Today, Gillette released new data revealing that more than half of men globally (59 percent) are more engaged in sustainability efforts as a result of COVID-19. “Gillette’s mission is to provide men with the best possible grooming products in a way that also protects the future of the world around us,” said Alessandra Dolfini, Global SVP at Gillette. “The new data reveals that this unprecedented time has deepened men’s commitment to preserving the planet for the next generation — and through Gillette’s ongoing sustainability journey, we hope to make a positive difference today, tomorrow and long into the future.” Gillette has long positioned itself as a brand that understands and empowers men — as exemplified by its long-running tagline, “The best a man can get.” The brand faced widespread backlash in 2019, however, when its “We Believe” ad called out a range of negative behaviors associated with toxic masculinity and asked, “Is this the best a man can get?” But who remembers that in a year like this? Once again, COVID proves to be a great unifier — apparently helping to shift men’s attitudes around the value of preserving our resources for the future. The global survey, conducted in 11 countries, revealed that more than half (54 percent) of men aged 18-50 care about sustainability now more than ever — with leading drivers being long-term considerations:

• Most consider sustainability to be more important to future generations (66 percent) rather than people today (34 percent), their own personal future (64 percent) rather than their life right now (36 percent), and the global economy (69 percent) rather than their community’s businesses (31 percent).
• Men prioritize advancing environmental issues with more visible outcomes — including access to clean water, ocean conservation, recycling and wildlife protection; over less tangible challenges, such as reducing carbon footprints and supply chain efficiency. In addition, more than half of men (58 percent) say plastic waste in the environment is a very important issue to them.

Additionally, the survey revealed that 95 percent of men have made at least one sustainable lifestyle change in the past five years — including adopting reusable bags, recycling and composting regularly, and reusing products. Since the start of COVID-19, men have focused most on reducing food waste. The survey showed that men are most likely to take sustainable actions because it feels like they are doing the right thing (50 percen fot), followed by a need to set a good example for others (41 percent). Read more results from the survey here. Also today, Gillette — whose sustainability efforts are summed up by the tagline, “Bringing out the best in the world around us,” also announced its 2030 sustainability action plan. As part of Gillette’s Sustainability Goals, the company expects 100 percent of packaging to be recyclable by 2030 with siginificant progress made in 2023. Gillette plans to roll out new products with 100 percent recyclable packaging and use PCR in its razor handles and packaging within the coming year. Gillette also committed to new goals on finding energy, water and material use efficiencies through the entire lifecycle of products — all while continuing to offer built-to-last products made with safe materials and ingredients. Gillette’s Sustainability 2030 Goals include:

• Use 100 percent renewable electricity
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions for manufacturing by 50 percent
• Reduce water consumption per production by 35 percent and reduce absolute virgin plastic by 50 percent
• Provide 100 percent transparency about its ingredients
• Responsibly source animal-, plant- and mineral-derived materials, backed by supporting credentials (e.g. FSC)
• Maintain zero waste to landfill status across its global network of plants
• Use 100 percent recyclable packaging by 2030 with significant progress made by 2023. In Addition, the company will increase post-consumer recycled content in its offerings
• Inspire men to feel empowered and confident in all aspects of their lives, and continually work to drive change so that all men can look, feel and be their best.

Gillette also shared an update on its environmental progress over the past decade — including reducing energy use across its operations (enough to power 17 million homes) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent. In 2019, Gillette also launched the world’s first national razor recycling program in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand in partnership with TerraCycle, providing consumers a way to recycle any brand of used razor handle, blade or packaging.   Read more about Gillette’s Sustainability 2030 goals and its progress to date here

West Amwell School and East Amwell Township School have each won a new garden partially made from recycled oral care waste through this year's Save Water Challenge, according to a release. The challenge is done through Colgate-Palmolive, ShopRite and recycling leader TerraCycle. To participate, students, teachers and community members were asked to take the pledge to save water on behalf of their school.

With the international spread of Covid-19, the global use of face masks or personal protective equipment (PPE) seems set to continue to increase. But keeping ourselves safe should not be at the cost of the planet. Organizations are developing new solutions to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Waste management company TerraCycle has Zero Waste Boxes to collect and recycle PPE, face masks and disposable gloves, explained Julia Chevalier, PR Manager at TerraCycle Europe.

Stress is the greatest enemy of a clear face. But to tell someone “Don’t stress! :)” in 2020 borders on offensive. We are living through a global pandemic, approaching a presidential election on which much of the future rests, undergoing significant upheaval of our personal and professional lives, and, oh, capping off one of the worst hurricane and fire seasons in recent memory. Combine that witch’s brew of latent stress with the need to wear some not-very-breathable fabric on your face whenever you leave your house, and you have quite the zit recipe.   Even though we are all tired, I feel I must, however briefly, acknowledge some of the issues that might lie beneath the surface of your request. I don’t have the time, space, or emotional wherewithal to fully revisit the Vassar women’s studies seminar I took in 2007, but suffice it to say I sincerely hope your quest for better skin is more rooted in self-care than self-consciousness. I know that when I look in the mirror and discover yet another ominous red lump looming up on my jawbone, I feel very down. Is that me channeling my inner goddess or the patriarchy?

This year’s Council on Professional Issues is proud to host a three-part blog series on clinic, personal and environmental sustainability, as we celebrate October as Campus Sustainability Month. We encourage dental students everywhere to consider their long-term impact in both personal and professional spaces. Dentistry holds unique challenges when it comes to eco-friendly operations, due to constant biohazard and contamination risks. This is especially true in schools across the nation, where plastic barriers, dental suction tips and countless single-use plastics must be disposed of between patients in close contact. Given our practice reality, the Council on Professional Issues has created a printable PDF flier to help spark ideas for clinic sustainability in dental schools.

  During a precarious time for small retail bricks and mortar stores, Koru Eco Brand’s business model takes a different approach to the use of retail space. COCOA BEACH, FL, October 23, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ — Koru Eco Brand opened its’ flagship store in downtown Cocoa Beach, Florida. One of the first retail stores of its kind in the area, Koru Eco Brand offers its own sustainable swimwear, apparel, accessories and home goods along with other sustainable lifestyle brands. In one of the most precarious times for a retail company to open a bricks and mortar, Founder and CEO of Koru Eco Brand, Julie Stine, decided to take advantage of a particular retail space that could also offer warehousing for online shipping and a production area for its products. In 2012, when the company first entered the market, it was primarily a high-end sustainable swimwear brand called Koru Swimwear. As the company grew, it expanded into eco-friendly apparel and accessories in addition to selling its swimwear. “Our mission to be a sustainable swimwear and apparel brand grew to be more of a lifestyle brand with added beauty and home products, so we decided to rename the company from Koru Swimwear to Koru Eco Brand. It made more sense to do that with the expansion of our products,” stated Julie Stine, Koru Swimwear and Koru Eco Brand Founder and CEO. She continued, “We really feel it’s important to incorporate education in our ads and in our store so people can understand the importance of making conscious purchases that have a lighter footprint on our earth. We depend on our earth to provide us with a healthy environment for our survival, so it’s important we take care of it.” Koru Eco Brand store offers shoppers eco-friendly products, but also has started a partnership with TerraCycle to provide recycling programs to the local community. The first recycling program available is the Brita recycling program where you can bring your Brita filters and Brita pitchers into the store for recycling and receive a dollar off your purchase for each Brita product brought to the store for recycling. “We plan on expanding our recycling program to other types of recyclables including Styrofoam and cigarette butts that can be recycled into plastic products. Those are just to name a few,” Julie stated. Koru Eco Brand flagship store, debuting just since September of 2020, opened its doors during one of the most difficult times for small bricks and mortar retails stores. Julie Stine explains why this time was chosen to open and how the store is navigating during this pandemic. “We understood that opening a physical store during, not only a slow time of the year, but in the middle of a pandemic, was not what most businesses would gamble on. Our approach was a little different when moving into this space. We felt the retail portion of the business was just icing on the cake. Not only is the location in downtown Cocoa Beach a high foot traffic location, it’s helping to expose our brand to more people with our signage. The business model was not just to rely on walk-through store sales, it was to be a place to offer the community sustainable education and also a hub for warehousing our products, shipping out online orders, and a place for product production.” She goes on to say how the store is handling in-store patrons during this time, “We do request patrons wear masks in our store and only allow up to six patrons at a time in the store. We also are giving away hand sanitizers to all visiting patrons to help reduce any risks. We are hopeful things will make a big turn in a positive direction for retail and other industries suffering when this virus can be successfully prevented and treated, but only time will tell. Right now, we can all only do our best to help reduce the spread by taking the proper precautions.” ABOUT KORU SWIMWEAR / KORU ECO BRAND Koru is the New Zealand Maori word for “spiral” and is symbolic for new life, hope, spiritual growth, purity, and peace. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand is inspired by the Kiwi lifestyle, best described as a relaxed attitude with a love of the environment and great outdoors. Founder, Julie Stine, wanted to share her Kiwi heritage with others around the world by epitomizing the active Kiwi lifestyle into earth-friendly swimwear and apparel that offers environmentally conscious women a combination of fashion and function. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand aspires to be a leader in eco-responsible manufacturing practices by using only sustainable fabrics and materials. In addition, it’s important to work with like-minded companies and be as transparent as possible. “We extend our environmental approach into everything we do, from using recycled paper hangtags, to packaging our swimwear in compostable clear bags made from plant materials. It’s important that if we’re going to talk the talk, we must walk the walk,” Julie stated.

During a precarious time for small retail bricks and mortar stores, Koru Eco Brand’s business model takes a different approach to the use of retail space. COCOA BEACH, FL, October 23, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ — Koru Eco Brand opened its’ flagship store in downtown Cocoa Beach, Florida. One of the first retail stores of its kind in the area, Koru Eco Brand offers its own sustainable swimwear, apparel, accessories and home goods along with other sustainable lifestyle brands. In one of the most precarious times for a retail company to open a bricks and mortar, Founder and CEO of Koru Eco Brand, Julie Stine, decided to take advantage of a particular retail space that could also offer warehousing for online shipping and a production area for its products. In 2012, when the company first entered the market, it was primarily a high-end sustainable swimwear brand called Koru Swimwear. As the company grew, it expanded into eco-friendly apparel and accessories in addition to selling its swimwear. “Our mission to be a sustainable swimwear and apparel brand grew to be more of a lifestyle brand with added beauty and home products, so we decided to rename the company from Koru Swimwear to Koru Eco Brand. It made more sense to do that with the expansion of our products,” stated Julie Stine, Koru Swimwear and Koru Eco Brand Founder and CEO. She continued, “We really feel it’s important to incorporate education in our ads and in our store so people can understand the importance of making conscious purchases that have a lighter footprint on our earth. We depend on our earth to provide us with a healthy environment for our survival, so it’s important we take care of it.” Koru Eco Brand store offers shoppers eco-friendly products, but also has started a partnership with TerraCycle to provide recycling programs to the local community. The first recycling program available is the Brita recycling program where you can bring your Brita filters and Brita pitchers into the store for recycling and receive a dollar off your purchase for each Brita product brought to the store for recycling. “We plan on expanding our recycling program to other types of recyclables including Styrofoam and cigarette butts that can be recycled into plastic products. Those are just to name a few,” Julie stated. Koru Eco Brand flagship store, debuting just since September of 2020, opened its doors during one of the most difficult times for small bricks and mortar retails stores. Julie Stine explains why this time was chosen to open and how the store is navigating during this pandemic. “We understood that opening a physical store during, not only a slow time of the year, but in the middle of a pandemic, was not what most businesses would gamble on. Our approach was a little different when moving into this space. We felt the retail portion of the business was just icing on the cake. Not only is the location in downtown Cocoa Beach a high foot traffic location, it’s helping to expose our brand to more people with our signage. The business model was not just to rely on walk-through store sales, it was to be a place to offer the community sustainable education and also a hub for warehousing our products, shipping out online orders, and a place for product production.” She goes on to say how the store is handling in-store patrons during this time, “We do request patrons wear masks in our store and only allow up to six patrons at a time in the store. We also are giving away hand sanitizers to all visiting patrons to help reduce any risks. We are hopeful things will make a big turn in a positive direction for retail and other industries suffering when this virus can be successfully prevented and treated, but only time will tell. Right now, we can all only do our best to help reduce the spread by taking the proper precautions.” ABOUT KORU SWIMWEAR / KORU ECO BRAND Koru is the New Zealand Maori word for “spiral” and is symbolic for new life, hope, spiritual growth, purity, and peace. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand is inspired by the Kiwi lifestyle, best described as a relaxed attitude with a love of the environment and great outdoors. Founder, Julie Stine, wanted to share her Kiwi heritage with others around the world by epitomizing the active Kiwi lifestyle into earth-friendly swimwear and apparel that offers environmentally conscious women a combination of fashion and function. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand aspires to be a leader in eco-responsible manufacturing practices by using only sustainable fabrics and materials. In addition, it’s important to work with like-minded companies and be as transparent as possible. “We extend our environmental approach into everything we do, from using recycled paper hangtags, to packaging our swimwear in compostable clear bags made from plant materials. It’s important that if we’re going to talk the talk, we must walk the walk,” Julie stated.

During a precarious time for small retail bricks and mortar stores, Koru Eco Brand’s business model takes a different approach to the use of retail space. COCOA BEACH, FL, October 23, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ — Koru Eco Brand opened its’ flagship store in downtown Cocoa Beach, Florida. One of the first retail stores of its kind in the area, Koru Eco Brand offers its own sustainable swimwear, apparel, accessories and home goods along with other sustainable lifestyle brands. In one of the most precarious times for a retail company to open a bricks and mortar, Founder and CEO of Koru Eco Brand, Julie Stine, decided to take advantage of a particular retail space that could also offer warehousing for online shipping and a production area for its products. In 2012, when the company first entered the market, it was primarily a high-end sustainable swimwear brand called Koru Swimwear. As the company grew, it expanded into eco-friendly apparel and accessories in addition to selling its swimwear. “Our mission to be a sustainable swimwear and apparel brand grew to be more of a lifestyle brand with added beauty and home products, so we decided to rename the company from Koru Swimwear to Koru Eco Brand. It made more sense to do that with the expansion of our products,” stated Julie Stine, Koru Swimwear and Koru Eco Brand Founder and CEO. She continued, “We really feel it’s important to incorporate education in our ads and in our store so people can understand the importance of making conscious purchases that have a lighter footprint on our earth. We depend on our earth to provide us with a healthy environment for our survival, so it’s important we take care of it.” Koru Eco Brand store offers shoppers eco-friendly products, but also has started a partnership with TerraCycle to provide recycling programs to the local community. The first recycling program available is the Brita recycling program where you can bring your Brita filters and Brita pitchers into the store for recycling and receive a dollar off your purchase for each Brita product brought to the store for recycling. “We plan on expanding our recycling program to other types of recyclables including Styrofoam and cigarette butts that can be recycled into plastic products. Those are just to name a few,” Julie stated. Koru Eco Brand flagship store, debuting just since September of 2020, opened its doors during one of the most difficult times for small bricks and mortar retails stores. Julie Stine explains why this time was chosen to open and how the store is navigating during this pandemic. “We understood that opening a physical store during, not only a slow time of the year, but in the middle of a pandemic, was not what most businesses would gamble on. Our approach was a little different when moving into this space. We felt the retail portion of the business was just icing on the cake. Not only is the location in downtown Cocoa Beach a high foot traffic location, it’s helping to expose our brand to more people with our signage. The business model was not just to rely on walk-through store sales, it was to be a place to offer the community sustainable education and also a hub for warehousing our products, shipping out online orders, and a place for product production.” She goes on to say how the store is handling in-store patrons during this time, “We do request patrons wear masks in our store and only allow up to six patrons at a time in the store. We also are giving away hand sanitizers to all visiting patrons to help reduce any risks. We are hopeful things will make a big turn in a positive direction for retail and other industries suffering when this virus can be successfully prevented and treated, but only time will tell. Right now, we can all only do our best to help reduce the spread by taking the proper precautions.” ABOUT KORU SWIMWEAR / KORU ECO BRAND Koru is the New Zealand Maori word for “spiral” and is symbolic for new life, hope, spiritual growth, purity, and peace. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand is inspired by the Kiwi lifestyle, best described as a relaxed attitude with a love of the environment and great outdoors. Founder, Julie Stine, wanted to share her Kiwi heritage with others around the world by epitomizing the active Kiwi lifestyle into earth-friendly swimwear and apparel that offers environmentally conscious women a combination of fashion and function. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand aspires to be a leader in eco-responsible manufacturing practices by using only sustainable fabrics and materials. In addition, it’s important to work with like-minded companies and be as transparent as possible. “We extend our environmental approach into everything we do, from using recycled paper hangtags, to packaging our swimwear in compostable clear bags made from plant materials. It’s important that if we’re going to talk the talk, we must walk the walk,” Julie stated.

During a precarious time for small retail bricks and mortar stores, Koru Eco Brand’s business model takes a different approach to the use of retail space. COCOA BEACH, FL, October 23, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ — Koru Eco Brand opened its’ flagship store in downtown Cocoa Beach, Florida. One of the first retail stores of its kind in the area, Koru Eco Brand offers its own sustainable swimwear, apparel, accessories and home goods along with other sustainable lifestyle brands. In one of the most precarious times for a retail company to open a bricks and mortar, Founder and CEO of Koru Eco Brand, Julie Stine, decided to take advantage of a particular retail space that could also offer warehousing for online shipping and a production area for its products. In 2012, when the company first entered the market, it was primarily a high-end sustainable swimwear brand called Koru Swimwear. As the company grew, it expanded into eco-friendly apparel and accessories in addition to selling its swimwear. “Our mission to be a sustainable swimwear and apparel brand grew to be more of a lifestyle brand with added beauty and home products, so we decided to rename the company from Koru Swimwear to Koru Eco Brand. It made more sense to do that with the expansion of our products,” stated Julie Stine, Koru Swimwear and Koru Eco Brand Founder and CEO. She continued, “We really feel it’s important to incorporate education in our ads and in our store so people can understand the importance of making conscious purchases that have a lighter footprint on our earth. We depend on our earth to provide us with a healthy environment for our survival, so it’s important we take care of it.” Koru Eco Brand store offers shoppers eco-friendly products, but also has started a partnership with TerraCycle to provide recycling programs to the local community. The first recycling program available is the Brita recycling program where you can bring your Brita filters and Brita pitchers into the store for recycling and receive a dollar off your purchase for each Brita product brought to the store for recycling. “We plan on expanding our recycling program to other types of recyclables including Styrofoam and cigarette butts that can be recycled into plastic products. Those are just to name a few,” Julie stated. Koru Eco Brand flagship store, debuting just since September of 2020, opened its doors during one of the most difficult times for small bricks and mortar retails stores. Julie Stine explains why this time was chosen to open and how the store is navigating during this pandemic. “We understood that opening a physical store during, not only a slow time of the year, but in the middle of a pandemic, was not what most businesses would gamble on. Our approach was a little different when moving into this space. We felt the retail portion of the business was just icing on the cake. Not only is the location in downtown Cocoa Beach a high foot traffic location, it’s helping to expose our brand to more people with our signage. The business model was not just to rely on walk-through store sales, it was to be a place to offer the community sustainable education and also a hub for warehousing our products, shipping out online orders, and a place for product production.” She goes on to say how the store is handling in-store patrons during this time, “We do request patrons wear masks in our store and only allow up to six patrons at a time in the store. We also are giving away hand sanitizers to all visiting patrons to help reduce any risks. We are hopeful things will make a big turn in a positive direction for retail and other industries suffering when this virus can be successfully prevented and treated, but only time will tell. Right now, we can all only do our best to help reduce the spread by taking the proper precautions.” ABOUT KORU SWIMWEAR / KORU ECO BRAND Koru is the New Zealand Maori word for “spiral” and is symbolic for new life, hope, spiritual growth, purity, and peace. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand is inspired by the Kiwi lifestyle, best described as a relaxed attitude with a love of the environment and great outdoors. Founder, Julie Stine, wanted to share her Kiwi heritage with others around the world by epitomizing the active Kiwi lifestyle into earth-friendly swimwear and apparel that offers environmentally conscious women a combination of fashion and function. Koru Swimwear / Koru Eco Brand aspires to be a leader in eco-responsible manufacturing practices by using only sustainable fabrics and materials. In addition, it’s important to work with like-minded companies and be as transparent as possible. “We extend our environmental approach into everything we do, from using recycled paper hangtags, to packaging our swimwear in compostable clear bags made from plant materials. It’s important that if we’re going to talk the talk, we must walk the walk,” Julie stated.