The cannabis industry has a packaging problem.   Hemmed in by regulations, the Canadian industry has created thousands of tons of needless plastic pollution over the last two years, and consumers have noticed. A quick search of social media will reveal some common complaints, including that shipping one-gram orders of cannabis in thick plastic containers might not be the best approach.   Under Health Canada’s regulations, packaging needs to be child-resistant, prevent contamination and ensure that the product is kept dry.   According to Plastics Engineering, one packaging solution could be grown right alongside the bud.   Hemp.   Cannabis packaging is more complicated than it might seem. It needs to retain moisture, while also keeping moisture out, and the product could end up sitting on a shelf for months before a customer opens it up.   Too wet and the bud could get mouldy; too dry and it could arrive underweight, brittle and with diluted potency. There’s also the issue of odour, as well as protecting the bud from light and static, which can further damage the product.   Creating the needed “barrier protection” can reduce the package’s recyclability or compostability, according to Plastics Engineering.   Earlier this year, speaking at the Plastics in Cannabis Packaging conference, Ron Kander, founding dean of the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said hemp has the potential to be a sustainable raw material with nearly endless industry applications. But converting hemp into plastic is not easy.   “As it sits in the ground as a mature plant, it is carbon negative — it sequesters more carbon than it takes to grow. So, the question, as engineers and scientists, is how much energy is needed to transform that plant as it comes out of the ground into a useful product, without negating that benefit of being carbon negative initially,” Kander said. “That’s the systems problem we’re trying to solve.”   Some companies, such as Sana Packaging, are already working with hemp, but James Eichner, chief scientific officer and co-founder of the company, told Benzinga earlier this year that the hemp industry is limited by a lack of infrastructure.   “The hemp industry is definitely growing and becoming a lot larger year by year. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a really small industry with very limited infrastructure,” Eichner said.   Harvesting hemp is also labour-intensive, and growing the crop requires significant amounts of water, reports Ministry of Hemp.   Still, when stacked up against traditional plastics, the potential of hemp is unmistakable. While most plastic takes a thousand years to decompose, hemp bioplastics are completely decomposed within six months, reports Cannabis Industry Journal.   Speaking at the Plastics in Cannabis Packaging conference, Kander said there remains a need “to develop a better basic understanding of the hemp plant, not as an agricultural product, but as a raw material.”   In the meantime, consumers can drop off their used cannabis materials at any Tweed or Tweed-partnered retail store to be recycled. In 2018, TerraCycle partnered with Canopy Growth on a national recycling program, which now operates two streams: one recycling program for packaging and related materials, like joint tubes and plastic bottles, and another for disposable vape cartridges and batteries.

The scariest thing about Halloween isn’t the ghosts, or goblins, or ghouls. It’s the amount of waste generated in celebration of the holiday. From the literal tons (300,000 to be exact) of candy we purchase, individually-wrapped in single-use plastic and often times thrown out before it’s eaten, to the mass amount of decorations big box stores put on display as early as July, we have a Halloween consumption problem. Don’t get spooked yet though! As the St. Louis City Mayor announces Halloween is not canceled, the city has released official guidelines for a safe Halloween. Read on to see our tips for a low-waste holiday.

Tip 1: A Better Halloween Costume

Skip purchasing a brand-new Halloween costume this year and create your own from pieces you already have. Not the crafting-type? See what your friends or family might have in their closets, and arrange a porch drop-off/pick-up. The city is not recommending shopping in-store for costumes, so try calling local thrift stores instead to see what they might have and arrange curbside pick-up (small businesses could use some love). If you do end up purchasing something new, recycle the packaging (if possible) and donate the costume afterward if you don’t plan on re-wearing it. If the costume’s condition is beyond another use, stop by Remains, a local clothing and textile recycling business. Your costume deserves the chance at an enjoyable afterlife, not one trapped haunting a landfill. Don’t forget your reusable face mask!

Tip 2: Earth-Friendly Treats

Most Halloween candy comes individually wrapped in single-use, nonrecyclable plastic, and with Americans having spent roughly $2.6 billion on candy in 2018, that adds up to a lot of plastic waste. Consider passing out a more sustainable option this year. Hershey’s Kisses come wrapped in tin foil and Milk Duds, Junior Mints, and Dots come in cardboard boxes. You could also hand out canned beverages or oranges as another more eco-friendly option as well. As the city asks residents to leave individually wrapped treats out, use paper bags instead of plastic. If you’re wondering what to do with the post-Halloween accumulation of candy wrappers, check out TerraCycle’s recycling program.

Tip 3: Compost Your Pumpkin

1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins are thrown out each year once Halloween has passed. Most of them end up in landfills where they decompose, producing methane, and contributing to climate change. Instead of just trashing your pumpkin, repurpose it! Eat the seeds, make a soup or veggie stock, bake pumpkin bread, or even just compost it in your own backyard. Critters like chickens and squirrels love the tasty treat too.

Tip 4: Decorate DIY-sely

We all know Halloween decorations get cuter and cuter each year, with every Target trip resulting in “just one more” fire mantel addition. However, they aren’t always very sustainable.   If you are looking to shop for new decorations this year, try to shop second-hand first. If shopping new, purchase items you know will last year after year, and before making a purchase, ask yourself if it’s something you really want to add to your collection. Investing in a few well-made decorations is ultimately better than having to repurchase new ones each time Halloween rolls around. Another great option? Nature! Display pumpkins and gourds that can be composted or used for baking once the holiday is over. Leaves, twigs, fall flowers, and hay bales make for great inclusions too.

Tip 5: (Ding-Dong) Ditch the Treat Bucket

Skip the plastic treat bucket this year, and instead use a pillowcase or reusable bag to collect candy with. You’ll save yourself money and you’ll have something that can last you through the years!   Ready to make this Halloween the safest and most spooktacular yet? Try out some of our tips above and tag us in your low-waste Halloween tricks on social media. Remember to social distance, wear a mask, and practice proper handwashing. Happy Halloween from our team to you!   @stlouisearthday

“You can still do good and do well building purposeful brands.” October 15, 2020 TEXT: STELLA PAK   From going All In for small businesses in NYC, designing gadgets for Google, all the way down to how we interpret Perfection with Marc Jacobs, Rinat Aruh knows a thing or two about leading with solutions from the heart. The belief that Purpose and Profit can coexist is a driving force behind her agency – Aruliden, that both supports and challenges the whys and why nots of how we interact with brands. After all, she found her moment of “aha” when she met her partner, Johan Liden while they were both at BMW Group 14+ years ago. “We worked for an amazing brand and it gave us a taste of what we wanted to do and build Aruliden as a place that can really bridge design with brand and demonstrate that power.”   Now that we’re in the last quarter of 2020 – the most volatile year of a lifetime, the dust has yet to settle. Whether you’re a multi-hyphenate creative, entrepreneur or someone looking for a job with purpose, V chat with Rinat Aruh to gain insight on the changing landscape of the industry for our very own moment of “aha!” RA We don’t fall in love with the idea. We fall in love with the people leading those ideas. The biggest “aha” with The Feelist, for example – that just launched with Shea Marie, was the fact that there are a lot of brands in the wellness and even CBD space that were very much focused on zenning out and tuning out with all these muted palettes. We (Aruliden) highlighted the fact that just because you’re taking care of your body doesn’t mean that you want to press pause. You want to continue to live that life and do it all. Build a brand that responds to that. It was the first time we were working with an influencer. We developed moodboards in real-time and she’d say, “Ok, let me send this out to my audience and see what they think about that.”   SP Did you freak out?   RA As a design agency, sometimes you’re protective of your process and your work. But we’re learning that that’s not the way forward. We met midway to – “Let’s put it out there and let’s see what people are saying. Let’s get some feedback. Let’s get their input.” Not only are we getting the community and audience involved very early on, it was helping to drive some of the design choices we made. It’s a very different process than the way it used to be.   SP The old school way is where everything is locked into a vault, secured with NDA’s every step of the way. You’ll never see the light of day until there’s a huge chunk of media buys and bam – we’re launching. But it’s such a different process now.   RA We all learn to embrace it and eventually, you realize the value of those inputs early on. It makes it stronger in a natural way in a conversation of what they want. It’s only positive. You figure out what you want to hold to yourself, what things you want to be a surprise. But when you’re crafting a brand for this generation, they want to participate with you. They want to be part of that conversation. Gone are the days when these brands have monologues where they push out their messaging. “Here’s another picture of my product… another angle of my product.” Instead, you gotta bring people into the conversation and make it worthy of them to spend time with your brand. “What void does this fill in their lives?” And then speak to that. The work we did for Marc Jacobs – for Perfect, is an example of the shift in the industry. “We are all Perfect, and what Perfect means to a variety of people.” I think that conversation, just a few years ago, would be atypical. Marc’s vision that was shot October of last year put out a product full of optimism. Not just sitting on the face of one person or one model. But having a bigger conversation with a bigger audience of what perfect is. I think that’s setting a new benchmark in the industry that’s been quite tired and mundane.   SP What are some of the characteristics larger companies such as COTY and Proctor & Gamble value about Gen-Z?   RA Those companies all realize how important it is to bring in the community from day one. They used to do traditional research, get some insights, but we need to start bringing in the community and start speaking to them. Gen-Zers care about the materials you use. They care about the choices you make as it pertains to design. They care about the choices you make with which models you’re going to put behind this. What influencers will be behind this. They want to know your process. Not just to get the product out. What about when I’m done with the product? Are you gonna take care of recycling it for me? What are you doing? How are you playing the part in doing something that’s better for the planet? It’s really double-clicking every single design choice you’re making. And making sure you’re making responsible ones. We’re partnering with Terracycle to make sure what we put out there is vetted. We have experts at the table to look at our process. It’s about picking recycled materials and having informed conversations. Those companies have the power and the scale to make a dramatic change by changing their process even by just a little bit.   SP A slight shift in their operations can make a huge impact.   RA There’s not one brand that comes our way where they start with – “we want to start with and make sure our packaging is sustainable. We want to make sure we’re using XYZ materials. But they don’t often have the scale to deliver on that.   V It's the start-up companies or the smaller brands that lead a new set of values. And then the bigger companies take that and start developing it in a sense.    RA You’re right.   SP We’ve entered a time where job insecurity is high. What advice can you give to our readers who aren’t sure how to navigate around today’s job  market?   RA I love this question because we’re interviewing. We’re hiring right now. My filter when I hire is always, “Do I want to go on vacation with this person?” We spend so much time with the people we work with. More than our families. In times of crisis, I spent more time with my team than I ever have the last 4-5 months at all different levels. You’re going through things that nobody prepared you for. Especially the younger set. They have no idea what tomorrow may bring. When interviewing, when speaking to a job you want to take, don’t underestimate the importance of talking about what you really care about. There are a lot of great talented people. We see a lot of portfolios. We look at a lot of work. The conversion happens when we find that someone is really interesting. At the end of the day, you want to be surrounded by interesting people with great stories to tell. Whether it’s about their background, their youth, their passion. Just think about what it is that the person on the other side would never know unless they had a conversation with you. Especially because we’re going to be in a virtual landscape. Don’t underestimate the way you articulate, the way you come through on screen. That’s going to be important. As an agency, we’re in the business of selling our vision. Talk about the things that are real and that you really care about. Make sure you put that forward in a way that people get and that they’re excited about. Ultimately, we’re only as good as the people we work with and it shows.  

DILLON — The Centura Health COO Breakfast kicked off this year in a virtual format on Thursday, which allowed ski areas to get creative in how they would present their annual spiels about the upcoming ski season. COOs at the local ski areas — Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Copper Mountain Resort, Keystone Resort and Loveland Ski Area — reflected on the last ski season, summer operations and shared more details about the upcoming season, which, unsurprisingly included a heavy emphasis on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated precautions.   St. Anthony Summit Medical Center Infection Prevention Manager Aaron Parmet discussed the health of the community and brought up the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Summit County.   “The good news is we still have the time and ability to keep that under control as a community and we can help as a health care system because we all want to have a happy, healthy community and a great ski season,” Parmet said.   Parmet noted that there have been a lot of visitors to the county this summer and that if the community can do things safely, the positive effects of visitors can be enjoyed without the negative effects of rising COVID-19 cases. He said that people are typically infected by the people they spend the most time around, as visitors tend to infect other visitors they are traveling with and locals tend to infect their friends, family and coworkers.   Arapahoe Basin   A-Basin COO Alan Henceroth kicked off the individual ski area updates, going over last season’s great year until the shutdown hit on March 14.   “Despite the challenges we ended up having a pretty good summer,” Henceroth said. “We reopened for skiing for a couple of weeks, our business operations went really well and we had a great capital season building a couple chairlifts. The biggest news of the summer was opening our aerial adventure park.”   After a summer full of projects, Henceroth noted that the new via ferrata course is expected to be ready for summer 2021. He said that as the ski season approaches, the top priority needs to be COVID-19 safety. Henceroth joked that A-Basin has been living in the dark ages but has finally built RFID gates for the 2020-21 season. Two lifts were replaced at the Basin: the Molly Hogan and the Pallavicini chairlifts. While new, the Pallavicini lift capacity was not expanded and remains a two-person chair. Henceroth said this is because the capacity of the lift is ideal for the terrain and the two-person chair fits with the ski area’s culture and vibe.   As ski areas are expected to limit the number of visitors on the mountain this year, Henceroth said A-Basin will do this by limiting the number of season and any day passes sold, which don’t require reservations and allowing a limited number of lift tickets to be purchased online and in advance only. In addition, Ikon passholders must make reservations online to visit the ski area. He noted that limitations will mostly impact the 20-30 busiest days of the season.   While food and beverage establishments will be open, the bars themselves will be closed and Henceroth encouraged people to bring their own lunches, particularly if concerned about going inside.   “Our real objective here is to keep people skiing. We want them to take advantage of the services they can, but we really want to keep them out there skiing, having a great time. I know we’re famous for some very social raucous apres ski type affairs but those are going to be on hold for a while,” Henceroth said.   Keystone and Breckenridge   Keystone General Manager Jody Churich and Breckenridge COO John Buhler led the Keystone and Breckenridge update in a TV news style report and finally addressed the elephant in the room from last year’s race to open. Churich, who came to the resort just prior to opening for the 2019-20 season, noted that the resort had recently invested in high-tech snow machines.   “Excitement was high as we were primed for our earliest opening in more than 20 years and to be the first resort open in North America when all of a sudden out of nowhere, in swooped A-Basin. Wow, what a bummer that was but congrats to Al and your team,” Churich said.   Buhler explained that summer operations amid the pandemic prepared the resorts for the winter ahead. Churich said the focus of the winter is safety, having a successful season from start to finish and prioritizing passholders. She noted there will be consistent protocols across Vail Resorts and that facial coverings will be required to access the mountains and in all parts of operations, including lift lines and while loading, riding and unloading lifts and gondolas. Churich also addressed the lack of a race to open this year.   “For us, this year it is about giving the resort a little more time to open with some more terrain and space for guests to spread out. Don’t worry though Al, We’ll be coming for you again soon,” Churich said.   Keystone and Breckenridge are the only Summit County resorts that will require a reservation for anyone looking to ski or snowboard on the mountain. To prioritize passholders, the resorts will give passholders exclusive early season access, as no lift tickets will be sold until Dec. 8. Passholders can request as many week-of reservations as availability and pass type allows for and can make up to seven reservations for priority days, which are Dec. 8 through April 4.   Churich said the majority of restaurants will be open with limited capacity, spaced seating and cashless transactions. Ready-to-go hot and cold food options will be available at quick serve restaurants and as bars will be closed, packaged beer and wine will be available at most locations.   On the sustainability side of things Buhler noted that the company is working with TerraCycle to bring picnic tables, chairs and a new terrain park feature made out of recycled snack and candy wrappers to the resorts.   Keystone will still offer night skiing, snow tubing, activities at the Nordic center and uphill access. Uphill access will follow the same rules as previous seasons, but guests should have a mask on hand at all times.   Copper Mountain   Copper Mountain President and General Manager Dustin Lyman also reflected on a successful season of summer activities as the resort opened a new tennis court and two new mountain biking trails and hosted Woodward summer camp and drive-in outdoor movies. Lyman talked about the new hotel that will open this season, Element 29, and said that a new restaurant, Sawmill Pizza and Taphouse, will also open this season.   Copper’s 22-foot superpipe and other terrain parks like Red’s Backyard, Woodward Mountain Park and Peace Park will also be available. As is the theme this year, Lyman said the resort will be managing volume, promoting physical distancing and requiring masks.   “We’ve decided to push back our opening date to Monday, Nov. 30, in an effort to avoid large crowds and invite guests to spread out with more terrain and lifts available,” Lyman said.   The resort will use a parking reservation system and is expanding takeaway dining and resortwide delivery service.   Loveland   Loveland’s presentation got to the point in a total of about five minutes — by comparison, Breckenridge and Keystone’s report was approximately 20 minutes. The ski area mainly let news clips and videos of Mayor Parker the snow dog. News clips highlighting the past year at Loveland were shown, including opening day, the Snowstang bus service, Lift 6 replacement, big snow dumps, Bandit the rescue dog in training, mountaintop matrimony and the closing of the ski area in March.   General Manager Rob Goodell emphasized that masks must be worn and worn correctly over the mouth and nose. Parker and other dogs at Loveland demonstrated proper health protocols in a video, including wearing facial coverings, staying home when sick, physical distancing as well as rules like no camping out this season, following floor directional decals and not leaving personal items in the cafeteria.   “Please help us spread the word for the expectations for everyone on what this season is going to look like,” Goodell urged.

The Craftory is investing $20 million into Dyper to support its expansion in the U.S. and amplify its impact. The Craftory is leading the round with existing investor HCAP also participating. An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used annually in the U.S., resulting in 3.4 million tons of used diapers added to landfills yearly. Scientists estimate a discarded disposable diaper containing plastic takes approximately 450 years to decompose. This makes diapers as environmentally dangerous as single use plastic bags with similar risks of micro plastics entering the environment, the company says.

Participants now can send their Ocean Spray Craisins dried cranberry products that are in flexible plastic packaging to TerraCycle, where the packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products, such as park benches and picnic tables. As an added incentive, for each shipment of Ocean Spray Craisins dried cranberries packaging sent to TerraCycle through the Ocean Spray Recycling Program, participants earn points that can be donated to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice.

With today's beauty consumer more environmentally conscious than ever, sourcing recyclable, reusable and overall sustainable packaging is no longer a luxury but a necessity for successful cosmetics and personal care brands. As beauty giants announce increasingly ambitious recycling targets, take steps to cut down their factory emissions and partner with eco-friendly refill initiatives such as TerraCycle's Loop, one increasingly popular shortcut to sustainability is monomaterial packaging.

The beauty industry, we know, needs to make significant strides toward a more sustainable future. We need to do this in all areas of the industry, from responsibly sourced ingredients that don't deplete our natural reserves to finding biodegradable formulas that don't harm our soil and waterways. One of the more obvious areas we have loads of room for improvement is packaging: Not only do we produce a significant amount of product (TerraCycle estimates there are 120 billion units of product produced each year), but much of what is produced is single-use plastic. Even if you do your best, much of what you toss in the blue bin likely still will end up in the landfill as beauty bottles are notoriously hard to properly recycle. That's a lot of beauty products that will end up cluttering our earth and oceans.

Ulta Beauty, the nation’s leading beauty retailer, launched Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty™ in all stores and on ulta.com this week. The first-of-its-kind, holistic initiative focuses on delivering transparency to inspire more informed, conscious product choices for guests, their loved ones and the environment. Ulta Beauty’s proprietary research shows an overwhelming 75% of consumers wish it were easier to know which products are truly clean while 63% of clean buyers state “safer for the planet” options are somewhat or very important1. Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty directly addresses these needs with established criteria to certify brands across five pillars, making it the most comprehensive program of its kind in the beauty industry.

Price Hanna Consultants LLC, a management consulting firm whose principals have specialized in the nonwoven products, absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) and related fields, worldwide, for more than 35 years, has published a new report which provides a comprehensive global analysis of the threats and opportunities faced by the AHP industry relating to issues of environmental sustainability. Upon studying the entire supply chain and product lifecycle of AHPs, the report evaluates how current developments in science and industry help the AHPs industry solve one, or both, of the two major problems facing the industry today in terms of sustainability: 1) plastics pollution in the oceans and 2) climate change. The report begins with a rigorous examination of the basic building blocks of AHPs, including the polymers and other raw materials from which key components are manufactured. An examination of the immense trove of research on the topic has produced findings about polymers and other raw materials most relevant to AHPs. The report navigates the scientific body of research and summarizes which industry early adopters are interacting and contributing to this research. Moreover, the report evaluates various directions of the relevant research and which developments show most promise for mitigating or eliminating the ongoing problems of plastics pollution in the oceans traceable to AHPs and the CO2 emissions that contribute most to climate change. Providing a detailed description and analysis of the status of technology developments in each level of the supply chain for AHPs, this report features individual sustainability profiles on more than 100 companies. Additionally, the report delivers strategic analysis, from the perspective of the AHPs industry, of a range of comprehensive approaches to sustainability that involve the social, industrial and government sectors. Included in the report are four in-depth case studies: 1) Circular Economy Design at Unicharm Corporation; 2) DYPER and TerraCycle’s “REDYPER” Program; 3) Procter & Gamble and the EU’s EMBRACED Project; and 4) Kimberly-Clark and the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance. Following these case studies, a market analysis of the growing consumer demand for more sustainable AHPs is presented. Capturing this demand is essential to any market growth strategy within the AHPs industry. Lastly, current global policy developments to curb marine plastic waste and climate change that may impact the AHPs industry are carefully examined and evaluated.