[16]I’m returning to my roots, Canada, and learning some lessons that might be of use to us all, back here in the U.S.
Though we are U.S.- based, it was Canada that gave us our first big break, Walmart Canada and The Home Depot to be precise. People thought I was foolish to buck the green business trend of starting in niche, boutique, small stores and then inch our way to larger, national chains. We held firm, knowing that a much bigger, broader impact could be made, should we be carried outside the “green bubble” of the usual suspects. And it first paid off in Canada.
Now we’re returning to there, in a different way: We’re launching, together with Kraft Canada, a new set of Brigades. [17] Brigades can be people from schools, community groups, or individuals that collect brand specific waste, or as we prefer to think of it, resources for new possibilities. For every piece they collect, they’ll earn 2 cents going to the charity or nonprofit of their choice. The focus will be on the broadly popular Mr.Christie’s (the "Canadian Nabisco") and Mr. Christie's Snak Paks wrappers Back to Nature nut and trail mixes, and juice pouches from Kool-Aid Jammers and Del Monte.
In doing this, I see a couple of outcomes and benefits: A higher rate of people bringing in recycling, beyond the self-motivated, environmentally conscious, and things that may not have been recycled happening more frequently. Also, it shows Kraft’s commitment to be a responsible corporate citizen, via an activity that will likely be shared with friends and colleagues of the people doing it. Good for the environment, good for Kraft and Terracycle.
Our partnership with Kraft to collect Capri Sun in the U.S. has been a huge success so far, more then 35,000 locations collecting millions of pouches, and over $250,000 donated thus far. Canada, an environmental powerhouse, I see you doing even better!
What other ways do you see making recycling and upcycling a more social, collective activity? How can private partnerships such as ours continue to augment the current public/private systems in your area?
A week ago I was discussing with friends about what CPGs would look like in ten years from now. One of my friends said that we might have to pay an extra tax called "the sustainable tax" that would take in account the carbon footprint of each packaged good that, for instance, would be bought at the grocery store. That way, the consumer would be forced to select goods that have less carbon footprint as per the product label, all unit price and quality being equal. Then, this could be called a "natural selection process" for producers since they will have to design more sustainable containers for their goods; some of them won't...
If such a continuous improvement process ever takes place, it would not be good for your business though! In fact, all the residual packaging material would be recyclable throughout the existing recycling infrastructure, meaning that your business would run out of "raw material"! Well, I don't think that it would be a threat for your business in ten years from now since I'm convinced that you will have evolved in order to adapt to the market changes. All the best to your tremendous business!