low waste

Chart-Reuse™ by Upstream is a first-in-industry foodware reuse analytics platform that has recently soft-launched to the public. Ideated and developed over the last few years with major food service and fast food companies as pilot partners, this transformative tool allows food service companies to calculate cost, waste and greenhouse gas emission impacts, and manage their shift from single-use to reuse at project sites across North America. Listen in to learn more about Chart-Reuse with Upstream team members Matt Prindiville and Cerise Bridges.

Resources:

• Chart-Reuse.eco

Working on reuse solutions in Indonesia is much the same as in the US – setting standards, organizing campaigns, implementing and iterating policy at the local level. But the region faces additional challenges with the burdens of pollution and plastic waste literally arriving on their shores from countries in the Global North. In this context, the reuse victories Tiza Mafira has helped achieve are especially impressive, having initiated single-use bag bans in over 100 cities across the country. And that’s just the beginning. Tiza sits down with host Matt Prindiville to discuss her work on big, system-changing solutions as an activist, Co-Founder of the Plastic Bag Diet Movement, and Director of the Climate Policy Initiative.

Resources: 

• Climate Policy Initiative
• Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement
• The Story of Plastic

You may know award-winning actress Alysia Reiner as Fig on the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black - but did you know she is also an ambassador and change-maker for reuse and sustainability? Alysia sits down with host Matt Prindiville to discuss her work as an activist and ecopreneur, her positive approach to changing hearts and minds on climate and reuse – and how, with a little creative thinking, we can flip the script on single-use.

Resources: 

• alysiareiner.com
• Izzy Zero Waste Beauty
• The Reusies

Reuse service company r.Cup has been making big moves lately, and event-goers are eagerly embracing their reusable cup systems. Not content to rest on their laurels after winning the award for Most Innovative Food & Beverage Company at The Reusies 2022, r.Cup has been expanding into new cities, landing deals with high-profile event producers, and forging partnerships with big brands to create the cultural and infrastructure sea changes needed to scale reuse. CEO and Founder Michael Martin has even found time to work on a book. Host Matt Prindiville sits down with Michael and r.Cup’s Chief Revenue Officer, Tina Swanson, to learn more.

Resources: 

• The Reusies
• r.Cup
• R.Cup’s impact at ZooTunes in Seattle
• Get in touch with r.Cup 

As Vice President of Innovation Discovery at Clorox, Miranda Helmer knows that a key to measurable success in reuse is cooperation – sharing ideas and information that will help bring reuse solutions to scale – though it can be hard to get other corporations to see it that way. So rather than waiting for change to come to them, Clorox is leading by example as a member of the Reuse Refill Action Forum, a collaboration space co-convened by Upstream where companies can forge connections with other companies, NGOs, and policy makers. 

Host Matt Prindiville sits down with Miranda to talk about the forum, as well as the many new reusable products Clorox is bringing to market across their many brands, with the help of her leadership.

Resources: 

• Reuse Refill Action Forum (sign up here)
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Evan Abel, Head of Service Design at the Rounds, sits down with host Matt Prindiville to discuss how the company is taking delivery to a new level of convenience. Their “psychic home manager” handles the inventory of everyday essentials in your home, anticipating and bringing you goods exactly when you need them – with zero waste. 

With its cutting-edge software, the company learns what you want, delivers your products in refillable containers with personalized amounts, and then “makes the rounds” to pick them back up for reuse with a fleet of e-bikes and electric vehicles. This ingenuity helped set them apart and win The Reusies award this year for Most Innovative Reuse Company in the Enabling Technology sector.

Resources:

• The Rounds
• The Reusies

New York City has a trash problem. But a lot of that garbage on the sidewalk is food waste. Experts say a lot of it is good to eat. Zero waste advocates are trying to lessen New York City’s waste footprint. Anna Sacks, known online as "Trash Walker" on social media, is showing her fellow residents exactly what’s being tossed everyday. Think Zero’s Ushma Pandya shares tips on how New Yorkers can decrease the city’s food waste footprint – especially during the holiday season when waste increases.

Host/Producer: Jill Webb

Audio Engineer: Anddy Egan-Thorpe

Additional Production Assistance: Dempsey Pillot

Managing Producer of Podcasts: Femi Redwood

Can reusable packaging be convenient, cost-effective and even “smart”? Host Matt Prindiville sits down with Brian Bauer of Algramo, who shows us how his company is transforming customers’ relationship to packaging with technology, elegantly designed systems and standardization across a number of big brands. 

Winner of The Reusies® 2022 Most Innovative award for consumer packaged goods, Algramo is proving its success in Chilean and British markets, with an eye toward expanding worldwide. To keep costs low for consumers and reduce environmental impacts, Algramo takes into account every part of the system from travel to water consumption, to the reusable packaging itself – which means their products offset emissions after just one refill.

Resources: 

• Algramo
• The Reusies
• Algramo’s innovative refillable pouches

Electronics pose a special challenge when it comes to waste. Many people don’t know how to properly dispose of their old computers and cell phones, which can end up unused in drawers, or worse yet, releasing toxins in landfills. Others don’t have access to them to begin with. Enter Human-I-T, reuse innovator and Reuse Community of the Year at the 2022 Reusies. They put more than 60,000 refurbished electronics a year into the hands of those who need them most – while preventing these devices from polluting waste streams. Host Brooking Gatewood sits down with Gabe Middleton, co-founder and CEO of what some call “the Goodwill of electronics,” to explore what social entrepreneurship looks like in practice. 

Resources: 

• Human-I-T  
• The Reusies

This episode, What's This Place? goes behind the bricks and mortar of New Circles, a multi dimensional, not-for-profit agency here in Toronto.
New Circles helps alleviate poverty through their free clothing bank GLOW (Gently Loved Outfits To Wear)...and if I am being honest, that's all I thought they did!

But once I went behind the bricks and mortar, I discovered that GLOW is a jumping off program for so much more...
They offer free employment skills training and newcomer settlement support  programs.
They benefit the environment by diverting 300,000 lbs of clothing from landfill every year.

I ask Cindy Blakely, the founder of New Circles, all my usual origin story questions...but the answers were not what I was expecting. 
Find out how one woman created a legacy that benefits tens of thousands of people every single year.

How did it all start?  And how has it survived the Covid Era?
Let's go inside and find out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review in Apple podcasts?! I would be so grateful.

Upstream's latest Indisposable Live panel is now available as a podcast!

This engaging discussion on the New Reuse Economy features Upstream CEO & Chief Solutioneer Matt Prindiville, Anita Schwartz (WSP USA) and Crystal Dreisbach (Don’t Waste Durham / Green to Go NC), and was hosted by Upstream's Chief Strategy Officer, Priscilla Johnson. 

Learn from these thought leaders why reuse beats single-use on every measure – even when accounting for environmental impacts from transit and washing – and the vision for how we can get there, through creative engineering, policy, and community efforts that serve as models nationwide. 

The livestream first aired in conjunction with the publication of Upstream’s latest white paper, “The New Reuse Economy: how reuse systems and services will revolutionize how we consume” which you can read in the resources below.

Resources: 

• Upstream’s latest paper: The New Reuse Economy: How reuse systems and services will revolutionize how we consume
• YouTube recording of Envisioning the New Reuse Economy
• Don’t Waste Durham
• Green to Go NC
• WSP
• Upstream’s Strategic Direction Statement

Christmas is somehow just around the corner and im starting to think about how I want it to feel this year. 

So often, we are consumed with what to buy everyone that we dip so far in to disconnect, burnout and brokeville!

So im sharing my top gift ideas for a connected Christmas that feels joyful;

1. Gift giving in their love language and top values.

2. Low waste, planet friendly gift ideas.

3. Connection and experience giving. 

If you want to learn about the Love Languages you can complete the online quiz here; Learn More About Yourself (5lovelanguages.com)

To connect more with me, please reach out in all the places and spaces as 'Charmaine Newmark Nourished' or www.charmainenewmark.com

Big love, Charmaine xxx

Join our newest host, Upstream Chief Strategy Officer Priscilla Johnson, as she sits down with Dave Ford, founder of Ocean Plastics Leadership Network (OPLN) for a wide-ranging discussion on national and international reuse and climate solutions. The two cover current and future plastics treaties, companies that are stepping up to the plate, organizations pressing for urgent action to confront the climate crisis – and what it all means for our planet’s future. On a scale of 1-10, how ambitious are current global efforts on reuse? Tune in and find out.

Resources: 

• Ocean Plastics Leadership Network | Building Capacity For Plastics Crisis Intervention (opln.org)
• COP27: Delivering for people and the planet | United Nations
• UNEA 5.2: Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution 
• Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Plastic Pollution Treaty

Prompted by the enormous amount of single-use plastic waste at stadiums and in the locker room, professional baseball player and environmental advocate Chris Dickerson co-founded Players for the Planet with teammate Jack Cassel. Chris sits down with host Matt Prindiville to talk about the bringing together athletes as advocates and the platform they have to influence change, as well as the challenges of endeavoring to make America’s favorite pastime sustainable for the future.

Resources:

• Players for the Planet 
• The Players Alliance
• Reuse Wins at Events resource page
• Reuse Wins at Events livestream

Kristy Drutman is an environmental justice advocate and Founder & Creator of Browngirl Green, a media platform and podcast committed to promoting diversity & inclusion in the environmental field as well as creative solutions to the climate crisis. And she’s also hosting The Reusies this year! Tune into an uplifting conversation about how Kristy uses the power of social media to tell solutions-focused stories and build an engaged online community with trust and respect rather than virality as its focus. 

Resources: 

• The Reusies
• Browngirl Green website
• Green Jobs Board
• Browngirl Green on Instagram
• Browngirl Green podcast
• Climate Week NYC
• Ocean Plastics Leadership Network

Listen in for some real talk about the evolution of venture capital to fund sustainable solutions, with 2022 Reusies Judge Doreen Wong of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. In this episode, we explore Doreen’s unique career path from engineer to climate tech venture capital specialist – as well as her take on key issues and trends when it comes to diversity and inclusion in this powerful industry. 

Resources: 

• www.thereusies.org
• www.soalliance.org
• www.seabirdventures.fund

Welcome to our 100th episode of The Indisposable Podcast! In this special celebratory conversation, our hosts Brooking Gatewood and Matt Prindiville take a reflective amble down episode lane and share some behind-the-scenes stories – like how the podcast got started with a fateful phone call to Lithuania, what it was like talking to their personal heroes, and favorite moments and insights from the first few years of this show. 

Though there are so many great conversations to highlight, we mention these 20 in the show:

#1  A giant leap toward throw-away-free living: Miriam Gordon & Martin Borque

#15 Force of nature: Diane Wilson (Unreasonable Woman) 

#95 Putting the “re” in “use” with William McDonough and #62 Be a Reuser, Not a Consumer: William McDonough

#36 From Worm Poop to Loop: Tom Szaky’s journey into the reuse movement

#82 Redesigning How We Get Groceries: Anukampa Freedom Gupta-Fonner

#96 Hug a plate: plastic-free solutions for kid friendly dining: Dr. Manasa Mantravadi

#80 Pioneering Reuse Down Under: A conversation with KeepCup: Abigail Forsyth

#88 Setting the standard for reuse: Amy Larkin and Claudette Juska

#59 Envisioning and Investing in the Waste-Free World: Ron Gonen

#45 Changing the narrative: Environmental justice and plastic production: Juan Macias, Mary Aguilera and Sylvia McKenzie

#56 Citizen Science for a World Without Waste: Sybil Bullock, Laura Hernandez, Nirere Sadrach, Mark Penalver, Jake with the Climate Reality Project, and Thara and Nina of ECOTON & River Warriors

#21 Running for change with Sam Bencheghib

#3 Plastic-free mermaids: Kate Nelson

#64 Making Art to Make a Difference: Ben Von Wong

#24 Once upon a beautiful disruption: Brian Fitzgerald & Tommy Crawford

#89 Organizing for a Reusable Future: Doug Calem, Dawn Rodriguez & Alejandra Warren

#27 From white environmentalism to anti-racism: Brooking Gatewood & Matt Prindiville

#76 The Beer Store Vision: Reuse and Refill for the Beverage Industry: Rachel Morier

#52 Embodied Activism: The What, Why, and How: Si Thacker

Other Resources: 

• Sign up for Upstream’s newsletter and never miss an episode
• Interview Connections: podcast booking agency
• Story hacking with The Dancing Foxes

GreenBiz Group is a media and events company that’s working to accelerate a just transition to a clean economy. Not only do they do cutting edge journalism at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability, they also organize incredible events – like the Circularity Conference – that bring together business, non-profit and government leaders to learn, network and catalyze new opportunities.  They’re also a 2022 Reusies partner and Suz Okie is on the judge’s panel this year.  Host Matt Prindiville sits down with Suz and Jon Smieja and discusses pivoting their Circularity conference during the pandemic, key trends (hint: EPR is a big one) and what we need to “unlearn” (siloed systems and the way we consume) in order to make reuse scale.

Resources: 

• GreenBiz Group
• Events at GreenBiz
• Upstream’s vlog about Circularity 22
• The 3 most impactful circularity trends in 2021 | Greenbiz
• Circularity requires collaboration from companies, large and small | Greenbiz
• The Indisposable Podcast, Episode #93: Coalition Building in Seattle 

Poonam Watine, 2022 Reusies Judge and WEF knowledge expert, is helping curate some exciting new networks and resource hubs to support the scaling of reuse across the globe. Tune in to learn about the Global Plastic Innovation Network, the brand new Reuse Portal, and more – and how all of it hinges on local action to spur global momentum for the new reuse economy. 

Resources: 

• WEF's Reuse Portal
• Uplink innovation platform

"Doing the best with what you have is the best way to get started with sustainability."

Today’s conversation is with Jhánneu. Jhánneu is a blogger, influencer, writer and expert on all things sustainability, she’s also been featured on Forbes, Buzzfeed and Goodful. She focuses specifically on sustainable skincare and lifestyle changes everyday people can make to contribute towards a cleaner future.

Video version: https://youtu.be/SwNdNLvXlLY
The key topics in today's episode:
03:00 - New sustainability learnings
07:00 - Is zero waste realistic
12:00 - Developing sustainable habits
14:00 - Sustainable clothes
17:00 - What is minimalism
21:00 - Eco friendly skin care
29:00 - Communicating with the public
34:00 - The beginners journey to sustainability
36:30 - Running an ethical business

Resources:
Connect with Jhánneu:
Website | https://jhanneu.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jhanneu/?hl=en
Twitter | https://twitter.com/jhanneu_?lang=en
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNVL2CaO3PUfC_CgjSUqlNA

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Connect with me:
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Website | www.theplantparadigm.com

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