By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.  

The Coronavirus pandemic is creating a growing waste crisis even as we see images of the earth’s environment clearing from less pollution. A few months into the crisis, and the numbers are staggering. Kim Overstreet Jun 29th, 2020 According to a June 22 article by The Economist, the U.S. consumption of single-use plastic may have grown by 250-300% since the beginning of the pandemic. Consider these numbers: Grand View Research projects the global disposable-mask market will grow from an estimated $800M in 2019 to $166B in 2020; Amazon had approximately 2.5 billion customers visit in March alone, an increase of 65% from 2019; Uber Eats first-quarter sales were up 54% from 2019; and, more than 25% of China’s physical goods were bought online during first-quarter 2020, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. All of these figures add up to an increase in plastic and packaging. And to add fuel to the proverbial fire, the oil market crash early in the year made plastic cheaper to produce, which in turn is a disincentive to use recycled materials.    

Originally posted 4/13/20

  Even in normal times recycling faced challenges. According to a February Packaging World article on recycling, the majority of critical recycling issues in the U.S. are related to sorting and management of discarded plastics, because the capacity and capability of recycling centers is not adequate for the amount of recycling needed. And now many recyclers are closing shop during the pandemic, and even more waste is headed to landfills or incineration.   Consumer compliance and cost are other issues. With the pandemic, the amount of single use plastic and packaging is growing (think take out containers from all of the closed restaurants, water bottles and other wrapped items purchased by a virus-wary public, and a massive growth in medical waste), and if not disposed of properly by the consumer, will head for the landfill. Amazon and other e-retailers are hiring employees to keep up with the demand of consumers who are staying home and ordering what they need, and all of this additional e-commerce requires additional secondary packaging which must be properly disposed of.   Recycling has long had issues with financial feasibility. A ton of low-grade mixed plastics in CA would fetch $20 in 2017, but in 2018 it cost $10 to dispose of the same ton of mixed plastics. In 2018 China stopped purchasing the U.S. recyclable materials, increasing the amount of material that needed to be processed locally.   A pandemic-influenced drop in oil prices makes plastic even cheaper to produce, and according to a recent Wired article, as the Coronavirus has taken a toll on the price of oil, it will no longer “make economic sense for a company to process and sell recycled materials if they end up being more expensive than the virgin plastic another company is making.”   The Wired article quotes Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, who says that lightweighting plastic bottles – while saving money for the manufacturer – is also creating a product that “becomes progressively less profitable for a garbage company to bother recycling.”   Like so many things, the near-term outlook for recycling and waste-processing will need to recover from the pandemic’s wave, but the future still has hope. According to a new report on Sustainability from PMMI Business Intelligence, the global sustainable packaging market is expected to grew at a CAGR of approximately 6% by 2025, reaching $280 billion for packaging that is recyclable, biodegradable, compostable or defined as green.

The Coronavirus pandemic is creating a growing waste crisis even as we see images of the earth’s environment clearing from less pollution. A few months into the crisis, and the numbers are staggering. Kim Overstreet Jun 29th, 2020 According to a June 22 article by The Economist, the U.S. consumption of single-use plastic may have grown by 250-300% since the beginning of the pandemic. Consider these numbers: Grand View Research projects the global disposable-mask market will grow from an estimated $800M in 2019 to $166B in 2020; Amazon had approximately 2.5 billion customers visit in March alone, an increase of 65% from 2019; Uber Eats first-quarter sales were up 54% from 2019; and, more than 25% of China’s physical goods were bought online during first-quarter 2020, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. All of these figures add up to an increase in plastic and packaging. And to add fuel to the proverbial fire, the oil market crash early in the year made plastic cheaper to produce, which in turn is a disincentive to use recycled materials.    

Originally posted 4/13/20

  Even in normal times recycling faced challenges. According to a February Packaging World article on recycling, the majority of critical recycling issues in the U.S. are related to sorting and management of discarded plastics, because the capacity and capability of recycling centers is not adequate for the amount of recycling needed. And now many recyclers are closing shop during the pandemic, and even more waste is headed to landfills or incineration.   Consumer compliance and cost are other issues. With the pandemic, the amount of single use plastic and packaging is growing (think take out containers from all of the closed restaurants, water bottles and other wrapped items purchased by a virus-wary public, and a massive growth in medical waste), and if not disposed of properly by the consumer, will head for the landfill. Amazon and other e-retailers are hiring employees to keep up with the demand of consumers who are staying home and ordering what they need, and all of this additional e-commerce requires additional secondary packaging which must be properly disposed of.   Recycling has long had issues with financial feasibility. A ton of low-grade mixed plastics in CA would fetch $20 in 2017, but in 2018 it cost $10 to dispose of the same ton of mixed plastics. In 2018 China stopped purchasing the U.S. recyclable materials, increasing the amount of material that needed to be processed locally.   A pandemic-influenced drop in oil prices makes plastic even cheaper to produce, and according to a recent Wired article, as the Coronavirus has taken a toll on the price of oil, it will no longer “make economic sense for a company to process and sell recycled materials if they end up being more expensive than the virgin plastic another company is making.”   The Wired article quotes Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, who says that lightweighting plastic bottles – while saving money for the manufacturer – is also creating a product that “becomes progressively less profitable for a garbage company to bother recycling.”   Like so many things, the near-term outlook for recycling and waste-processing will need to recover from the pandemic’s wave, but the future still has hope. According to a new report on Sustainability from PMMI Business Intelligence, the global sustainable packaging market is expected to grew at a CAGR of approximately 6% by 2025, reaching $280 billion for packaging that is recyclable, biodegradable, compostable or defined as green.

Design thinking requires a curious mind to observe and wonder then add in a global pandemic that we have not faced on a similar scale since 1918 feeds even more fuel to curiosity. At the start of my project, I wondered why the pandemic caused a chain reaction in corporations like Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and Bulk Barn to indefinitely suspend their refillable programs. These corporations are no longer accepting bring your own containers (BYOC) due to concerns of spreading COVID-19.   As the CDC updates its guideline with new research, we are understanding that the virus is mainly spread through “person to person” contact and you can possibly become infected from touching an object then touching your face, but it’s not the primary way the virus spreads (“How Coronavirus Spreads”, 2020). How can these corporations safely reinstate BYOC programs?  

Exploring the problem statement

  Before COVID-19, consumers and companies were reducing their reliance on single-use plastics. Many companies had incentivized customers to BYOC to coffee shops, banned plastic straws, and stores like Community Natural Foods and Bulk Barn offered BYOC programs. By consumers choosing to supply their own containers, it saves energy, reduces pollution and waste from the landfill meanwhile providing more local jobs for those refilling the containers (Miller, Hacket, & Wolfe, pg. 658). These programs offer many unseen benefits to the environment and local economies.   COVID-19 has caused a significant upheaval for the programs with uncertainty around how the virus transfers on different materials, who is responsible for sanitizing procedures, and what emotional considerations that should be met for consumers and employees to feel safe. To start the process, let’s learn more about the end-user of these BYOC programs.  

Empathize with the end-users

  To understand the root cause of a problem, you must determine the pain points end-users experience in the service delivery (Marks, 2018). The methods used to empathize with end-users included:   1.     Interviewed an acquaintance, Jessica Kuiken on June 6, 2020. I used the 5 Why’s exercise to drill down to the problem’s root cause. The interviewee was provided with three problem statements and worked through answering as seen in Mural’s worksheet below.     2. Research into the end-user to paint a picture of what the average end-user thinks and feels to create a user persona. Highlights from the end-user research as follows:  

• From Statistics Canada in 2015, I reviewed which gender is spending their time doing unpaid work activities in the household (includes meal prep, cleaning, laundry, recycling, etc.). Females complete on average 3.6 hours whereas males 2.4 hours of unpaid work activities (2015).
• BYOC programs are synonymous with the zero-waste movement to reduce residential waste. This movement largely lives online through Instagram, blogs, and podcasts. Anecdotal evidence supports that the movement was created and finds continued support by female engagement (Bird, 2019). The article’s author offers this insight, “In broad strokes, research shows women are traditionally more likely to recycle, change personal habits to help the environment and share ideas on a person-to-person level” (Bird, 2019). For generations, females are more likely to look after the household and use their decision-making power of what to purchase and where from.
• If females are the main end-user for BYOC programs, this article revealed the emotional burden females carry to align with their environmental values. In practicing a zero-waste lifestyle, females carry the responsibility to explain to others why they “…politely refusing straws from confused waiters, declining gifts from family members, and gently explaining their lifestyle in a nonjudgmental way to strangers” (Wicker, 2019). The end-user may carry an emotional burden as they are questioned and forced to explain their value system at many touchpoints throughout the day.
• The majority of preferred shopping has flipped to the online space especially during COVID-19. Many consumers “…have embraced ordering online for goods, services, and food during the COVID-19 pandemic and many likely won’t switch back to their old habits (Senneville, n.d.). The end-user has become more comfortable and confident with buying online and having the convenience of someone else pick it, and pack it.
• Companies flipped to using single-use packaging during COVID-19 because scientists were unsure how the virus spreads. As more research is published, health experts believe transfer happens mainly from person to person. But consumers have been led to the belief that single-use packaging is sterile therefore it’s safer to use. In an interview with Tom Szaky, the founder of TerraCycle explained that,

“Different kinds of disposable packaging have different microbial limits set by independent standard-setting organizations — and unless a product is explicitly marked sterile, none of those limits are zero. That means a certain level of bacterial contamination is considered acceptable and inevitable” (Anderson, 2020).   Part of the end-users persona may believe single-use packaging is inherently safer to use during a pandemic because it’s viewed as sterile. But Szaky’s point, single-use packaging will be likely contaminated at some point in the supply chain so the end-user perception of sterile must be swayed.  

End-user’s persona

  From the research, an end-user theoretical persona in Mural was built to synthesize and assist in identifying the problem statement.  

[Re]defining the problem

  To define the problem, let’s start with capturing the current environment and who needs to be involved to help our theoretical end-user, Janya.  

The current environment

  As we down a pandemic, other big and complex problems like climate change still loom and require our attention. Part of the efforts to slow down climate change has fallen onto the responsibility of the consumer, who is asked to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Single-use packaging like drink containers and food packaging contributes to the 668 kilograms of waste the average Canadian generates each year (“A beginner’s guide to zero-waste grocery stores | CBC Life”, 2019). Consumers and companies are taking action by minimizing their single-use packaging including the rise in zero-waste stores offering household items without packaging or in bulk. And they welcome consumers to BYOC.   Then COVID-19 pandemic hit globally and many companies took swift precautions, some self-imposed and others following local health authorities guidelines. The decision to stop BYOC programs are self-imposed precautions but have left some customers wondering why some companies will accept my cash payment but not my mug (Ackerman, 2020). COVID-19 has highlighted the contrast of companies’ health and safety risk tolerance for their employees and customers. As the virus becomes better understood, companies can begin to brainstorm how to adapt their BYOC programs with new sanitation procedures.     Who needs to be involved   Design thinking asks how to create feelings in the end-users with the products we design (Marks, 2018). In this context, the end-user needs to feel a level of certainty of cleanliness and comfortability. Much of the Covid-19 guidance is coming from our governments and health experts so their expertise is paramount.   Involvement from others includes companies (Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Bulk Barn, etc.), zero-waste community members, governmental body for regulation and inspection, front-line staff and managers, and PPE/sanitation suppliers.   The Problem Statement…   It’s time to define the problem. By using Mural’s Design Thinking Canvas and using the outlined steps in combination with Mural’s 5 Why’s and End-User Persona, the problem statement revealed itself.   Consumers are uncertain and fearful if BYOC programs will further spread Covid-19.   *A copy of the Design Thinking Canvas can be found at the end of the post.   How might we [re]define the problem   ‘How might we’ statements change your viewpoint of the problem and as Kris Hans reminds us, make the problem into an opportunity. With the identified problem above, a company’s approach to how might we…  

• How might we receive government subsidy support for safely operating these programs?
• How might we create a safe customer experience that turns into a repeated practice?
• How might we provide education on the best sanitation practices and PPE to our employees?
• How might we educate and communicate to our customers that builds trust in our program?
• How might we demonstrate our sanitation procedures so they are visible to our customers?
• How might we design with public health as a design priority?
• How might we have public health experts communicate support for BYOC?
• How might we create a pleasurable and welcoming yet sanitary and safe experience for the end-user?
• How might we address the barrier to access to the end-user?
• How might we provide clear communication of the behaviour we want from the end-user?

  I wonder how companies and consumer advocacy groups will address and redesign BYOC programs back to life as we adjust to our new normal.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for brands to grow e-comm and online brand-building capabilities, and BevNET and NOSH Virtually Live, held next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23 and 24, feature a number of approaches for companies looking to either explore or refine their approach to online commerce channels.   Sessions designed to allow attendees to improve their e-comm game include:   A presentation titled Best Practices for Building a Digital Brand Platform and eCommerce Business that will bring together brand and company leaders from Recess, Multiply, Haus, Sharma Brands and Shopify in a discussion of ways to build and allocate an online toolkit.   Main stage session Buyers, Believers and Adapting Consumer Education, presented by David Lemley of Retail Voodoo, which will show off key ways for brands to develop and maintain their presence in consumers’ lives online. Branding firm Black Bamboo will also delve into both the characteristics that brands must strive to demonstrate as part of their online personas and the capacities they need to demonstrate in terms of product fulfillment in the next two years during Eric Zeitoun’s own main stage session.   All marketing formats will be subject to review as part of recent social and political upheavals will be discussed during a Marketing in the Age of COVID-19, bringing together an experienced panel of sharp marketing minds including 4th & Heart’s Raquel Tavares, Koia’s Maya French and Foodstirs’ Greg Fleishman. Additionally, Liquid Death’s unconventional marketing approaches have largely spread through online channels — and CEO Mike Cessario will reveal some of the innovative brand’s niche marketing secrets in a discussion with BevNET’s Brad Avery.   Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, CEOs from Ohi, TerraCycle and Otter Products will explore changes in e-comm delivery through innovations in packaging, sustainability and last-mile delivery during a breakout panel discussion.   At a time when disruption has meant accelerated evolution, brands either have to either develop and master their capabilities online, or get out of business altogether; BevNET & NOSH Virtually Live attendees will find themselves better equipped for the former, while avoiding the latter outcome.   Virtually Live registration is complimentary for BevNET and NOSH subscribers. So sign up now for our outstanding news and information platform and take the plunge into our two-day, 40-session Virtually Live event.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for brands to grow e-comm and online brand-building capabilities, and BevNET and NOSH Virtually Live, held next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23 and 24, feature a number of approaches for companies looking to either explore or refine their approach to online commerce channels.   Sessions designed to allow attendees to improve their e-comm game include:   A presentation titled Best Practices for Building a Digital Brand Platform and eCommerce Business that will bring together brand and company leaders from Recess, Multiply, Haus, Sharma Brands and Shopify in a discussion of ways to build and allocate an online toolkit.   Main stage session Buyers, Believers and Adapting Consumer Education, presented by David Lemley of Retail Voodoo, which will show off key ways for brands to develop and maintain their presence in consumers’ lives online. Branding firm Black Bamboo will also delve into both the characteristics that brands must strive to demonstrate as part of their online personas and the capacities they need to demonstrate in terms of product fulfillment in the next two years during Eric Zeitoun’s own main stage session.   All marketing formats will be subject to review as part of recent social and political upheavals will be discussed during a Marketing in the Age of COVID-19, bringing together an experienced panel of sharp marketing minds including 4th & Heart’s Raquel Tavares, Koia’s Maya French and Foodstirs’ Greg Fleishman. Additionally, Liquid Death’s unconventional marketing approaches have largely spread through online channels — and CEO Mike Cessario will reveal some of the innovative brand’s niche marketing secrets in a discussion with BevNET’s Brad Avery.   Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, CEOs from Ohi, TerraCycle and Otter Products will explore changes in e-comm delivery through innovations in packaging, sustainability and last-mile delivery during a breakout panel discussion.   At a time when disruption has meant accelerated evolution, brands either have to either develop and master their capabilities online, or get out of business altogether; BevNET & NOSH Virtually Live attendees will find themselves better equipped for the former, while avoiding the latter outcome.   Virtually Live registration is complimentary for BevNET and NOSH subscribers. So sign up now for our outstanding news and information platform and take the plunge into our two-day, 40-session Virtually Live event.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Valerie Salinas-Davis. Valerie is a no-nonsense environmentalist who leverages the power of communication to nudge anyone of any political stripe to take action. Her latest endeavor is WasteLessWednesday.org (#WLW), a website that deploys colorful gifs encouraging people to try new ways to use less stuff once a week. #WLW is a follow-up to America Recycles Day (November 15), an annual awareness day administered by Keep America Beautiful and cofounded by Valerie in 1997. She is President-Elect of the League of Women Voters of Austin, Chair-Elect of the board of the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and a board member of Austin Habitat for Humanity. Valerie is currently finishing her first book, Green-ish: How To Protect the Environment Without Hugging A Tree. Written entirely outdoors, Green-ish is a Gen-Z- and Millennial-oriented book that encapsulates lessons and tips from her three decades of environmental public service campaign experiences. This fall, she will begin teaching in the Stan Richards School of Advertising at her alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, where she received a Bachelor of Journalism in 1985. Valerie works as a sustainability consultant and social impact strategist from her home, an “enviro-hacienda” built by her wife Millie. They live south of Austin in Hays County with Sancha, their blue-eyed yellow Lab-Husky mix who inspires them to try to get moving outdoors every day.       Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit how you grew up?   My favorite memories growing up as an Air Force brat in the ’60s and ’70s include mail-ordering an Ellie Mae doll (from “The Beverly Hillbillies”) from overseas when I was 4 years old living in Okinawa, Japan; my parents bringing my adopted sisters home from South Korea when we lived on Misawa Air Base, Japan, in 1968; eating puffy tacos and drinking Big Red at a Tex-Mex restaurant not far from Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio in the early ’70s; falling in love with the Bee Gees and other disco music going to high school in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late ’70s; raising hell with the other on-base kids my senior year at Clark Air Base, Philippines; and my older brother Clint indoctrinating me to college life the summer of 1981 at the University of Texas with motorcycle trips around Austin to Barton Springs Pool, concerts and the lake. My parents (who would have cringed knowing we were riding all over Central Texas on a motorcycle) never raised us as treehuggers. We just knew it made sense not to waste anything, and we wouldn’t dare throw trash on the ground. The seeds to my career creating public service campaigns may have been planted when I won $5 in a fire-prevention poster contest in elementary school. I used Crayons to draw a house with a raging fire with the headline: “Someone Played With Matches.” I had to split that $5 with my three siblings.   You are currently leading a social impact organization that is making a difference for our planet. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?   One day before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, The New York Times posted a March 10 story, “Where to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.” The article highlighted “three big-ticket events perhaps worth traveling for” — the Food Is Life Festival in Napa, California, the Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C., and EarthX in Dallas (attended by 170,000 people in 2019). Then the world got cancelled. So I wrote an op-ed in my hometown paper, the Austin American-Statesman, saying, “Let the unfortunate cancellations of Earth Day festivals remind us we don’t need big expos to learn how to protect the environment on the daily.” That’s when I knew it was time to promote WasteLessWednesday.org as a way to show anyone anywhere–in quarantine and beyond–how to cut down on waste. For instance, did you know the CDC says it’s safe to shop with reusable grocery bags during COVID-19, but that it’s a good idea to toss them in the washer after every trip to the store? Also, demand for tissue and corrugated cardboard is up. We can do our part by recycling, and opting for washable rags over paper towels whenever possible.   Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?   In 1992, I applied for a public information job at the Texas Department of Transportation. It wasn’t until the interview I found out the job was administering the famous “Don’t Mess with Texas” litter prevention campaign featuring beloved Texas stars like Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I think I’ve since worked on hundreds of environmental campaigns to promote recycling and waste reduction, conserve water, and preserve air and water quality. The common denominators with all of the campaigns, including WasteLessWednesday.org: don’t be cliché, minimize the politics and have fun with it.   Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?   In 1994, I took a job coordinating public service campaigns for the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality. When George W. Bush beat Ann Richards out of a second term as governor, 90 percent our legislatively mandated environmental campaign budget was slashed. So we pushed all our money into a new program, Texas Recycles Day, which took off for the next couple of years. As interest for an America Recycles Day grew, a colleague and I quit our jobs in early 1997 and started EnviroMedia, which became the nation’s first advertising and public relations agency to focus exclusively on the environment and public health. Our first big project? Launch America Recycles Day, with Vice President Al Gore as Honorary Chair. In 1998, my phone starting ringing with colleagues encouraging EnviroMedia to compete for the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign business. We were just a four-person shop with a one-year track-record, and the thought of competing for Don’t Mess with Texas terrified me. But we set a goal: get short-listed as a finalist so we could experience our first big ad agency pitch. We put every ounce of our creativity and practicality into our written proposal, got invited to pitch–and won the business, beating long-established, much larger shops, including the global J. Walter Thompson agency.     Many people don’t know the steps to take to start a new organization. But you did. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?   When America Recycles Day was celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018, my EnviroMedia colleagues and I wanted to create an awareness campaign that inspires people to do more on a weekly basis rather than once a year so we launched WasteLessWednesday.org. Now that the world is forced to be less event-oriented, I believe #WLW is more relevant and useful than ever. Whether it’s starting something like #WLW, America Recycles Day or an agency like EnviroMedia I think what’s fundamental is to do your homework, but don’t blink. Have. No. Fear. When we started EnviroMedia, I was in my early 30s, and had been working non-stop for 12 years. I figured if EnviroMedia tanked, I’d go to one of my favorite places–Taos, NM, wait tables and write. My wife Millie (we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year) had a good job, thank goodness, and she fully supported this risky career change. Money’s also important to starting a business, and my wonderful parents loaned me $15,000 to invest in EnviroMedia, which went on to gross more than $20 million a year at one point. In 1997, there was no WeWork, but we figured having a real office was important, so we rented a cool space in East Austin (now tremendously popular for emerging businesses and restaurants), paid a graphic designer to create a logo, letterhead and business cards, and bought one desktop and one laptop computer (both Macs of course). On Day One, we even had 9–6 office hours, and even now, as I work from home, keeping a serious regimen for work versus personal time is so important.   Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?   The most interesting and exciting thing that’s happened since promoting #WLW as a way to protect the environment while sheltering in place is when my Congressman Lloyd Doggett Tweeted my Earth Day opinion-editorial and encouraged his 35,000 followers to visit WasteLessWednesday.org. In the past few weeks, I’ve received requests for more #WLW information from people in the UK and Australia.   Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?   Remember when Matthew McConaughey got busted for naked bongo playing in 1999? We had just produced a Don’t Mess with Texas PSA featuring Matthew and it was about to be distributed. My company’s mistake? Giving a sneak peek of the spot to the Texas Film Commission, which is a part of the Office of the Governor, who at the time was George W. Bush, who happened to be about to run for president. Matthew’s PSA was shelved for a year, and to this day I think the spot would’ve garnered even more attention if we’d been allowed to release it in the middle of that crazy news cycle. The spot even features some jungle sound effects, complete with bongo. My lesson: never share work before a debut with people who have power over you unless you’re prepared for it to be canned or dumbed down. This reminds me of one of my favorite T-shirts I bought at the Newseum (which sadly was recently shuttered) — “The best way to kill an idea is to take it to a meeting.”   None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?   My favorite cheerleaders are from the University of Texas at Austin–but not the kind who carry pom-poms. When she was Sports Information Director for Women’s Athletics at the University of Texas in the ’80s and I was a young data processor across the street at the Texas Exes alumni association, now Texas Atletics VP Chris Plonskly let me build my portfolio by writing media guides for the volleyball and swim teams. When something opened up on the alumni magazine staff, Texas Exes director Susan Kessler made sure I got a spot as editorial assistant. Fast forward way too many years, and my advertising professor from 1981, John Murphy (now a dear friend), has advocated the past year for a lectureship for me in UT’s Moody College of Communications. I’ll be teaching in the Stan Richards School of Advertising this fall, with a focus on communicating sustainability messages transparently and authentically. I’ll once again be colleagues (way loosely associated) with Matthew McConaughey. He’s “Professor of Practice” in the Moody College for a Radio-TV-Film class called “Script to Screen.” Hook ’em Horns!   Are there three things the community, society, or politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?   1.       Don’t politicize protecting the environment, and as our nation is experiencing so many challenges, it’s just plain wrong to reverse long-held protections when no one’s looking. 2.      Realize that no matter who you are or where you live and work, you can take simple steps to reduce pollution. 3.      Remember, every thing has an environmental footprint. Use less stuff.   How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?   See number 3 above. Costs of excess disposables–including packaging, straws, plastic utensils, paper napkins, and condiments–add up. Companies can save money by having customers request rather than refuse these choices, and by streamlining their packaging. Workplaces can also preset duplex as a default setting on printers, invest in energy-saving lighting and equipment, install water-conserving devices, and integrate hybrid and electric vehicles into their fleets. My mantra “You don’t have to be a treehugger to protect the environment” applies as much to companies as it does to individuals. It just makes sense.   What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.   I’d rather do a five-point “If I Could Turn Back Time” exercise a la Cher, but here goes:   1.       “Squeaky wheel gets the grease.” If you want something, you have to speak up. Decision-makers are not mind-readers. When I wanted that position on the Texas Exes magazine, I called my mother, and she said go down the hall and tell the editor you want that job. I never would have just been plucked out of the data processing department. Later, when I had employees of my own, I always admired the ones who stopped by my office to tell me their ambitions, and I can’t think of a time I refused the opportunity. 2.      “Stand your ground” against the bullies, because some people will always try to get what they want, despite the cost to you or your relationship with them. I got great advice from my assistant editor in the ’80s. If someone’s bullying you on the phone or in person, be silent. Let them flounder, until they sputter out. It works. 3.      “Choose your battles.” Before you stand your ground, be sure it’s worth it. Usually the people who want everything have big egos, and small victories for them go a long way and mean nothing for you in the long run. 4.      “Save your money,” because life always brings unexpected challenges. For me, when I closed my company in September 2018, my wife Millie and I were able to help my parents for three months when my mom had a bone marrow transplant. After she got through that successfully, I got back to work with things like freelancing, and WasteLessWednesday.org, and writing my book Green-ish. I started contributing to my 401(k) when I was 21, so with the pandemic and ensuing economic challenges, I’m doubly glad to know it’s there. 5.      Another boss once told me, “Life’s too short to dance with ugly people.” It’s nice to have the strength to walk away, no matter the cost.   If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?   Young people are hungry for environmental information, but realistically, don’t want to go to too much trouble or expense. They’re not Tesla drivers, but they’re worried about climate change, and in fact are losing sleep over it (“climate anxiety”). They give a damn, but, let’s face it, they won’t venture far to collect information on how to protect the environment.   The inspiration for my book Green-ish is a college student who in November 2018 asked me this question at the tail-end of a guest lecture at the UT College of Communication:   “Living and shopping sustainably seems like a complex and tedious task. How would you educate people to take small steps to cut down on the amount of waste they produce?”–Bailey Vaughan   I was almost out of time, so I gave the class a succinct answer: “Buy products with less packaging.” Anyone can do that anywhere, anytime. So I’m writing my book, Green-ish: How To Protect the Environment Without Hugging A Tree, to provide hundreds of simple tips to Gen Z and Millennial consumers to implement where they live, shop, eat, drink and play.   Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?   Do it now and apologize later. That’s me murdering the ubiquitous quote, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to beg for permission.” The person I first heard it from was my boss, the late great J. Don Clark, who launched the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign at the Cotton Bowl in 1986 with a PSA featuring blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan without getting internal permission at the Texas Department of Transportation. The conservative engineers at TxDOT were seriously upset with Don after they saw the edgy PSA (these days it seems so benign, just cool), but once the campaign caught on, they embraced it–and TxDOT still funds it nearly 35 years later. If there were no J. Don Clark, there would never be no Don’t Mess with Texas–and a whole lot more litter on TxDOT rights of way.   Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)   Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. I’m a huge fan of his new service called Loop, which delivers name brand products like Haagen-Dazs, Crest, Tide, and, thankfully these days, even Clorox to consumers in reusable packaging. I love the way it borrows from the good old “milk man” model, with Loop picking up your empties. Tom and the Loop team are doing just what I think is needed to reduce our environmental footprints — change the way we make things, starting with the packaging.   If Tom can’t make it to lunch, will you please ping Rachel Maddow for me?   How can our readers follow you online?   ValerieSalinasDavis.com @ValSalinasDavis on Twitter ValSalinasDavis on Instagram LinkedIn.com/in/ValerieSalinasDavis

The World Oceans Day event brought together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants. 6/10/2020 7:38:00 PM     The World Oceans Day event brought together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants.   The U.N. and Oceanic Global held its first virtual event, bringing together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants.   Some 3,000 people RSVP’d, with more likely to have tuned in worldwide, said Lea d’Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global. Fashion brands like Everest Isles and Solid and Striped partnered with Oceanic Global, as have others since its inception in 2015. The Oceanic Global Foundation emerged following the foundation’s inaugural ocean festival “Oceanic x Ibiza.”   The 2020 theme, titled “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean,” arrives during a time of heightened tensions in the U.S. and elsewhere, as the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the globe with ongoing peaceful protests. Almost on cue for visualizing the urgency demanded by environmental groups, a week prior Russia declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of diesel spilled from a power plant in the city of Norilsk, Russia, into the Arctic Ocean. Melting permafrost was cited as the culprit — indicative of the effects of global warming in the region.   All things considered, d’Auriol is focused on collective action today. She quoted the poet Audre Lorde: “‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives,”’ adding, “In that same spirit, the work we do in the ocean and environmental space is inextricably linked with human rights, public health, and fighting against racial injustice.”   View Gallery Related Gallery Black Lives Matter: Messages from the New York City Protests. Concern for the environment is all-encompassing, but marginalized groups (African American and Latinx people) tend to be the “most concerned” about climate change, as they are often the most vulnerable and exposed to its effects, according to a study conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.   D’Auriol also pointed to a recent Washington Post op-ed by Dr. Ayana Johnson, a scientific adviser to Oceanic Global, marine biologist and policy expert, as further explanation of the interconnectedness of such sustainability issues. View this post on Instagram There are ~23 million black Americans who are *already* deeply concerned about the #ClimateCrisis. (MILLION!) But how can we expect Black people to effectively lead their communities on the existential treat of climate when faced with the existential threat of racism? My latest for @washingtonpost, connecting the dots on all we are dangerously squandering. Link in bio and bit.ly/WaPoClimateBLM. Thoughts and prayers. Love and light. Those won’t solve racism or climate change. So what are you going to DO? #BlackLivesMatter 

The U.N. and Oceanic Global held its first virtual event, bringing together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants.

By Kaley Roshitsh on June 10, 2020 The United Nations held its first virtual World Oceans Day event on Monday, partnering with nonprofit Oceanic Global as a production partner, making the live event free to attend globally.   Some 3,000 people RSVP’d, with more likely to have tuned in worldwide, said Lea d’Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global. Fashion brands like Everest Isles and Solid and Striped partnered with Oceanic Global, as have others since its inception in 2015. The Oceanic Global Foundation emerged following the foundation’s inaugural ocean festival “Oceanic x Ibiza.”   The 2020 theme, titled “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean,” arrives during a time of heightened tensions in the U.S. and elsewhere, as the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the globe with ongoing peaceful protests. Almost on cue for visualizing the urgency demanded by environmental groups, a week prior Russia declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of diesel spilled from a power plant in the city of Norilsk, Russia, into the Arctic Ocean. Melting permafrost was cited as the culprit — indicative of the effects of global warming in the region.   All things considered, d’Auriol is focused on collective action today. She quoted the poet Audre Lorde: “‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives,”’ adding, “In that same spirit, the work we do in the ocean and environmental space is inextricably linked with human rights, public health, and fighting against racial injustice.”   Concern for the environment is all-encompassing, but marginalized groups (African American and Latinx people) tend to be the “most concerned” about climate change, as they are often the most vulnerable and exposed to its effects, according to a study conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.   D’Auriol also pointed to a recent Washington Post op-ed by Dr. Ayana Johnson, a scientific adviser to Oceanic Global, marine biologist and policy expert, as further explanation of the interconnectedness of such sustainability issues. This year’s virtual event convened cross-industry stakeholders including model Cara Delevingne, singer and song-writer Ellie Goulding, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, TerraCycle founder and chief executive officer Tom Szaky, and marine conservationist Gayatri Reksodihardjo, among others.   “We cannot allow a slip back to so-called business as usual,” said Goulding, championing the importance of voting. “Please speak up and stand up for the ocean and nature…[Sic]. There will never be another time like this.”   There was an industry-focused panel on the blue economy, which is centered around the sustainable use of ocean resources for equitable economic and social development, which was led by Scientific American’s editor in chief Curtis Brainard.   The blue economy includes fisheries, renewable energy, climate change, waste management, maritime transport and tourism, as defined by the World Bank.   America’s marine economy, including goods and services, contributed about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018, according to June data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.   And globally, fish is a primary source of animal protein for one billion people in the world, as per the World Health Organization. Dr. Melissa Garren, founder and ceo of Working Ocean Strategies, spoke of the triple bottom line including people, planet and profit and how technology can assist the goals of the many small-scale fisheries, increasingly where women play an important role.   “There is an incredible amount of opportunity in the private sector space to make a sustainable impact,” said Garren. It boils down to, again, transparency and accountability.   Szaky spoke of how TerraCycle evolves the circular economy through waste management, even taking on the burden of wasted diapers through its partnership with Dyper, as well as collecting cigarette waste in special receptacles.   “The biggest lesson we’ve learned, especially with engaging with the for-profit sector, which for us would be brands, retailers, etc. — it’s not [framed] as much about solving the problem, but how can [brands] win by doing that. The greater the funding will be and the greater the consistency will be — whether they care about sustainability or not,” said Szaky.   Already, COVID-19 is causing major global disruptions to many industries and not just the maritime and coastal sectors, but also metal and mineral mining that would be needed to build offshore renewable energy. As the World Bank noted in its May report, more ambitious climate targets call for more minerals needed for a clean energy transition — or some three billion tons worth of minerals and metals.   As past events drew awareness to issues like plastic pollution, coral reef bleaching, and overfishing, among others, this year’s event urged individual attendees to specific actions like registering to vote, volunteering in one’s community and reducing plastic consumption.   Some scientists like Dr. Johnson even called for an outright reframing of the ocean from victim to “hero,” emphasizing solutions in regenerative ocean farming, algae biofuel and offshore renewable energy in nothing short of a “Blue New Deal.”   While no solution applied to fashion specifically, Szaky mentioned how “ocean plastic awareness has skyrocketed over the past few years,” highlighting heightened consumer awareness and collaborative campaigns with institutions like Parley for the Oceans, which has worked with brands such as Adidas and Stella McCartney to recycle marine plastic into a more sustainable polyester.   But when it comes to recycled polyester, it doesn’t matter if it came from recycled plastic bottles or fishing nets, the material’s impact is a more immediate marketing boost to brands than a permanent waste solution — after accounting for microfibers and lack of scale recycling solutions. “Until we can choose to prioritize climate solutions, sustainable practices, and building the regenerative systems that we need to see for our Earth to heal,” natural disasters and tragedies like the recent oil spill [in Russia] will continue to take place, according to d’Auriol. As the event showed, stakeholders across sectors will have to do more to keep afloat in a tumultuous world where global sea levels continue to rise.