash Spray, smooth out and air dry the garment and hang up. LHP relies on post-consumer resin for all of its packaging materials. But TerraCycle and its partners, including Unilever, want to do even better. Their Loop initiative is designed to eliminate the idea of packaging waste by creating high-quality packaging formats that can be reused again and again. TerraCycle’s Brett Stevens told Summit attendees that traditional PCR is no longer a differentiator with consumers. “Because traditional sources of PCR are generic, brands that use recycled material lack a unique story that they can deliver to consumers on-shelf,” he explained. One of those unique stories was P&G’s Head & Shoulders beach plastic shampoo bottles that were created using beach-reclaimed HDPE. Retailers liked the story so much that P&G was able to secure incremental retail display space. The Loop redesigns traditional packaging so that it can be reused without waste. Taking a page from milk delivery, the more durable the package the lower the cost per fill, explained Stevens. For example, a standard antiperspirant package results in a cost per use of 10 cents a package, but after dozens of uses, the Loop program reduces the cost per use to three cents. Loop is now available in Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. This expansion comes approximately six weeks after the launch of the pilot in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, DC. Along with the expansion, the platform has greatly increased its product line to include Häagen-Dazs’ non-dairy frozen dessert flavors, International Harvest, Cascade and Tide, according to the company. Loop is just the kind of program that may interest Millennials and Gen Z, two demographic groups that together account for more than 50% of the US population, according to Sourabh Sharma of Figorout, a digital marketing and public relations company. “Younger generations have killed casual dining, beer and many other industries, which industry is next?” he asked. Both Millennials and Gen Z expect sustainability to be a value of a company that sells products. As a result, the brands they choose to bring into their lives say something about the person, their values and how they fit in. And they’ll pay for it. While just 36% of the general population will pay full price for items made in a sustainable or environmentally-friendly way, 39% of Millennials and 40% of Gen Z agreed with that statement, according to a recent Cone Communications survey. But in order to engage with these age groups, marketers must capitalize of digital trends such as Switch Off and #Connect2Earth, two social media-driven initiatives designed to reduce energy use. According to Sharma, just 1% of these consumers believe in “traditional” advertising; in contrast, more than 90% believe in influencers. In fact, 36% turn exclusively to social media influencers in their decision making. Looking ahead, the 2020 North American dates for Sustainable Cosmetics Summit is May 6-8. No dates have been set for the Sustainable Cleaning Products Summit, according to Ecovia.  

Austin, Texas-based baby food company Serenity Kids has closed a $1.5 million funding round led by Wild Ventures, an early-stage venture fund of wellness influencers. The investment will support the operations, inventory, research and development, and extend the national presence for the only high-fat, low-sugar baby food on the market. Serenity Kids is a baby food company on a mission to provide quality nutrient-dense foods from the first bite, support regenerative agriculture and help enable small American family farms to succeed.   Wild Ventures’ founder and general partner John Durant will join the company’s advisory board. Additional investors in the round include Whole30 founder Melissa Hartwig Urban; Wellness Mama founder Katie Wells; Vani Hari the Food Babe; celebrity nutritionist Kelly LeVeque; renowned neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter; Thrive Market founders Nick Green, Gunnar Lovelace and Sasha Siddhartha; and more. Thrive Market Ventures, the in-house investment vehicle of online retailer Thrive Market, also backed the company.   The investment builds on an exceptional year for Serenity Kids, which  has only been to market since August 2018, yet recently launched nationwide into Whole Foods, doubled its team and brought eight SKUs to market, including the only pouched baby foods available with Grass Fed Beef and Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon. Grass Fed Bison & Organic Kabocha Squash and Spinach, as well as Pasture Raised Turkey with Organic Sweet Potato, Pumpkin & Squash will join the flavor lineup later this year, with the brand launching in nearly 80 Hy-Vee grocery stores in August.   Driven to combat chronic health conditions with lifestyle, Wild Ventures is highly selective in its investments, only partnering with companies with aligned values and mission. Serenity Kids is dedicated to changing the way kids eat, starting at infancy with the first bite. An ideal first food, the blends pack vital nutrients including protein, zinc, iron, B vitamins and healthy fats as recommended for infants by the USDA, into 3.5-oz. pouches. Designed to mimic the macronutrients of breastmilk, the line is available in unique and savory flavor profiles like Pastured Uncured Bacon with Organic Butternut Squash & Kale and Organic Butternut Squash & Spinach with Avocado Oil, with all recipes devoid of gluten, grain, dairy, corn, eggs or nuts.   “It’s shocking how many baby food companies essentially sell sugar smoothies,” said John Durant, founder and general partner of Wild Ventures. “I love that Serenity and Joe approached baby food with more humility: Mother Nature knows best. They modeled the macros to mimic breastmilk—the appropriate nutritional standard—and sourced the highest quality, nutrient-dense ingredients, without the added sugar. Our community loves the Serenity Kids mission and we’re going to shout it from the rooftops.”   Serenity Kids supports regenerative and ethical farming techniques by only sourcing American-grown organic vegetables and GAP-certified meat from small family farms in the U.S. Ingredients are free of any antibiotics, added hormones, pesticides, fillers and GMOs, and the brand extends its commitment to supporting ethical farming by giving a portion of its profits to the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. The pouches are also recyclable for free via a partnership with TerraCycle.   “We’re so pleased to have found a partner that fully believes and lives our mission,” said Serenity Kids CEO and co-founder Serenity Carr. “Support from Wild Ventures will allow us to make even more impact in improving how our babies eat, and ultimately help provide a healthier nutritional foundation for the kids and adults they will become.”   Shelf-stable for 18-months and designed for infants over 6 months old, all recipes are pediatrician recommended with nutritional formulations created under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. and founder of The Paleo Mom. Ballantyne also sits on the brand’s advisory board, which also includes wellness and food industry leaders Taylor Collins, CEO of EPIC Provisions; Sam Elick, CEO of BrainJuice; and Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution.   Currently available in more than 700 retail stores including Whole Foods, Lassen’s, Mom’s Organic Market, King’s, DeCicco & Sons and online via Amazon, Thrive Market and One Stop Paleo Shop, Serenity Kids aims to eventually be everywhere baby food is sold.   Serenity Kids was created from couple Serenity and Joe’s desire for healthier food for their baby, Della. They created the savory meal blends with the essential nutrients that babies need to grow their brains and bodies. Filling a void among baby foods, the blends are the only high-fat low-sugar pouch option on the market, built to match the macronutrient contents of breastmilk. Ratios of protein, fat and carbohydrates are matched to the USDA’s recommendations for infants’ first foods.

We liked this week   Flowers showered the statue of the Madonna Della Strada as she was gently lowered on a table so marchers in the Southington Italian-American Festival’s Sunday morning procession could crowd around to pin money to her and pray. After a Mass the procession went through downtown Southington on the final morning of the three-day festival.   After two years on the market, St. Mary Church and school in Meriden have been sold to a local Pentecostal church, while the rectory went to a separate buyer in late May. The Pentecostal Church of God I.M. of Meriden bought the church at 55 Church St. and the school at 97 Grove St. for $275,000 from the Our Lady Queen of Angels parish. Dockside Construction Services bought the rectory for $85,000.   Hiking in 90-degree heat and occasional pouring rain, Chris Ulbrich, CEO of Ulbrich Stainless Steel and Special Metals Inc., hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail for 25 days to raise money for the Wallingford Emergency Shelter. The “Ulbrich Trek to End Homelessness” campaign set a goal to raise $20,000 and Ulbrich agreed to add $10,000.   A state law imposing a 10-cent charge for plastic bags at supermarket checkouts starting Thursday, for environmental reasons, has prompted two chains to eliminate those bags well ahead of a June 2021 deadline. Stop & Shop and Big Y customers will no longer receive plastic bags at checkout but will have the opportunity to use paper bags or reusable totes instead.   A Southington tax relief committee this week recommended adding a tax deferment program for the elderly, as well as increasing the income limits for another program already in place. If approved by town leaders, the program will provide $250 in tax deferments to homeowners who are disabled or at least 65 years old. The taxes deferred are due to the town when the property is transferred.   An area foundation has donated over $10,000 toward the replacement and refurbishment of four signs located at Cheshire’s Bartlem Park. The town recently accepted a donation of $10,500 from the John G. Martin Foundation to replace the Bartlem Park and Cheshire Community Pool, Parks and Recreation, and Yellow House signs, as well as to repaint the Medal of Honor Plaza sign.   Rogers Orchards in Southington have opened for their 210th season, offering visitors fresh produce like peaches, tomatoes and corn. “All things are looking good here and we’re excited to have another harvest,” co-president Peter Rogers said. Rogers said this summer’s heat and humidity have been good for the crops.   Gov. Ned Lamont has enlisted two top advisers to take a closer look at the management of two quasi-public agencies, the Connecticut Lottery and the Connecticut Port Authority, and determine whether changes are needed. Lamont  said Tuesday he has become increasingly concerned about reports of leadership strife at the lottery. The port authority’s executive director has also been placed on paid administrative leave from the organization.   Gathering loads of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers and packaging earned Derynoski School in Southington a new playground as part of a recycling company’s national contest run by TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey. The school took second place in the Northeast region contest and won a playground made of recycled materials, worth $25,000.   The Midstate Chamber of Commerce and the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce recently signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an alliance. The partnership is not a merger, but an effort to maintain the local chambers by retaining their boards, presidents and staff while fostering cooperation, said Rosanne Ford, interim president of the Midstate Chamber of Commerce.   A new interagency task force will soon begin work on a plan to minimize the impact of a group of potentially dangerous industrial compounds — PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” — on Connecticut residents. The panel will be led by the commissioners of the departments of Energy and Environmental Protection and Public Health.   Kick For A Cause’s 15th annual women’s soccer tournament started last weekend in Wallingford. The two-day event features teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York. This year’s event saw 18 teams, each with 15 players. All proceeds go to Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis, an organization that provides domestic violence services to those in need.

Focus on the little wins. I spent so much time focused on the big wins that I missed the little ones. I didn’t realize how few of the big wins would come to fruition. Now I fill the success jar with the little wins and let the big ones be the bonus on top.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicoya Hecht, co-founder of RISING SPRINGS, a natural mineral supplement (NMS) water, comprised of 100% geothermal spring water from the purest source in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest. Rising Springs is the steward of this incredible source, and in addition to being committed to making the purest, unfiltered water on the planet accessible to those who seek it, Nicoya also ensures that the Rising Springs SPC (Social Purpose Corporation) respects the environment. She has built a close-knit team whose sole purpose is to protect and responsibly share Rising Springs in its most pure form, and bring an awareness to the importance of pure drinking water, minimal packaging and environmental preservation. Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory”? I was born in Costa Rica to quintessential hippie parents — and named for the Nicoya Peninsula. My first years were spent on a 45 foot trimaran sailing the seas and I took my first steps in the Galapagos Islands. I was raised in Maui surrounded by the beauty of Hawaii. I was a tall, gangly, shy, self-conscience adolescent who hid my insecurities behind the mask of a bubbly, outgoing teenager. It’s taken me a while to find balance between those two extremes. In my 20s, I had my two incredible sons and became a homebirth midwife. In my 30s, I co-founded an eco-boutique with my sister-in-law and joined the Waterkeeper Alliance movement. And now in my 40’s, I have co-founded Rising Springs with my brother-in-law, and husband, who is Rising Springs’ CEO. I am passionate about water, and both awed by its complexity and dumbfounded by the lack of education and differentiation in the marketplace. I am acutely aware of the value of water and feel the need to protect it. Can you share your top three “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Meditation, gratitude and sleep! Incorporate a gratitude practice: For the first half of my life, I focused on what wasn’t working in my life. In an attempt to be real and combat that fake bubbly mask I had worn through adolescence, I emphasized the negatives and paid little attention to the positives. I also believed that if I talked about the good in my life, bad would soon follow- a little like knocking on wood. It was startling when I realized how much these thoughts were increasing the negativity in and around me. I believe one’s emotional state affects their health as much as, or more than, what they put in their body. Through continual practice, I am changing the pattern, spending time each day appreciating the world, people, things, and experiences, and focusing on the positive. At first I had to make a point of finding and naming my gratitude and it felt somewhat contrived and inauthentic. However, gratitude has now become part of my internal world and I notice it bubbles up naturally. Today I feel grateful for a good nights sleep, the sunshine, a quiet house to write in, a facetime chat with my son and an exceptional cup of tea. Recognizing and expressing gratitude feels good, I can feel it throughout my body, and affects those around me. It’s contagious. Get quality sleep: So many of us are dealing with sleep issues- from not being able to fall asleep to waking in the middle of the night or not getting enough of the right kind of sleep. Sleep deprivation affects various parts of our lives, from mood and energy levels to clarity of mind. Getting a good night’s sleep can take forethought and attention, but it’s totally worth it! It’s important to follow your personal rhythm. In my family, my nickname is Bed Time, and I’m often teased for being the first one ready to turn in. Many tools can support healthy sleep. I often take a bath before bed. Good pillows are a must, and snacking after dinner is a no go for sure. Meditate: I’d really like to have a consistent meditation practice but have been challenged to incorporate one into my life, I won’t share my list of excuses with you- even though it would probably make for a good laugh. Practically every person I respect in the health and wellness movement considers meditation to be one of the most important tools to support our wellbeing. I believe meditation practices are further undermined by our culture’s addiction to technology and the constant external stimulation we experience. We as a society have forgotten how to be silent and still, and I think some people feel uncomfortable without constant input. Currently my meditation practice consists of not picking up my phone in the in-between moments like at the stop light, or while in line at the grocery store. Instead I take a few deep breaths and try to quiet my mind. I know, I have a long way to go- I’m working on it! Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? The path to co-founding Rising Springs is the most interesting thing that has happened in my career so far. My husband, Grey and I had just built a home in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica and become empty nesters. We were planning on living abroad part-time and traveling a lot. I had few commitments and my only focus was on non-profit work with our family foundation. My husband had work in both Costa Rica and the states, so could work from home and travel when needed. Think: yoga, meditation, romantic trips to exotic places, juice cleanses and spontaneous visits to see our boys…you get the picture. So how did I go from that lovely story to having a startup that requires most of my attention, leaves little space for self-care and requires the multi-tasking of raising toddlers? Frankly it was the water’s fault. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. When my extended family purchased the Spring and the land around it, we were excited to become stewards of the source. We were aware of the value and rarity of a single source spring. The water had previously been bottled under the name Trinity and we knew there was a latent consumer group who wanted to be reconnected to the spring source. My husband and I talked a lot about the water and its benefits. We asked ourselves if the water was worthy of being shipped and if it made sense to launch a new company. We also wondered if we could incorporate what we had learned in the nonprofit world into a for-profit company (and by we I meant he). I have often been fortunate to be involved in the creative side of my husbands ventures without having to be “officially” a part of them. When Grey asked me to work with him to launch Rising Springs, my initial response was to say no. First, I questioned if it was a good idea to work with my husband- the person I’d known since I was 12, been married to for 20 years, and who I spent 90% of my time with already. Wouldn’t working together put unnecessary stress on our relationship (that’s a different story)? Second, as previously mentioned, I had few commitments and intended to implement a long list of self-care practices — why would I screw that up? Third, I had very little experience in business and none in marketing. The learning curve was daunting. But every time I said “No!”, my husband kept asking, I could hear the water calling me to it and to the project. I ignored it for awhile but it persisted and so I started showing up at the office dressed for the job with zero idea of what to do. It was challenging and I googled EVERYTHING. But what blossomed was the realization that I am passionate about water, excited to learn more, and have a desire to be part of a larger movement. I also developed newly-found confidence in not only my abilities but in myself. I’m thankful to my husband for continuing to ask, support and encourage me! When things get challenging, I turn to the water to show me where it wants to flow. Passion for water brought me into the company, and I trust it to show me how to move forward.  

  Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I can’t think of one big mistake I’ve made. Instead, I’ve made a series of smaller mistakes that ultimately led me to become better at my job. I repeated some mistakes over and over until I finally learned those particular lesson but there are many mistakes I still notice and some I have yet to recognize. The one I repeat most is trying to impress people who I respect in order to feel worthy or of value. But ironically, when I’m trying to impress someone, I have left my true self, and therefore the interaction is inauthentic and hinders genuine connection. I found myself in this situation recently at a wellness retreat weekend sponsored by Rising Springs. I needed/wanted a particular person I admire to validate me as a person and business woman. As I kept noticing that neediness in me arise, I would take a few deep breaths and have a sweet little chat with the part of me that was seeking validation. Then I would find something around me to be grateful for. The energy would dissipate and I could return to what I was doing. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world? We have helped to start important conversations about water- particularly the importance of paying attention to the water we drink to the same degree we focus on the food we eat. Our bodies are 70% water. We encourage people to know where their water comes from. Water is the great dissolver — it is the product of everything it has ever flowed through — so it is important to know what has happened to it along its journey to your body. The source really matters. People should be able to easily identify where their water comes from, what’s in it and how it’s handled or treated on its journey. We hope that the conversation will also help people focus more on protecting natural fresh water supplies. It’s an urgent issue. Once a spring is contaminated, the damage is done. By studying to be a water sommelier at the Fine Water Academy, I am deepening my understanding of and relationship to water. I am on a mission to help shift the conversation in the United States from ‘water is a commodity that can be processed to be made drinkable’ to ‘water naturally pure and unprocessed is an essential key to wellness’. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? Sharon Egan was the marketing director for Trinity, the company that previously owned and bottled at the source, and we were lucky enough to hire her when we started Rising Springs. She holds institutional knowledge about the source, the water that rises, and the industry. She has been a gracious and patient mentor to me and other members of our team. Sharon has put in many years of hard work and she is helping me short-cut a lot of those lessons by taking time to help me understand. That said the greatest gift she has given me is her encouragement and belief in my abilities. I’m not really one to put myself out there until I feel very confident, which all to often means never. Time after time after time she encourages, supports and praises me for the work I do. Recently, I did a spur of the moment podcast at the Paleo FX expo in Austin. I was able to go for it with no prep because of all the support and training from Sharon. When she listened to it she sent me this text- “truly — I cried. thank you for doing such a wonderful job”. I have needed that kind of support in my corner and I am truly blessed that I can depend on her to be there for me. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be? Gratitude Everyday — many health/wellness providers and followers speak to and incorporate gratitude in their lives, but if the general population joined in the daily gratitude practices, I believe it would create positive change on a huge scale- swinging the pendulum from fear to love. What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? Don’t get attached to the moment, it will change. Launching a startup is a bit like riding a roller coaster everyday- so many ups and downs and loop-de-loops. I had to learn not to get too excited or too disappointed because things shift on an hourly basis. Don’t worry- just Google it! I was intimidated by everything I didn’t know about both water and business in general, and I’m not talking about nuanced business strategies. I’m talking about how to use collaboration software as a management tool, what the hell a COG was, and that OOO wasn’t a typo. Luckily, Siri knows 99% of what I don’t. Focus on the little wins. I spent so much time focused on the big wins that I missed the little ones. I didn’t realize how few of the big wins would come to fruition. Now I fill the success jar with the little wins and let the big ones be the bonus on top. Do you have a “girl-crush” in this industry? If you could take one person to brunch, who would it be? (Let another “woman in wellness” know that you respect her as a teacher and guide! ) There are so many incredible ‘women in wellness’ that I would love to have an afternoon chat with. At this moment in time I would take Esther Perel to lunch and bring my husband along! She is a pioneer when it comes to the landscape of relationships today, and Grey adores her. I have read her books Mating in Captivity and The State of Affairs, and have been fortunate to hear her speak a few times. I gained numerous insights into myself and my marriage that have helped me uncover some unrealistic expectations I didn’t know I had and shifted the way I viewed my marriage, for the better. My husband and I married and had children at a relatively young age and have now been married for 22 years. In this day and age, our long marriage is unusual and we therefore don’t have much of a peer group in the same situation. I have read a lot of books and gone to a ton of workshops gathering tools for navigating my marriage. Esther’s work has been infinitely valuable in that journey. I am proud of my husband’s and my relationship- the tough times we have worked through and the incredible gifts we have received from each other. I know there are still so many ways to learn and grow separately and with each other. I would love to chat with Esther about it, she has been married for a long time so has lived the journey I’m on, plus she is super funny and I love her accent. Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why? Sustainability and mental health are both important to me. But if I had to choose one, it would have to be sustainability. If we don’t start to make significant changes in our behavior and policies, our very survival is at stake, regardless of our mental health. I became a vegetarian at the age of 20. It was a personal decision and I didn’t judge others for their dietary choices. However, now I believe people need to consider how their diet affects the environment and make changes accordingly. We all need to participate in shifting to a more sustainable model. It’s challenging to change patterns. I feel strongly that we are responsible for not only the items we buy but the packaging it comes in. That plastic at the top of a tincture bottle I buy is my responsibility. So I invested in terracycle recycling boxes- I can put any plastic item in it and it will be upcycled. I am paying for an alternative to the landfill. It’s not the answer but a step in the right direction. But every time I take out the trash, I find plastic bits that me and my family members have thrown away because we are still learning to shift our patterns. My next step is to look at offsetting my carbon footprint. I drive an electric car but am on a plane often, which I know contributes to carbon emissions. I’m not ready to give up travel but I want to offset the pollution I am participating in creating. What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media? Instagram is the best place to engage with us on social media. We need to up our social media game, which basically means we need to hire a dedicated social media manager. I want to work with an individual rather than a company- We’ll be accepting applications in 2020!