The Plastics Problem: What Can We Do as Businesses to Take the Burden Off Consumers?
So much has been done to help give consumers tools to be more eco-conscious. There are things like waste sorting bins at events, recycling bins curbside, and home composting is even developing. Messaging like “organic,” “fair trade,” and recycling symbols were created to help consumers make more impactful decisions. Resources are getting more circulation — in the news, in our schools, on social media — to help guide consumers.
But in reality, how can we expect consumers to do all this? Take curbside recycling, for example. Consumers are asked to distinguish between seven types of plastics, along with aluminum and glass — a rule that changes based on the community they live in and varies again at events. Now we’re adding different types of compostable products to the mix too.
On store shelves, consumers are bombarded with hundreds of certifications and label claims that make it challenging to make the most impactful choice. Did you know egg cartons have over 10 common labels to describe farming practices? It has now become the case that as a society, we rely on consumers to do the right thing for the planet. From purchase to end use, the burden has almost exclusively fallen on the consumers to navigate the complexities of proper disposal and sustainable use.
What if we could change this? There are more stakeholders involved in a product than just the consumer.
When I was a student at Duke University, classmates, visitors, and professors often got stuck in a random thunderstorm and had to get around soaking wet. Ponchos seemed like the perfect solution to stay dry, but I couldn’t imagine distributing that much plastic waste on our campus. I looked into compostable ponchos as an alternative, only to discover their own set of problems. They needed special facilities to break down, had short shelf lives so they couldn’t be reused, and there wasn’t much information on how to properly dispose of them. It seemed like these “sustainable” options weren’t so sustainable after all.
Now at Duke, my classmates and I could probably get by. But I started to think of all the places where ponchos are used: stadiums, national parks, amusement parks, music festivals, hotels, tour groups, corporate events. And what really blew my mind was when I learned every poncho is equivalent to 10 plastic bags.
While we can argue everyone should always just carry an umbrella or raincoat, there are times that most people will simply refuse. Consider the Maid of the Mist experience at Niagara Falls. Or at an amusement park, where you have to deal with limited bag sizes and all of a sudden it starts to rain. What about showing off your fan gear at a sports game?
On top of that, there hasn’t really been innovation in the market. I felt that unless somebody started to bring attention to this market, we’re going to continue to use single-use plastic ponchos. That’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands. If I couldn’t find a more sustainable poncho that worked for us, I’d create one. And that’s exactly what we did at GreenGear. We designed a poncho with the end in mind: how it would be used, how long it would last, and how it could be disposed of responsibly. For the poncho, we focused on better materials, consumer education on reusing the poncho and recyclability (it’s designed to fold back into the hood and can be recycled for store drop-off). Now we are working to address innovative biodegradation techniques and partnering with companies to optimize the recyclability of our products. We’ve also expanded to start tackling the issues of plastic waste from products like merchandise bags and clear bags for events.
Our philosophy is that businesses should take on more responsibility for the environmental impact of their products. Imagine if companies not only took accountability but also proactively considered consumer behavior in their product design — this could revolutionize the way we think about sustainability and shared responsibility.
While there is a lot of information on what we can do better as consumers, there isn’t much on what we can do as businesses. Here are some tips we at GreenGear learned over time:
1. Look at the full life cycle of your products.
Get the full picture of your product’s journey, from creation to disposal. Interview your customers and those close to your supply chain to understand your product’s true impact. For end-use, are your customers recycling, composting, or discarding it? How much do they know about sorting? For your supply chain, where are the raw materials coming from? How does it impact the local community? Armed with this knowledge, you can design a product and packaging that help minimize environmental impacts.
Have you heard of Sinagua Malt? They are working to reduce the water footprint of beer production. They’ve turned their attention to the Verde River in Arizona and crafted a business model that works with local farmers to shift from a traditional summer crop, such as corn or alfalfa, to a late winter/spring crop, such as malt barley. This shift to a crop that provides equivalent revenue at a different time of year results in less irrigation water diverted from the river during the high-demand, low-streamflow summer period. The result is more water in rivers for people and wildlife, and a profitable crop for local farmers. It’s an ingenious approach that goes beyond just considering the packaging for beer — an inspiring testament to holistic environmental stewardship.
2. Messaging, messaging, messaging!
In the quest for sustainability, communication must be as innovative as the products themselves. Consumers are overburdened when it comes to sustainability. How can we give them the tools to succeed in responsibly using the product and feel empowered to address the issues around climate change?
Who Gives A Crap is a Certified B Corporation that has taken this to heart. They produce innovative toilet paper, made from recycled materials or bamboo, and they donate 50% of their profits to help build toilets for those in need around the world.
Their branding is cheeky and fun, but it also carries a serious message about the impact of deforestation and the importance of sanitation. Who Gives A Crap ensures that every roll tells a story not just about the product itself but also about the global issues it addresses. By doing so, they engage consumers on a deeper level, turning a mundane purchase into a vote for both environmental and social progress.
3. Maintain willpower in who you work with.
Who we work with is just as important as what we make. For us at GreenGear, it’s tempting to supply grocery bags with our innovative bioplastic solution or make our ponchos lower quality to reduce the price and get more customers. But we firmly believe in reusability and refuse to make our products single-use to accommodate single-use behavior.
Even when it comes to getting our products out into the world, we favor suppliers from traditionally underrepresented groups and strive to push the standards for a better environment with us. This way, every step from production to delivery reflects our commitment to both people and the planet.
As a recently certified B Corp, GreenGear is proud to join a community of businesses that share the same commitment to social and environmental responsibility, and together we are working towards taking the burden off of consumers. While the burden will never be taken off the consumer and as consumers we should continue to strive to do better, it is time businesses use their resources to take a greater share of that load.
B The Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
