<
https://grist.org/business/what-will-it-take-to-get-companies-to-embrace-reusable-packaging/>
"For several months last year, patrons of a Seattle coffee shop called Tailwind
Cafe had the option of ordering their Americanos and lattes in returnable metal
to-go cups. Customers could simply borrow a cup from Tailwind, go on their way,
and then at some point — perhaps a few hours later, perhaps on another day that
week — return the cup to the shop, which would clean it and refill it for the
next person. If it wasn’t returned within 14 days, the customer would be
charged a $15 deposit, though even that was ultimately refundable if the cup
was returned by the end of 45 days.
Tailwind’s head chef, Kayla Tekautz, said her cafe started the program out of a
desire to address the environmental scourge of disposable plastic foodware and
other packaging, the vast majority of which cannot be recycled. It was a
partnership with a reusable packaging and logistics company called
Reusables.com, which provided Tailwind and another Seattle area store, Cloud
City Coffee, with branded cups and a QR code-operated drop-off receptacle.
But the cafe quickly ran into trouble. It was “overwhelming” to explain the
return system to every interested customer, Tekautz said. Many were hesitant to
participate after learning that they could only return the cups to Tailwind or
the other drop-off location, 6 miles away. Plus, Tailwind’s QR code reader kept
malfunctioning, requiring repeated visits from a mechanic. At the end of last
summer, Tailwind quietly ended the return program. “It just didn’t work,”
Tekautz said. (Reusables.com didn’t respond to
Grist’s request for comment.)
In an effort to reduce consumption of single-use plastic, Seattle has spent the
past several years encouraging local businesses to offer reusable cups, dishes,
utensils, and packaging. It has made some laudable progress. Concertgoers at
the Paramount Theater and attendees of the Northwest Folklife Festival, for
example, can now order their libations in reusable polypropylene cups. And
since 2022, students at the University of Washington have been able to check
out bright green reusable food containers from a company called Ozzi.
These programs are helping Seattle avoid single-use plastic and create a
“waste-free future,” according to the city’s reuse website. It’s a target
that’s being pursued by many American cities, and at the global level too.
Disposable plastic foodware and packaging — which accounts for nearly 40
percent of all plastic production — can only be phased out if there are robust,
efficient reuse systems to replace them."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-apple-mapping-conservation/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
