Minimizing Waste in a Plastic-Filled World
As the consequences of climate change continue to amass, people are turning to zero- or low-waste lifestyles. Though not everyone has the financial means to constantly invest in a greener life, many want to buy green when given the opportunity. Sustainable consumption will not reverse the effects of climate change overnight, but it allows people to reduce their carbon footprints while voicing demands for sustainable business practices.
Deborah Hill, a journalism freshman at UT-Austin, said shopping sustainably provides her with the inner peace of knowing she is doing her part to keep the planet clean while supporting businesses with the same goals.
“I like to know what I’m taking from the earth is useful and won’t cause harm,” Hill said. “My individual action is voting for ethical companies with my money.”
As eco-conscious consumers, we try our best to vote with our dollar and buy eco-friendly products wherever possible. We may not be easily able to regulate a company’s manufacturing practices, but we can boycott products we know harm the planet. Using our dollar allows us to voice our concerns in a way that makes businesses listen.
With 100 corporations responsible for 71 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 and 6 million metric tons of plastic produced from only four companies, we should demand companies to value sustainability.
Fortunately, some businesses are responding to our demands.
One response is implementing a circular economy approach into manufacturing and production. In simple terms, a circular economy goes like this: make a product, use it, recycle or return it, then start the process all over again from the used material. This method reduces waste by using materials that already exist, rather than dumping them into a landfill after one use.
The Lonely Whale, an organization dedicated to ending plastic pollution in the ocean, established a conglomerate called NextWave Plastics, a collaborative group of multinational companies seeking to develop the first global network of an ocean-bound plastics supply chain. Ocean-bound plastics are plastics by the ocean that have not yet entered the water, and an ocean-bound plastics supply chain will ultimately minimize plastic pollution while creating new products.
Kendall Starkman, the initiative director for NextWave, explained that as consumer demand for sustainable manufacturing and production grows, more businesses are contacting NextWave for clarity on the circular economy and using ocean-bound plastics.
Starkman said once a partnership is established, the NextWave team connects partners with the most ethical and environmentally friendly suppliers for their needs. Today, there are over 18 suppliers that source from nine countries across the globe, including Chile, Haiti, and the Philippines.
Each partner is integrating ocean-bound plastics into their products and packaging. They are collectively on track to divert 25 metric tons of plastic, or about 1.2 billion single-use plastic water bottles, from entering the ocean by 2025.
Some notable successes from these commitments are found in new alternatives for common plastic items. HP now makes many of its ink cartridges from plastic water bottles, and Trek makes its water bottle cages from discarded fishing nets. While HP and Trek could have decided on less popular items to manufacture, Starkman noted that they chose a product central to their respective companies.
“HP proved that they could build a sustainable supply chain, and ink cartridges are a core element of their business,” Starkman said. “It wasn’t just a project on the side.”
Starkman made a similar comment on Trek’s use of fishing nets, saying, “The water bottle holder that can be attached to a bike was a tried and true item that had been in existence for decades. They revamped it using ocean-bound plastic.”
When businesses see others’ accomplishments, especially when it involves the financial achievements of catching environmentally minded customers, they can be motivated to take on their own risks to reduce waste and mitigate the climate crisis.
But among the successes of a few companies, there still lie many problems in sustainable production, especially in the packaging industry.
Todd Bukowski is a principal at PTIS, a packaging consulting group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bukowski helps companies find the best materials for sustainable packaging and tracks developments in sustainable packaging technology and legislation.
Bukowski explained that with each packaging method, there is a tradeoff.
Some methods use glass bottles, which can be recycled, but glass is produced from one of the most energy-intensive industries. Flexible packaging, on the other hand, uses fewer materials and creates fewer carbon emissions, but some materials are not recyclable.
Today, there is no “silver bullet” in the packaging industry. The current packaging methods are only beneficial in some sectors of reducing waste and harmful in others. On top of finding the best packaging materials, Bukowski said businesses often struggle to communicate to their consumers how to recycle their products, weakening the cycle of the circular economy.
“As an industry, we haven’t done a great job of helping consumers make good decisions,” Bukowski said. “We have to do a much better job.”
Some companies are succeeding in implementing a circular economy into their businesses, but the impacts they already left on the earth cannot be undone.
Corporations need to actively consider the lasting effect they have on the planet and reflect their considerations in their business practices. Whether that means finding sustainable packaging and materials or collaborating with other organizations, the practices in place must change.
Art by Avery Herring