INTRODUCTION

What if it was easy to take single-use out of takeout thanks to reusables?

Today, you will hear about ShareWares, a platform where numerous "wares" are borrowed, sanitized, and reused (cups, but also other containers to come). For whom? For numerous industries such as cafes, restaurants, and events, but also cultural places and various markets.

With Cody, its founder and CEO, we spoke about the journey of his company and when tech and regulation ease the adoption of reusables.

Be also ready to learn what does it take for

• a circular cup design,
• a good return rate,
• and a dreaming sustainable logistic system.

Not to mention his testimonial about getting local stuff versus overseas.

Don’t miss his final burning question: I am pretty sure it will nourish your own packaging consideration.

ABOUT CODY IRWIN FROM SHAREWARES

Cody was born on a remote farm in Manitoba, spent most of his youth in uptown Toronto, and studied mechanical engineering at McGill University before moving to beautiful British Columbia. He has a strong connection and love for nature, as well as a powerful draw to technology and innovation. 

For the last decade he has called Vancouver home, where he started his first venture in corporate food service for technology companies. Over 10 years he grew Natural Source into the local industry leader, at which point the pandemic almost completely wiped it out when offices closed. As devastating as this was, it was actually an amazing opportunity. With the government's relief support and by repurposing his company's resources, he was able to build ShareWares which has massive environmental, economic, and social impact potential at a global scale.

WHERE TO FIND CODY AND SHAREWARES

• Their website: https://www.sharewares.ca/ 
• Their web app: https://app.sharewares.ca/welcome
• Cody’s email: [email protected] 

CODY’S RECOMMENDED TOOL FOR OUR AUDIENCE

https://www.blinkist.com/: to have the audio version of the core of the crux of some books

LITTLE NOTES

• We spoke about the Circular Economy course of Rosemary Cooper at BCIT (where Colienne is also sub-teaching). For those who are interested to discover a bit more about it, check this webpage: https://www.bcit.ca/study/courses/bsus5220. 
• In the middle of the interview, Cody mentioned the Binners’ Project in Vancouver (see https://www.binnersproject.org/). What does binner mean? One who attempts to earn money from what can be recovered from trash bins, as coin-deposit bottles and cans.

PODCAST MUSIC

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here. 

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me. 

INTRODUCTION

When a big supermarket chain changes something, it has a huge impact! That’s why I interviewed Charlotte De Vroey, the Sustainability Manager at Delhaize Belgium. 

Charlotte shared what is behind their Lion’s Footprint initiative: less plastic, less CO2, and less food waste. Do you know why they are focused on ‘less’ instead of ‘more’? Do you wonder how they tackle the interlinked challenges of packaging and food waste? Are you curious about what is laser printing?

I really liked how Delhaize is involving its multiple stakeholders in its vision. Nobody is put on the side: we talked about investors, buyers, colleagues, suppliers, and even regulators!

If you are selling or buying products from big grocery stores, would you want to be part of this journey?

With almost 15 years of experience in sustainability, Charlotte De Vroey leads the sustainability team at Delhaize (a chain of 800 food supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg). Her focus is to propose healthy food and to maintain a healthy planet. 

Before, she worked in making product supply chain more sustainable thanks to certification.

She studied economics, ethics, and more recently, sustainable supply chains at the Cambridge University for Sustainability Leadership.

WHERE TO FIND CHARLOTTE AND DELHAIZE BELGIUM

• The Delhaize Lion’s Footprint website where everyone is welcome to share ideas: https://www.delhaize.be/fr/better/planet/lionsfootprint
• Charlotte De Vroey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-de-vroey-87981829/

LITTLE NOTES 

In order to offset its own emissions that Delhaize cannot completely eliminate, it has created - in collaboration with major suppliers such as Unilever, Mondelez, and Henkel - the Lion's Footprint Fund, which supports ecological projects managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. RiverCleanup was one of the initiatives supported which has a link with packaging.

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here. 

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me. 

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever thought about how to make a zero-waste lifestyle easier for yourself or for your food business? With her standardized containers and her low-tech deposit system, Marie has figured that out! 

She created L’Empoteuse covering 3 business models in 1. At one point or another, you are part of this!

I loved how she shared with ease and humor her advanced market research, her challenges, and her quest for the best impactful solution. Be ready to learn about 

• the importance of labels,
• a bunch of numbers demonstrating at what conditions glass jars are eco-friendly,
• and the cleaning process and distribution logistics… and some dreams about it!

ABOUT MARIE JEMINE FROM L’EMPOTEUSE

Marie Jemine is an entrepreneur committed to zero waste. She studied translation and worked as a Supply Chain Manager for a few years before she had her baby. 

Then when he was born, she realized very suddenly that he might never make it out of college or get married, due to climate change. The IPCC reports became reality when she transposed the dates on her child's timeline, and it became urgent for her to take action. 

She started reducing her waste and carbon footprint, and it became clear to her that, no matter how seducing and fulfilling was the zero-waste lifestyle, preparing food containers every morning was quite challenging for two parents working full time. 

Somehow, she had to come up with a system that would make the food containers appear in the shop or restaurant when she had forgotten them. And that's how she created l'Empoteuse, a zero-waste packaging solution for food businesses in Belgium. It is addressed to restaurants, zero-waste and organic grocery stores, and local producers. Today, L’Empoteuse continues to expand in Belgium. 

WHERE TO FIND MARIE AND L’EMPOTEUSE

• On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lempoteuse
• On the website of L’Empoteuse: https://www.lempoteuse.be/
• On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-jemine-47061a24/

MARIE'S RECOMMENDED RESOURCE FOR YOU, OUR AUDIENCE

• «From What Is to What If», a book by Rob Hopkins.

LITTLE NOTES 

Follow Marie on her coming initiatives empowered by her virtuous network: 

• A zero-waste network in collaboration with Sylvie Droulans of Zero Carabistouille.
• L'Embibineuse, a bottle project. 
• Her support to the future cooperative logistics platform, LogCica.

PODCAST MUSIC

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here. 

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST, SAMUEL CHAPPEL FROM LASEMO

Samuel Chappel is an event creator and organizer and an expert in sustainable events.

In 2008, convinced that it is possible to have fun differently, he created the LaSemo multidisciplinary festival with the desire to combine sustainable development with a festive moment. LaSemo is recognized today for its pioneering work on the subject and its innovative approach to the festival, seen as a true experience for the public.

Samuel Chappel also took over the organization and management of Namur en Mai and Bucolic Brussels.

He teaches sustainable development issues applied to events at IHECS and supports organizers to improve their practices on the subject.

WHERE TO FIND SAMUEL AND LASEMO

On the website of LaSemo: https://www.lasemo.be/

On Samuel Chappel’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samchap/

SAMUEL'S RECOMMENDED RESOURCE FOR YOU, OUR AUDIENCE

Samuel spoke about the coming program «Event Change»: You will find more info on this page https://pastoo.be/#projets. Stay tuned!

LITTLE NOTES

About sorting garbage in festivals, Colienne mentioned the work of Liliana from Green Chair (throughout Metro Vancouver in Canada)  https://www.greenchairrecycling.com/aboutus/.

When Samuel shared with us that, for now, each Belgian generates around 1.5 kg of garbage per day, he mentioned that it might be different in Canada. Yes, it is! Colienne Regout (the host of Unboxing Your Packaging) was talking about the 2.7 kg generated by Canadians in the Circulab podcast where she was the guest that time: https://circulab.com/podcast/how-is-canadian-sustainability-awareness-seen-through-a-european-lens/ (the big question about waste starts at 13:45 min but we suggest listening to the whole interview).

Ecocup is the company LaSemo works with so far for reusable cups and plates: https://ecocup.com/.

About accessories, Colienne mentioned the start-up Nyoka, the creators of Lumi, the world's first earth-friendly glow stick, powered with bioluminescence and healing for the Earth: https://www.lightbynyoka.com/news/tag/eco+friendly+glow+stick. 

PODCAST MUSIC

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me. 

On the website of Freddy met Curry: https://freddymetcurry.brussels/

On social media: https://www.instagram.com/freddymetcurry/, https://www.facebook.com/freddymetcurry.be/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/freddy-met-curry/

​’’Reinventing Organizations’’, a book by Frederic Laloux: see https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/

In this interview, Jérémie is using the word « biological » several times, just keep in mind that he actually means « organic ».

Jérémie was born in Brussels and studied Business Engineer in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). After his studies he worked one year in Frankfurt as Financial Analyst in a private equity fund aiming at investing in renewable energy & storage projects. Following that experience he worked 3 years as ‘operational excellence’ consultant where he realized the difficulties employees had to eat healthy and eco-responsibly at work. That’s when and how he developed the concept of Freddy met Curry.

From a very “ecologically concerned and aware” family, Jeremie had always wanted to work in the eco field or launch a project that did not hurt the environment.

Moreover, Jérémie is a big fan of sports, and recently started paragliding.

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me.

Share with us

• Your packaging roar with its dreaming solution
• Your timeless packaging buddy
• Your recent highlighting packaging discovery
• Or if you prefer to keep your mind in holiday mode, share with us how your Wonder Packaging Land would look like and why!? Maybe you even have a brand to recommend!

Through all these kinds of packaging, what are your preferences? Their price, their aspect, their convenience, their social or environmental aspect? 

Leave your thoughts by dropping a line on Colienne’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colienneregout/en or on the https://www.look4loops.com website. 

Sophie Liu is a Business Development Manager for North America at Loop. With Loop since July 2018, Sophie helped Loop launch in 2019 and now focuses on growing Loop’s brand & retail partnerships in North America.

Before Loop, Sophie studied ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, where she began her sustainability journey slowly, immersed in the natural areas of the Finger Lakes & a generally waste-conscious Ithaca. Following college, Sophie worked in non-profit development and event planning, where she began to more seriously address her everyday packaging waste & learning anything and everything about packaging, recycling, reuse, and trash in general. She continues to advocate for low waste living and systemic solutions to disposability.

e-commerce at https://loopbyulta.com/, https://loopstore.co.uk/, and https://loopstore.ca/.

Loop on Instagram: @shoploopstore

Loop on Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/shoploop

Loop on Twitter: @chooseloop

Loop on Facebook: facebook.com/shoploopstore

Sophie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stl38/

You can find information about the 5 Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot) of the Zero Waste movement (launched by Béa Jonhson) mentioned at the end of this episode, here: https://zerowastehome.com/.

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

David Katz is the founder and CEO of Plastic Bank, an internationally recognized solution to ocean plastic with global partners that include SC Johnson, Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Carton Pack and Advansa.

He is a steward of the Earth and a champion for the poor whose humanitarian work has earned him international recognition.

David is also the past president of the Vancouver BC Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and has received the United Nations Lighthouse award for Planetary Health, the Paris Climate Conference Sustained community award, and the Ernst and Young Lifetime Achievement award.

The committed photograph Chris Jordan

Stephen R. Covey’s book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Check the Plastic Bank website: https://plasticbank.com/

1) We mentioned the name ‘Alchemy™’: it is the Plastic Bank’s blockchain platform securing the entire transaction and providing real-time data visualization – allowing for transparency, traceability, and rapid scalability.

2) While David explained the input of feminine energy, he spoke about the Circular Economy. If you want to have a 4 min 20 sec audio explanation about the Circular Economy, listen from 00:03:53 to 00:08:13 of the 30 minutes Idea Shots- Season 2, Episode 4 with Adina Vlad, Alec Bălășescu and Colienne Regout

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

Labels about recycling suggested by Green Blue: https://greenblue.org/work/how2recycle/

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition: https://sustainablepackaging.org/projects/how2recycle/

'How to Compost' Labels: http://how2compost.info/

The book: "Thinking in Systems" by Donella Meadows: http://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-book-sale/

The Regenerative Waste Labs: https://www.regenwastelabs.com/, and a direct link to the 'Think Ahead Workshop Series' mentioned: https://www.regenwastelabs.com/workshops

Grey to Green Sustainable Solutions, her consulting company: https://www.greytogreensolutions.com/

On social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/regenerative-waste-labs/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/love-ese-chile/ and https://www.instagram.com/regenerativewastelabs/

1) About organics recovery processes mentioned:

The end product of the ‘Anaerobic Digestion’ is biogas and anaerobic sludge which is different from the ‘Industrial Compost’ creating a medium to high-quality compost. These two processes are managed by municipalities and private companies in Canada and work under well-managed temperature and moisture. 

While ‘Home Compost’ usually produces compost in a variable environment managed by individuals.

2) Not 100% sure to understand what 'closing the loop’ means? Listen to Episode #02: The ‘Redesign Reuse Recover’ strategy to catalyze your packaging impact.

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

The National Zero Waste Council: http://www.nzwc.ca/

The Story of Stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The Clean Bin Project: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thecleanbinproject

Just Eat It: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/justeatit

Freigthened – The Real Price of Shipping: https://www.freightened.com/

The Recycling Alternative website: https://recyclingalternative.com/

The ‘YWCA Woman of Distinction Award’, for Environmental Sustainability, in May 2012

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 

The City of Vancouver’s Award of Excellence for Greenest City Leadership in 2014. 

BC Small Business Award for “The Best Community Impact” in 2018 

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.