The Indisposable Podcast®

Upstream was recently at GreenBiz’s Circularity 24 conference in Chicago, where as part of The Reusies, we organized a special panel discussion on the “secret sauce” to scaling circular systems. Bringing together thought leaders from multiple corners of the reuse and circular economy movement, Upstream’s CEO Crystal Dreisbach engaged panelists in a rich discussion about the key ingredients to make reuse an irresistible dish. Tune into this recording to learn from Caroline Vanderlip, Founder & CEO at Re:Dish; Elizabeth Balkan, Director of ReLoop North America; Jennie Romer, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention at the US EPA; and Nicole Cerroni, VP of Sustainability at L’Oreal. 

Resources: 

• Watch the video recording of the panel
• Re:Dish
• ReLoop
• L’Oreal
• The Reusies

When you hear the expression “the kids are alright,” it’s referring to Sophie Horvath and Joshua Swift-Rawal, students at Berkeley High School in California. The friends noticed that a lot of their favorite restaurants were using single-use products, despite new reuse laws in their city, and they decided to do something about it. They started a project to launch a reusable container pilot at their school, with a vision of expanding city-wide. Sophie and Josh share how they navigated working with city and school officials to make the case for reuse, lessons they learned, and inspiring insights to help others bring reuse to their schools and communities.

Resources: 

• About the Reusable Container Pilot Program
• More about the Berkeley Disposable Foodware Policy
• Episode 113: Introducing Chart-Reuse

Stadiums are high-leverage anchor venues for developing reuse ecosystems in metro areas. With around 350 million fans attending sports and other large-venue events each year in the US—and using approximately 3 billion single-use items—the social and business cases for shifting to reuse are becoming increasingly clear. The Green Sports Alliance has worked with key venues and implementation partners to create the new Reuse Playbook, launching in June 2024—to share best practices, key considerations, inspiration, and lessons learned for anyone looking to make reuse happen at scale in their cities. Listen in to learn more from Michael Kraus of Green Sports Alliance, Brittany Saulsbury of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Jocelyn Quarrell of Bold Reuse.

Resources: 

• Green Sports Alliance Playbooks
• Portland Trail Blazers/Rip City Reuse
• Bold Reuse
• Episode 156: Reuse Rockstars
• Episode 81: Reuse for the Win! Reducing Waste in Sports
• Indisposable Live: Reuse Wins at Events

Join us as we navigate the ins and outs of the negotiations for a global plastic pollution treaty with Jamala Djinn, Policy Advisor for Break Free From Plastic, and Rachel Radvany, Environmental Health Campaigner for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). These stalwart strategists have been involved in all four of the “INC” (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee) meetings since 2021, including the most recent in Canada. They sit down with host Brooking Gatewood to talk about the challenges and possibilities in the treaty process—and how we can all make a difference in this historic effort.

Resources: 

• CIEL: Plastic Global Law & Policy
• BFFP: Key demands for INC-4 delegates
• Upstream: 5 takeaways from the draft plastics treaty
• INC-4

With a background and passion for youth mentorship and career development, Bryan Lewis leads GreenBiz.org’s Emerging Leaders program, which aims to elevate, cultivate and support the next generation of BIPOC leaders in the climate community. The Emerging Leaders will be featured at Circularity 24 in Chicago, where Bryan will also be emceeing the fourth annual reuse awards, The Reusies. In this special episode, guest host, Upstream’s Chief Marketing Officer Vanessa Tiongson, sits down with Bryan to talk about the importance of empowering the next generation of diverse leaders, the need for more underrepresented young professionals to connect with leaders in the sustainability industry, and the necessity of a just transition to a sustainable future.

Resources: 

• Greenbiz.org: Emerging Leaders Program
• The Reusies at Circularity
• Bryan Lewis’ Keynote Talk at GreenBiz 24 (video)
• Q&A with Bryan Lewis and Kristy Drutman at The 2023 Reusies (video)
• Climate Justice Alliance - Just Transition

From Hollywood sets to festival stages, this conversation with Dianna Cohen and Annie Rothschild Farman of Plastic Pollution Coalition is filled with inspiring examples of how all-star and up-and-coming artists, event planners, and activists are working together to change culture and reduce plastic pollution and waste at events. A great listen for touring musicians, festival goers, and beyond. 

Resources: 

• BYOBottle.org
• Music Sustainability Alliance
• PPC Webinar Series
• Independence from Plastic: A ‘Micro’ Plastic-Free Film Contest
• Episode 15: Force of Nature

The Town of Banff, located in Canada’s first National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, receives over 4 million visitors each year and has no landfills or recycling facilities—presenting both unique opportunities and challenges to achieving the Town’s goal of moving toward zero waste. In 2023, they passed a pioneering Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy & Bylaw (for which they won a Community of the Year award at The Reusies) requiring reusables for on-site dining as well as a strategy focused on reduction and reuse tailored to their unique tourism-based context. Learn from Environmental Coordinator Carla Bitz about the grassroots efforts that led to passage of this law, how it’s going, and what others can learn from Banff’s example. Plus, check out the Reuse for Onsite Dining Library linked in the resources that we hope will help other advocates pass similar laws in their community!

Resources:

• Town of Banff Zero Waste Action Plan
• Reuse for Onsite Dining Library 
• Policy Brief: What does it take for municipalities to require reusables for on-site dining?
• The Reusies
• Berkeley’s Foodware Reduction Law

The coalition Reusable LA has been actively advocating for a number of years on several policies pertaining to waste reduction and plastic pollution, including the switch to reuse for onsite dining. Upstream's Macy Zander interviews Reusable LA's co-leads, Alison Waliszewski of 5 Gyres and Emily Parker of Heal the Bay, to hear their key tips for advocates working on this topic.

Resources:

• Accompanying video and summary blog
• reusablela.org 
• [email protected]
• Reusable LA on Instagram
• Start or join a community coalition
• The Reuse for Onsite Dining resource library

Even as we see increased momentum behind EPR, DRS and other policies involving reuse, the definitions of “reuse” are scattered and often ill-conceived. Now is the time to properly define reusable packaging—and especially differentiate between returnable and refillable packaging—in the policy context. 

Tune into this re-cast of Indisposable Live® (Upstream’s livestream series) to learn from Zero Waste Europe’s Nathan Dufour about the recommendations outlined in ZWE’s Packaging Refill vs. Packaging Prevention report, as well as from Oceana’s Matt Littlejohn about global examples of reuse at scale. Upstream’s Policy Director and discussion moderator Sydney Harris explains the different types of reuse, offers some do’s and don’ts within the policy landscape, and shares Upstream’s own recommended definition of reuse—in hopes of moving us all forward in passing truly effective reuse policy. 

Resources: 

• Zero Waste Europe: Packaging Refill vs Packaging Prevention
• Oceana: Refill Again report
• Takeaway summary, video recording, and full roundup of resources mentioned

Dr Lisa Erdle of the 5 Gyres Institute sits down with host Brooking Gatewood to talk about 5 Gyre’s recent Better Alternatives 3.0 report, covering their latest research into how well “compostable” and “biodegradable” plastics break down in various environments, potential pitfalls, promising contenders, and the role of smart material science and composting infrastructure as we transition toward a reuse economy.

Resources:

• Better Alternatives 3.0 Report
• BAN List 2.0