For the vast majority of shoe manufacturers, the sale is the end of the line. Once a pair of shoes is out the door and on the consumer’s feet, whatever happens next to those shoes is someone else’s concern. We know, however, this is not actually the final stop. Shoes may see a second useful life if someone receives them through a donation. But it’s far more likely that they’ll end up in a landfill, which wastes our resources and can lead to the production of harmful byproducts like greenhouse gases as materials decompose underground. Consider these sobering statistics:

• Textiles and clothing generate 17 percent of waste in landfills
• Shoes account for a quarter of textile waste but only about 10 percent of retail production
• We have more fiber in circulation now than we would need to clothe humanity

These are big problems, and they are the reason we started our direct-to-consumer shoe company, Thousand Fell. We make and sell shoes that combine a thoughtful, modern design with sustainably sourced materials such as aloe vera, sugar cane and recycled rubber. Our shoes are stylish, durable and comfortable. They also are recyclable, which is crucial to achieving our goal of eliminating textile waste.

“Our company is now seeing customers recycling shoes after about 10 months of ownership, and we expect to recycle roughly 3,000 pairs per quarter by 2021.”

Thousand Fell created a business model that enables and encourages customers to recycle their shoes. Our customers can return their used shoes to us at no charge, using a prepaid UPS shipping label. Once we receive the old pair, we send the customer $20 that they can apply to their next Thousand Fell order. The old sneakers will be broken down in the United States into their component parts to make recycled raw materials, which soon become a new pair of Thousand Fell shoes. Thousand Fell co-founders Stuart Ahlum, left, and Chloe Songer, right.

From dream to reality

The name Thousand Fell reflects our belief that multiple ideas and voices will spur positive change. Years ago, fellmongers brought hides, materials or “fell” to market. Our company aims to update that practice and create new fell. In time, we will have a Thousand Fell library of modern sustainable textiles. This is an enormous goal, but we believe we have a responsibility to advance and bolster a circular economy that eliminates waste. Our vision for Thousand Fell dates back about three years when we saw an opportunity to innovate in the footwear industry. We started experimenting with new materials to make shoes for fun. We both had professional backgrounds in the clothing retail business, and we had developed an interest in sustainable materials. We wanted to see if we could make shoes without leather, and we liked our results. Today, we make casual lace-up and slip-on shoes for customers who share our values and our commitment to empowering our communities. This connection between our brand and our customers is one of our greatest strengths. The customer loyalty we’ve earned amounts to a powerful marketing tool. Our company is now seeing customers recycling shoes after about 10 months of ownership, and we expect to recycle roughly 3,000 pairs per quarter by 2021.

“The benefit of working with UPS is not just its commitment to a circular economy but also its expertise in reverse logistics.”

Like-minded collaborators

From the start, we knew we had two problems to solve:

1. How to recycle a shoe
2. How to get the shoe back from our customers

We needed creative, like-minded collaborators to help us bring our vision to life. We found them in recycling company TerraCycle and UPS. TerraCycle ensures that our old shoes are sustainably recycled and diverted from landfills. UPS handles our complex shipping. The benefit of working with UPS is not just its commitment to a circular economy but also its expertise in reverse logistics. The UPS Store and UPS-authorized partners such as Staples have about 14,400 locations nationwide that serve as drop-off sites for customers returning Thousand Fell shoes. We are working with Ware2Go, a UPS company that provides on-demand warehousing and fulfillment. UPS’s efforts to minimize its carbon footprint also directly align with our values. Such collaborations help make Thousand Fell successful. TerraCycle and UPS enable us to operate on a large enough scale that we can reach and serve a broad base of customers. We can only derive the benefits of a circular economy if a lot of people participate. We know that Thousand Fell is in its early days. But we can see already that the future for our company and the circular economy is bright.

The Wardlaw+Hartridge School in Edison recently enhanced its virtual classroom experience with the installation of Owl 360° cameras in more than 50 classrooms. The Technology Department installed Owls in classrooms of all three divisions. According to the Owl website, “Any classroom becomes a hybrid classroom with the Meeting Owl, the smart conference camera that captures 360° video and audio for engaging distance learning. Powered by the Owl Intelligence System, the Meeting Owl automatically shifts the camera to focus on whoever is speaking. The result is an experience that nearly feels like sitting in the classroom.”  

Happi Staff11.06.20

East and West Amwell Schools

  West Amwell School and East Amwell Township School each won a new garden partially made from recycled oral care waste through this year’s Save Water Challenge, courtesy of global oral care leader Colgate-Palmolive (“Colgate”), regional retailer ShopRite and recycling leader TerraCycle.   "We look forward to engaging all our Kindergarten through Grade 6 students in this outdoor learning experience and using the new instructional outdoor space,” said West Amwell School Principal David Miller. “West Amwell School has a small and strong school community who's beauty will only be enhanced by this award."   West Amwell School earned a total of 1,528 pledges through online pledging to save water on its behalf while East Amwell Township School earned a total of 390 pledges. As the first-place overall winner, West Amwell School is eligible to receive a garden donation partially made from recycled material including 48 pieces of garden lumber, one picnic table, one gazebo, and one flat bench valued at $15,000.   "West Amwell school is grateful to Colgate and ShopRite for such an awesome opportunity for our students. The winning effort involved the entire community — from staff, parents, and students, and community social media support,” said West Amwell School PTO President Michael Strouse. “Our school is forming a committee of parents and teachers to maximize learning potential of the prize.”   As the third-place overall winner, East Amwell Township School is eligible to receive a garden donation made partially from recycled material that includes 48 pieces of garden lumber and two flat benches valued at $5,000. All built using recycled toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers collected through the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program, the gardens will be unveiled at ceremonies next spring.   “East Amwell Township’s Community Members and students are always willing to help the school and the environment; whether it be by voting or recycling materials. The community support is what makes our school so great! With the winning of garden materials and benches, our students will be able to utilize outdoor space and observe nature,” said 5th Grade Teacher/Environmental Club Advisor, Sharon Ernst. “Getting outside, taking a breath of fresh air, and being mindful of our surroundings is imperative, especially with the challenges everyone has faced this year.”   The third annual Save Water Challenge launched July 5, 2020 among schools throughout NY, NJ, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland that participate in the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program.   “I’m pleased to congratulate the students, parents and faculty of both West Amwell School and East Amwell Township School on winning first and third place respectively in the 2020 Save Water Challenge,” said Tom Szaky, founder & CEO of TerraCycle. “A prize garden made from the same materials they worked to collect is a great reminder of what can be accomplished through teamwork and a commitment to sustainability.”   The Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program is an ongoing activity, open to any individual, family, school or community group. For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants earn money toward donations to the school or charity of their choice. To learn more about the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program, visit www.terracycle.com.   A full set of rules for the 2020 Save Water Challenge can be viewed at https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/colgateshopritegarden2020. 

PROVIDENCE R.I. (WLNE) – As winter approaches, boat owners are once again pulling their boats out of the water until spring. Max Kraimer with Clean Ocean Access says, “In Rhode Island right now there’s about 40,000 boats registered.” Part of the winterization process includes wrapping boats with plastic shrink wrap, a lot of it. Kraimer says, “Those 40,000 boats are using close to around 600,000 pounds of material every year.” Dave McLaughlin with Clean Ocean Access says, “Certainly having a reusable material is the preferred choice.  Having something that has convenience that you recycle, and you use it again for the same utility, is what we’re striving to do.” Recycling programs have been around for a while, but those programs were sending plastic overseas to be recycled.  Back in 2017, that changed when China stopped accepting plastic for recycling.  That’s where Clean Ocean Access comes in with their new recycling program. Kraimer says, “So now with our project, we’re looking to find new avenues to actually recycle it, in which we’re working with TerraCycle in New Jersey.” For now, the shrink wrap is being turned into other plastic products, like garbage bags.  Clean Ocean Access would like to see it come full circle, finding a manufacturer who will make new shrink wrap from the recycled plastic. Kraimer says, “What we really want to dive into in this project is ask and answer the questions of why plastic wrap and plastic shrink wrap that is used is not being made out of post consumer recycled resin.” This year, they sent 40,000 pounds of plastic to be recycled.  They’re hoping to scale up in the future so more boat owners and marinas can participate. (Edit for clarity: The 40,000 pounds of plastic in the last line of this article refers only to shrink wrap that originated from the Rhode Island marine industry.  The project also helps to collect plastic shrink wrap for recycling from the Massachusetts marine industry and the Rhode Island agriculture industry.  All combined, the program has collected, and sent for recycling, a total of more than 140,000 pounds of plastic shrink wrap.) © WLNE-TV / ABC6 2020  

Sustainability has become a driving force for brands to keep up with consumer values this year, and many have pushed themselves to make massive strides in a short amount of time. On Friday, mass hair care brand Eva NYC launched a partnership with TerraCycle, with a website relaunch Thursday designed to promote the brand’s ongoing sustainability initiatives. Those plans include moving to 100% recyclable packaging and green energy in the brand’s two New Jersey warehouses by 2021, then switching to a mix of post-consumer recycled plastic and non-plastics in 2022, and achieving B-Corp certification by 2024, among other goals. Overall, Eva NYC has invested $2.9 million in sustainability to date, starting in 2018, with another $2 million planned in the next two years as part of its goal to receive B-Corp certification.

Individual coffee pods and capsules are convenient but have come under increased scrutiny due to their disposable nature, so Illycaffè and TerraCycle have partnered to create a new coffee capsule recycling program to help change this. The program has been launched in the UK, France, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands and Belgium, and will allow consumers to send in their used pods for recycling or drop them off at a designated location. The capsules will be recycled into construction materials or even outdoor furniture, while the coffee ground will be sent to a composting plant. CEO of Illycaffè Massimiliano Pogliani explained more on the coffee capsule recycling program partnership saying, "We want to offer our customers the opportunity of making a cup of espresso at home using environmentally friendly capsules. For this reason, together with TerraCycle, we developed a circular economy programme that allows us to collect and give new life to both plastic and aluminum capsules, without any additional costs or hassle for consumers; we will take care of the entire process together with our partner.” Image Credit: Illy

The startup shoe retailer, Thousand Fell, has a line of classic white lace-up and slip-on shoes. Based in New York City, the company was launched by Founders Chloe Songer and Stuart Ahlum last year. But, the brand isn’t just a regular sneaker company. It’s a full-circle economy shoe company that’s creating zero-waste footwear. According to the company’s website, about 2.4 billion pairs of shoes are sold in the U.S. every year. As many as 97 percent of all shoes will end up in a landfill each year. It takes leather soles about 40 years to decompose in the landfill, and rubber soles take twice as long to decompose. Thousand Fell recognizes that waste is a huge environmental issue and wants to be a part of the solution with its biodegradable footwear line. The company’s shoes are all made with materials that can either be “biodegraded, recycled to make new shoes, or upcycled into materials for new projects.” The company uses items like recycled rubbers and bottles to make soles, leather-like uppers, and next generation laces. Other ingredients such as aloe vera, coconut husks, and sugar cane are also used to offer a soft-touch feel, stability, support, and comfort. Thousand Fell’s mission is to be sustainable and to never send another sneaker to the landfill. And to get there, it’s incentivizing its customers to recycle their purchased products. When you’ve worn out your shoes, or simply don’t want them anymore, you can return your shoes to Thousand Fell at no cost. “Thousand Fell owns the material feeds and covers the cost of recycling, as well as the resale or reintegration of recycled material back into new shoes and the issuance of the $20 recycling cash that is sent back to the consumer once they recycle,” wrote Ahlum in an email to TechCrunch. In partnership with TerraCycle, customers can easily recycle their purchased products through the company’s “Thousand Fell Recycling Program”. All you have to do is place your shoes in any box you have. You create an account, request a prepaid UPS shipping label, print it, and affix it to the box. Then, you can mail them via UPS. Once your shoes are scanned for return, you’ll receive $20 that can be applied to your next Thousand Fell order. When the company receives the shoes, they are catalogued, sorted, and broken down to be used to make raw recycled materials “We create sneakers with a life cycle you can follow—and feel good about,” the company’s website states. By taking a step forward to create a zero-waste product that can be used and reused to create a new one, Thousand Fell is going full-circle and doing just that.

TerraCycle’s milkman-like delivery model, Loop, expands online and at brick-and-mortar locations. Kate Bertrand Connolly 1 | Nov 04, 2020 Following a successful pilot program that started in 2019, the Loop circular shopping platform from TerraCycle has expanded its online operation to provide an unlimited number of US consumers from coast to coast with home delivery of products packed in reusable packaging, as well as pickup of the empty packages. Loop also made its brick-and-mortar debut recently, in France. “Carrefour just brought Loop into its first store,” says Eric Rosen, publicist, US public relations, for Loop/TerraCycle. “We anticipate Loop being in-store in other retailers in 2021.” Carrefour’s online Loop service launched in Paris last year. Following a successful pilot program that started in 2019, the Loop circular shopping platform from TerraCycle has expanded its online operation to provide an unlimited number of US consumers from coast to coast with home delivery of products packed in reusable packaging, as well as pickup of the empty packages. Loop also made its brick-and-mortar debut recently, in France. “Carrefour just brought Loop into its first store,” says Eric Rosen, publicist, US public relations, for Loop/TerraCycle. “We anticipate Loop being in-store in other retailers in 2021.” Carrefour’s online Loop service launched in Paris last year. In the United States, consumers will find Loop products at Kroger stores starting in 2021. Also in North America, Burger King and Tim Hortons restaurants plan to launch Loop pilot projects next year. Loop’s online scale-up coincides with an explosion in internet shopping and home delivery fueled by the COVID-19 virus, though it’s also a natural next step considering the success of the pilot program. More than 100,000 people have signed up for the service to date. With the online version of Loop, consumers buy products that have been filled into reusable packaging made, for example, of metal or glass. They then return the empty packages to Loop, which cleans the packages for refilling by Loop’s brand partners. Loop packs consumer orders into reusable totes for delivery, and consumers return the empty packaging to Loop using the same totes. Loop products are packed and shipped from the company’s New Jersey warehouse to all US ZIP codes. (Frozen products are only shipped to locations where delivery can be made within 24 hours.) The platform launched in 2019 as a pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic United States and Paris, France. In July 2020, Loop launched online in the United Kingdom, working in partnership with retailer Tesco. A Canadian online launch is planned for Toronto in February 2021. Loop has expanded rapidly vis-à-vis brand partners and product selection, now offering more than 80 brands and 400 products in the United States and Europe. Product categories include grocery, beauty, health and personal care, and household essentials. Brand owners range from giants like Nestlé and Procter & Gamble to start-ups like Soapply. Next year will be an important one for Loop in brick-and-mortar restaurants and stores. Burger King plans to start a pilot Loop program in 2021 that will offer eat-in and to-go customers sandwiches and drinks packed in returnable, reusable food containers and cups. Consumers who choose the reusable packaging will pay a deposit when they place their order and get the deposit back after returning the packaging to Burger King. The pilot will start in select Burger King restaurants in New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Tokyo, with additional cities to join in the months that follow. Canada’s Tim Hortons quick-service restaurant chain has announced a similar Loop pilot. The program will start in 2021 at select Tim Hortons restaurants in Toronto. Also starting next year, US consumers will be able to visit Loop in-store at select Kroger locations. The plan for Loop in brick-and-mortar stores is not only to sell Loop products but also to collect the empty packaging for cleaning and reuse. Loop publicist Rosen discusses the program’s burgeoning expansion, both online and in-store, in this exclusive Packaging Digest Q&A. How many brick-and-mortar retailers in the United States will be selling Loop products in 2021? Is this a channel Loop is interested in exploring further? What have consumers said about their willingness (or not) to take empty packages back to a physical store? Rosen: As of now, in the United States, there will be one brick-and-mortar retailer, Kroger, selling Loop products in-store in 2021. There are, however, many retailers who are and will be integrating Loop into their ecommerce platforms. Yes, [in-store] is a channel Loop is pursuing and will continue to pursue. In fact, Loop just opened in its first brick-and-mortar retailer — Carrefour in France. As for consumers’ willingness to take empties back to a physical store, while we haven’t surveyed consumers, we believe returning empty packaging will be embraced. When will Loop be expanding into additional markets in Europe and Asia, either online or via brick-and-mortar stores? Rosen: Loop will be launching in Canada, Australia, and Japan in 2021. We will continue to seek opportunities to launch in other countries and will be announcing more as we solidify plans. How will Loop, brand owners, and/or retailers educate consumers about how in-store Loop works and its benefits? Rosen: Loop, brand owners, and retailers educate consumers through websites, social media, and earned media placements in outlets worldwide.

Now that the Loop program is national in the United States, how many locations are cleaning the empty, returned packages?

Rosen: In the United States, the cleaning facility is in Pennsylvania. We will be adding facilities as we scale.

What, if anything, has changed in the logistics of the Loop program (outgoing and incoming packages)? What, if anything, has changed with the lifecycle analysis of the packages sold in the Loop program because of the additional distances?

Rosen: Nothing has changed in the logistics. Based on Loop’s third-party lifecycle analysis, creating a durable (or “reusable”) container uses more energy and resources than creating a disposable (or “single-use”) container. However, over time, the reusable container has a lower environmental and economic cost, as it does not need to be remanufactured on every use. Instead, it is transported and cleaned, which is a much lower environmental cost. According to Loop, the efficiency of a reusable package in Loop is even more evident as consumers participate repeatedly. After two to three uses of the packaging, the environmental impact is breakeven. By 10 uses, there is a more than 35% reduction in environmental impacts.

Are all products still being shipped to consumers from Loop’s New Jersey warehouse? Is that still the plan moving forward, to have just one warehouse?

Rosen: Loop’s New Jersey warehouse ships all products in the United States. As we scale, we intend to have additional warehousing in other parts of the country. The Loop warehouse in France is in Lille, and the one in the United Kingdom is in Crick.

How well are the durable packages holding up to use, cleaning, and reuse? Are the brands getting the number of uses they hoped they would?

Rosen: The durable packaging is holding up well as it goes through Loop cycles. I can’t comment on the brands, and what their expectations were/are.

Is UPS still Loop’s only partner for deliveries/pickups? Are there any plans for additional delivery services to be involved, especially as volumes and delivery areas are growing?

Rosen: Yes, Loop’s US logistics partner is UPS. In France, it’s Colisweb, and in the UK, it’s DPD. There are no plans for additional delivery services to be involved.

The allergen warning on the Loop website states: “Please note that the Loop Tote is packed in a facility that may have handled wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, and soy, and may contain traces of the same. If you or someone in your family has a serious food allergy, Loop may not be for you.” Are there any plans to address this, so people can safely order Loop products without worry from allergens?

Rosen: There are no current plans to address this.

Who designs the Loop packages?

Rosen: Each brand partner is responsible for the design of its packaging. All packaging must be approved by Loop.

What is the size range of Loop packages?

Rosen: The smallest container is 20 ml (less than an ounce) for Tea Tree Oil from The Body Shop. The biggest package is an 8-lb container for kitty litter from Purina.

How have consumers reacted to Loop since its launch last year?

Rosen: We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to Loop since its launch. In fact, meeting consumer demand is what led to the rapid expansion — from 10 states to every ZIP code in the contiguous 48 states. We have more than 100,000 sign-ups, and that continues to grow.