TRANSKRIPTIO 🔗
WEBVTT
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How much of your trash and recycling do you think
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actually gets either recycled or composted in
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the city? Yeah, zero percent. Yeah, I know. I
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know for a fact my recycling bin and trash bins
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get mixed together. I don't know how true this
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is, but I heard a rumor that Philadelphia doesn't
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actually recycle. I would say less than 50 percent
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of you if I had to like guess. I fully believe
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that it all goes to the same place. I think composting
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zero, just self. thought and I think I've seen
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them put the trash and recycling in the same
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truck. Yep, that happens. I think maybe 50%.
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I was hopeful it was 100%. I don't think I'd
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be very optimistic there, maybe like 10%. My
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guess is probably like... Welcome to the Circle
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Up podcast where we tell the stories of the circular
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economy in Philadelphia. Well, so let's circle
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up. I'm Candice Lawton, executive director of
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Circular Philadelphia. And I'm Sam Wichin, co
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-founder of Circular Philadelphia. In the first
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episode, we heard all about how companies like
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Diver and Rabbit Recycling are working to improve
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recycling in the city. But that's just one facet
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of the circular economy. And if you missed it,
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the circular economy is a smarter way to approach
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how we make, use, and dispose of materials. It's
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a continuous loop where we design out waste,
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keep materials in circulation through reuse,
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repair, and sharing resources, and at the end
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of their life, recycle them or break them down
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into their component parts to be used for the
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next product. So circular economy is not a new
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concept. It's really a return to the way we used
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to do things before we had single use. So nowadays
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when we walk into a supermarket, you're going
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to see a lot of plastic, right? Plastic bottles
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on the shelves, flexible plastic packaging that
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your chips and your snacks come in. But before
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World War II, a lot of things were still being
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made in metal, glass. When you walked into a
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supermarket, almost everything was packaged in
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glass, or you were going to a local market and
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bringing your own containers, or you had your
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milk delivered to your doorstep in a glass bottle,
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and you would drink that milk, put the milk bottle
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out, the milkman would come pick that bottle
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up. take it, get washed, and it would go back
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into the system. So this is not a new idea. It's
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more so taking a look at how we are making, buying,
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selling, distributing goods today and shifting
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back to some of those ways that we used to do
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things where we weren't so reliant on single
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use and disposable packaging. So in a circular
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economy, again, products and materials are kept
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in circulation through maintenance, reuse, refurbishment,
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remanufacture, and it's really based on three
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core principles. So eliminating waste and pollution.
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circulating products and materials to their highest
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value and regenerating nature. How we got where
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we are today as far as being in a linear economy
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where, yeah, we're extracting resources, refining
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them, making them into things, using those things
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very briefly, and then just burying and burning
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them. A lot of it was, you know, population growth.
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A lot more people in places trying to figure
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out how to get goods to people. A big part of
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it is business, right? And businesses trying
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to, you know, come up with new ways to have a
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sustainable business model. It's like, okay,
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we can make something and we can mass produce
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that and distribute it to people. And the more,
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you know, more and more people buying more and
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more things, that's continual growth. So that's
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like a viable business model. I don't know, I'm
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curious what Sam has to say on this topic too,
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because I have a lot of other ideas, but I want
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to see what you have to say. Well, certainly
Load full transcript
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the lie of convenience was one of the big ones
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after World War II, and we saw the rise of the
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larger supermarket chains and the idea that you
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could just grab something and go, and the rise
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of the plastic industry at the same time. The
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confluence of those things really changed what
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people thought that they needed to do as far
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as their day -to -day lifestyle and the modern
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woman wanted a convenient lifestyle where they
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could go to the grocery store and they could
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get their goods easily and they didn't have to
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worry about their containers and bringing them
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back. And then we see that the plastic industry
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really explodes and creates this opportunity
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for these single -use packaging options. Yeah,
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actually as you were talking I was thinking about
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this advertisement I saw that's from Time magazine
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way back in the day and it's like a black and
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white photo of a family having a picnic and They
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basically just pulled the picnic blanket up and
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shook it out and all of the disposables are flying
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up in the air and everyone's like, yeah, disposables.
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Like, we just had a picnic and we're gonna throw
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all this stuff away and no work for mom. Cause
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I think you bring up a really good point. At
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that time, the house, like the roles of the household
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were changing. The roles of women in the household
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were changing too. And historically it was like.
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woman would maintain the household, do all the
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cooking, cleaning, shopping, and now it's like,
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okay, mom wants to also have a job, it's supporting
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while dad is out fighting in a war. Now it's
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so much more convenient and quick and easy to
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have these disposable materials and celebrate
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not having all that work. but we would probably
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look on that image right in horror now to think
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about just like celebrating all this trash being
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created and yeah I mean plastic industry is such
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a big part of it right like plastic is not an
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old thing it's still relatively new even though
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it's so ubiquitous and everywhere it's it's only
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really been around for 50 or 60 years now and
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you know with plastic it's it's kind of a paradox
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because the very same things that make plastic
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so usable, that it's durable, it's flexible,
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it can handle high temperatures, it's lightweight,
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it's relatively inexpensive to produce, are the
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same exact qualities that make plastic so hard
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to get rid of, right? And turn back into new
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things. Plastic is a petroleum product, so it
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comes from oil. And it's everywhere. Plastic
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bottles, yes, but also things like food packaging,
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beauty products, cars, and even the vast majority
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of clothing. Yeah, and it's convenient and it's
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ultimately what's made so many of those things
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more affordable, but at what cost? Plastic is
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now covering our planet. It's degrading into
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microplastics, which are little flakes of plastic
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that are like a nanometer in size that have been
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found now in the human body and our bloodstreams.
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It's having health impacts. It's leaking into
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nature where it's harming animals. And as we're
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learning these consequences to this convenient
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plastic packaging, one way to eliminate these
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impacts is to avoid it. So we can opt for complete
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package -free products or we can use materials
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that are inert and infinitely reusable. Materials
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like glass. I'm Rae Daly and we are in Rae's
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Reusables which is the refill shop in the Northern
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Liberties. Rae's Reusables actually started off
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in like 2019. I was looking to make something
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out of like the jeans that I had worn through
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the thigh. You know you get to a certain point
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where you wear through the thigh and you can't
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really do anything with them anymore regardless
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of how you mend them. And I always felt really
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bad about that because I was like, it's a ton
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of material still there. That's really obnoxious.
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So I started making cutlery pouches that were
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for travel cutlery out of them. And then in addition
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to that, tote bags and various other things.
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So in 2019, I'd done a couple of craft shows.
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I was feeling really confident, getting some
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wind in my sails. And at the beginning of 2020,
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I was like, hey, job, I'm going to pursue this
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full time. Bye. And then my last day was... Like
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right when people, I worked at a grocery store
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and it was right when people started panic shopping
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and I was like, what have I done? And all of
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the markets that I'd lined up for that year told
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me they were pulling the plug. And fortunately
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because I was sewing stuff and there was a huge
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PPE shortage, I started sewing masks. And as
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I was doing that, because it was like kind of
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a critical need, I was able to sell at farmers
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markets and I started adding in some other items
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that were like the reusable paper towels, the
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denim cutlery stuff, and it just kind of grew
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and grew from there until I kind of decided to
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fast -track my dream to have a refill shop. But
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I didn't want to have a storefront right off
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the bat, so we decided to do it mobily so we
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could keep people safe in the outdoors and continue
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to do farmers markets and pop -ups. So, I bought
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a full -size cargo van and my father -in -law
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helped me outfit the back of it with cabinetry.
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Actually, that's cabinetry from the van. We managed
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to save it for the shop after we sold the van,
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but he helped me outfit it with cabinetry so
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that I could put big gallons of laundry detergent,
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dish soap, you know, all the things that we have,
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or not all of them, but a majority of the things
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that we have for refill in the shop were just
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in the back of the van. And I would just drive
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the van to farmers markets. We would set up and
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kind of operate much in the same way that we
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operate the store. So we started with the van
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and that grew into this. So customers are always
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welcome to bring any container that they have
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at home. It just has to be clean, dry, and empty.
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So it can be glass, it can be aluminum, it can
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be plastic. Plastic is a little bit more difficult
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to get fully dry, so I usually recommend glass,
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but it's not a deal breaker if it's not. And
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then when they come in they'll weigh it right
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down the tear weight so we know how much to subtract
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at the end. They'll fill however much or little
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they want and then we subtract the empty weight
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from the total weight so we know how much the
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weight of the product is and they just pay for
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the weight of the product. I think that it can
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seem a little bit daunting. So part of the reason
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that we always walk people through on the first
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time is so that we can set up the rules, like
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making sure that people know that the container
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has to be clean, dry, and empty, but also to
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make sure that somebody knows that there's a
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person that they can ask questions to. Because
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I think sometimes people feel really self -conscious
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asking questions, even though it's literally
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my job to be here to answer questions. So I never
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want people to feel like they can't ask something.
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But I think there are certain elements to refilling
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that, like, it's not convenient, right? You have
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to make sure that your containers are clean and
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empty. You have to make sure that you have the
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time to come in and write down the tarot weight
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and, like, go and fill it and have, like, a more
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timely or, like, time -consuming interaction.
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Which is part of why we started doing pre -filled
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stuff so that people can come in and grab what
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they need and get out rather than having, like,
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especially if you've got kids coming in here
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with them and, like, you know, the kids are touching
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everything and, like, you're keeping an eye on
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them to make sure they don't pump liquid all
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over the floor. So we tried to... to bridge that
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gap, to make it a little bit easier, to make
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it a little bit less time -consuming. And we're
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working on a system for people to return those
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containers to us so that we can wash them and
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reuse them again and maintain that circularity
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in our packaging as well. But yeah, I do think
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that there's an element of fear and an element
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of not really being sure how to manage the inconvenience
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of it. But once you get into a flow of it, I
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don't think it's as inconvenient as people think.
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I think that the people who shop here, mostly
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people who are down for the mission, like they
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are invested in trying to do some small part
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and feel like they are actively contributing
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towards a less wasteful or less environmentally
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damaging lifestyle. And yeah, a lot of people
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are people with children. So I think that there's
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some element of it that is like, I want to do
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better so that my... kids have a better place
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to live than like maybe we're headed for now.
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Some of them are people who've been shopping
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with me from early days early days of the van
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they would like show up when it was raining where
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I'd be like okay you're a real ride or die like
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I don't know if I'd be out here in this weather
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but I'm here too so we're doing this. So we have
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um a number of ways that we determine what we're
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gonna sell in the shop. Number one is like the
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need like right to People need hand soap and
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dish soap and laundry detergent They're the things
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that you use every day and the things that you're
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kind of Constantly buying in a new bottle and
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like also no one's selling laundry detergent
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a glass bottle. It's just all the bad packaging
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So we kind of look at what do people need and
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then to find the vendors that we
want to work
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with We do a lot of research to find ones who
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are selling in the format that we want So when
00:13:22.970 --> 00:13:25.169
it comes to vetting the vendors that we use and
00:13:25.169 --> 00:13:26.549
the ingredients that we use, we look for a couple
00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:29.669
of different things. One is, I hesitate to say
00:13:29.669 --> 00:13:31.230
clean ingredients because that doesn't really
00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:33.210
mean anything. We have a list of ingredients
00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:35.669
that we don't allow in any of the products. There's
00:13:35.669 --> 00:13:37.590
no parabens, no phthalates, no sulfates, no palm
00:13:37.590 --> 00:13:43.210
oil, no artificial colorants. We don't outlaw
00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:46.330
fragrance oils full stop, but we do really look
00:13:46.330 --> 00:13:48.870
into which fragrance oils and making sure they're
00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:52.360
high -poly fragrance oils. and then also we try
00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.100
and partner with small businesses as much as
00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.960
possible because it's an easier way to make sure
00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:59.019
that there's like an ethical supply chain and
00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.779
you know for instance make sure that we can send
00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:04.120
drums back to them or you know have a circular
00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.019
economy not only in people refilling here but
00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:09.980
also in terms of the packaging that we're receiving
00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:13.299
going back and being reused. So it varies vendor
00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:16.080
to vendor. The vendor that we buy like hand soap
00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.000
dish soap and laundry detergent from that arrives
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.320
to us in 30 gallon drums. And then when we accumulate
00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.460
eight empty drums, we just shoot them a message
00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:27.340
like, hey besties, we have eight drums. Please
00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:32.000
send them to pick them up XOXO. And then we strap
00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.820
them down to a pallet and they arrange for the
00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:36.279
transporter to come and pick them up from us
00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.019
so that they can go back to their facility, be
00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:39.960
washed out, sanitized and reused and re -sent
00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:43.480
out. There are other vendors that aren't quite
00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:45.279
as circular but still have like a recycling scheme
00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.419
in place. For instance, the people that we buy
00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:50.500
the conditioner, shampoo, body wash, and lotion
00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:53.240
from, send them in two and a half gallon bags.
00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.460
And those get sent back to them for appropriate
00:14:56.460 --> 00:14:59.100
recycling. And then we have some local vendors
00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:01.559
that we get buckets swapped out. But sometimes
00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:02.980
I just give those away because people need buckets
00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:08.639
all the time, so. So many of the non -refill,
00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.120
like specifically things in bar form, I think
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.580
kind of actually speak to a refill moment because
00:15:15.049 --> 00:15:18.129
If you think about where the issue is with a
00:15:18.129 --> 00:15:19.809
lot of these products is that the packaging that
00:15:19.809 --> 00:15:22.690
you receive them in is usually plastic, and for
00:15:22.690 --> 00:15:24.490
liquids it kind of has to be plastic because
00:15:24.490 --> 00:15:26.970
there's not a ton of really suitable solutions
00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:31.190
that are good for shipping en masse. But when
00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:33.090
it comes to a bar, like a shampoo bar, a bar
00:15:33.090 --> 00:15:36.350
of soap, a dish block which is a solid form dish
00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:39.289
soap, those are all products that function in
00:15:39.289 --> 00:15:40.870
the same way as those ones that you would normally
00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:44.169
refill, but because there's no water being shipped...
00:15:44.429 --> 00:15:48.570
and there's no need for plastic packaging, it
00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:51.389
really reduces not only the packaging burden,
00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:54.870
but also the shipping emissions because it's
00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:56.929
lighter. You're not shipping the weight of the
00:15:56.929 --> 00:16:00.129
liquid. So those, I mean, the ingredients criteria
00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:01.950
are still very much the same for all of those
00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:04.809
items. And then the items that are more like,
00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:08.149
you know, sponges or the paperless towels, it's
00:16:08.149 --> 00:16:12.389
kind of like if we have something where somebody
00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:15.779
is routinely throwing it away. Number one is
00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:18.820
there a solution that is compostable rather than
00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:23.100
a plastic version so like so Sponges are our
00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:24.980
sponges are cellulose fiber, which is completely
00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:28.299
compostable Whereas a normal sponge is polyester.
00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:30.480
So when it when that's done, you're just straight
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.120
land filling it and we have a bunch of items
00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.539
that are like compostable or biodegradable versions
00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.899
of Like plastic or like kind of sneaky plastics
00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:42.159
in your life And then we also have various items
00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.159
that are just kind of meant for household cleaning.
00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.299
So like we've got scrubbers. We've got What else
00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:50.840
we got? We just got unsqueegees. We got fly swatters.
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.620
We got Just things
that you wouldn't normally
00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:55.659
use around your house And some of them are at
00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:58.080
this point kind of things that people who are
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.299
looking to give a sustainable gift end up giving
00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:01.899
like a housewarming gift So it's all things you
00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:03.440
would use around your house. We've got some lovely
00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:07.240
candles from the local candle maker Things like
00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:11.220
that So our perspective or our philosophy is
00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:15.619
kind of that it is better to prevent the trash
00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:17.740
from being created in the first place than to
00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:20.859
try and find a Recycling solution for it because
00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:24.200
recycling isn't a great system. I would it's
00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.259
not a perfect system for sure It's not even really
00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:27.819
approaching perfect system in a lot of cases,
00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:31.420
especially as it relates to plastic So our philosophy
00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:33.440
is just if you don't have to create it in the
00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.430
first place then that really removes a lot of
00:17:36.430 --> 00:17:39.509
that from ever having to be dealt with. So even
00:17:39.509 --> 00:17:41.970
in the case of our shampoo and conditioner things
00:17:41.970 --> 00:17:43.509
that are coming in these two and a half gallon
00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:46.410
bags, even though those are being recycled rather
00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:50.730
than reused, they fill approximately 20 16 ounce
00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:52.470
bottles. So if you think about the amount of
00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:54.890
plastic that's generated with that bag versus
00:17:54.890 --> 00:17:57.069
how much plastic would be generated in those
00:17:57.069 --> 00:17:58.990
20 bottles, even though that's being recycled,
00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:01.450
it's a better system than one where you're trying
00:18:01.450 --> 00:18:05.250
to recycle all those bottles individually. Glass
00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:09.049
is really great in that it is infinitely recyclable,
00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:11.529
like it can be crushed down, it can be re -blown,
00:18:11.730 --> 00:18:15.089
it is a great product for that. The issue though,
00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:18.490
however, is that much like all recycling, only
00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:20.609
a certain amount that goes into those recycling
00:18:20.609 --> 00:18:22.609
bins really gets recycled, which is a large part
00:18:22.609 --> 00:18:24.089
of why we partner with like Bottle Underground
00:18:24.089 --> 00:18:25.630
because they're local, we can make sure that
00:18:25.630 --> 00:18:28.009
the glass is going to be appropriately recycled.
00:18:29.529 --> 00:18:31.769
But like aside from the convenience of it, plastic
00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:37.829
is really... In terms of its creation and in
00:18:37.829 --> 00:18:42.230
terms of packaging one of the I Don't want to
00:18:42.230 --> 00:18:44.329
say better options, but like it's lightweight.
00:18:44.390 --> 00:18:46.390
It's not breakable You know, there's all these
00:18:46.390 --> 00:18:48.369
reads like a waste product from the fossil fuel
00:18:48.369 --> 00:18:50.670
industry So all these reasons why it's like great
00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:52.869
on the front end and it's just terrible on the
00:18:52.869 --> 00:18:56.190
back end and I think a large reason Was kind
00:18:56.190 --> 00:18:58.609
of highlighted a couple of years ago when we
00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:01.569
like we were just exporting so much of the trash
00:19:01.569 --> 00:19:05.289
that we were creating into Like these less wealthy
00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:08.190
countries and having them kind of manage our
00:19:08.190 --> 00:19:10.490
trash and like recycle it there But then how
00:19:10.490 --> 00:19:12.509
much of that recycling ends up being recycled,
00:19:12.529 --> 00:19:16.029
you know, it's like pushing off our waste on
00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:19.029
to Less wealthy countries and I feel like that's
00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:21.609
kind of like a human rights issue in addition
00:19:21.609 --> 00:19:23.609
to that. I mean like that plastic just never
00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:25.609
goes away like it never goes away so even if
00:19:25.609 --> 00:19:28.390
it's staying in this country it's it's still
00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:31.250
like if it's not actually getting recycled which
00:19:31.250 --> 00:19:33.529
a vast majority of the plastic created here is
00:19:33.529 --> 00:19:36.650
not you know it's gonna be in those landfills
00:19:36.650 --> 00:19:40.549
for centuries it's gonna be eaten by birds i
00:19:40.549 --> 00:19:42.190
was reading an article the other day that like
00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:45.130
was so like soul crushing about birds in like
00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:47.819
this remote island where they like crinkle, you
00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:49.740
touch them and they crinkle because they've ingested
00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:52.480
so much plastic and it's just like it's devastating
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.660
to see that like this wildlife is just like really
00:19:55.660 --> 00:20:00.359
suffering at our expense because we have to be
00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:07.319
convenience at all times. I think that on the
00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:09.759
whole Philadelphia is a city that's really ready
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.539
for to be green like people here really want
00:20:12.970 --> 00:20:15.349
to invest in these green initiatives. They really
00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:23.450
want these programs. I think that for customers
00:20:23.450 --> 00:20:27.809
the challenging parts are just it's like it requires
00:20:27.809 --> 00:20:30.509
an extra step of planning. The thing that I have
00:20:30.509 --> 00:20:32.589
found people have most success with is that if
00:20:32.589 --> 00:20:36.089
you have a like rather
than bringing the container
00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:37.930
that you are dispensing from at your sink or
00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:39.690
in your shower or whatever a lot of people will
00:20:39.690 --> 00:20:42.059
have a backup container. and that lives under
00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:44.160
their sink it lives wherever it's maybe just
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.779
a kombucha jar that you washed out and that way
00:20:46.779 --> 00:20:48.819
you can label what it is and when you empty it
00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:51.000
you wash it immediately and you put it in your
00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.559
refill bag and that way you can look in there
00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:56.299
and say cool i don't have any hand soap under
00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:59.140
the sink i know i need to get hand soap now so
00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:00.759
that that's one strategy that i've seen really
00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:13.289
work well for people I personally hate the phrase
00:21:13.289 --> 00:21:17.750
zero waste because I think that it is an impossible
00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:19.789
standard to hold anyone to. I certainly don't
00:21:19.789 --> 00:21:21.910
hold myself to the standard of making absolutely
00:21:21.910 --> 00:21:25.150
no waste, but I think that realistically it's
00:21:25.150 --> 00:21:26.809
like the catchiest and easiest thing to say.
00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:30.109
But aiming to live a lower waste lifestyle I
00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:33.210
think is like a more accurate depiction because
00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:35.289
maybe someday you're gonna be out and you're
00:21:35.289 --> 00:21:38.069
gonna be like, I am so tired and I don't have
00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:40.109
my reasonable cup with me and I need a latte
00:21:40.109 --> 00:21:45.289
right now. It's okay. Get the latte. Maybe you're
00:21:45.289 --> 00:21:47.250
depressed and you're like, I literally can't
00:21:47.250 --> 00:21:49.369
cook anything. I'm gonna get takeout. Love that
00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:52.190
for you, babe. Do it. Live your life in a way
00:21:52.190 --> 00:21:54.069
that makes sense and then reduce the waste where
00:21:54.069 --> 00:21:56.349
you can so that you don't have to feel as guilty
00:21:56.349 --> 00:22:02.029
about the places where you can. I think that
00:22:02.029 --> 00:22:05.430
there's no one right place to start. So usually
00:22:05.430 --> 00:22:07.650
when somebody comes in and says, I want to do
00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:10.769
zero waste, how do? I will say like, you know,
00:22:11.969 --> 00:22:14.970
When when you go home over the next week over
00:22:14.970 --> 00:22:17.529
the next two weeks over the next month Take a
00:22:17.529 --> 00:22:20.930
look at what is going into your trash can You
00:22:20.930 --> 00:22:23.049
can start there. Take a look like okay. I need
00:22:23.049 --> 00:22:25.190
to replace this thing How are you gonna like
00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:26.549
look at the things in your house that you're
00:22:26.549 --> 00:22:28.470
like? I know that this is
made of plastic. I
00:22:28.470 --> 00:22:30.609
know this is packaged in plastic. Whatever when
00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:32.490
you start getting to the end of those products
00:22:32.730 --> 00:22:34.950
Replace them gradually rather than trying to
00:22:34.950 --> 00:22:37.289
do a full sweep at once is nobody's friend like
00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:39.690
nobody that can't be maintained I think I think
00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:41.690
it's really really difficult if you're looking
00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:44.049
to start with refills I would start with hand
00:22:44.049 --> 00:22:45.470
dish and laundry detergent. You're likely to
00:22:45.470 --> 00:22:48.809
go through them the fastest And then like I said
00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:51.049
as you start to run through like your all the
00:22:51.049 --> 00:22:53.329
sponges are gone If when you start to run through
00:22:53.329 --> 00:22:55.930
your paper towels, you can start to see like
00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:59.269
what can I? Swap out that is a more sustainable
00:22:59.269 --> 00:23:02.660
option here and that way it feels more manageable.
00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:05.180
Well, I'm not religious, but the thing that I
00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:07.180
always like to say to myself and to my husband
00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:09.059
is like, okay, God and the environment forgive
00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:19.200
you. Like, you know, you're absolved. We try
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.480
and make solutions, like we offer these recycling
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:25.480
programs, not because they're of great convenience
00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:28.220
to us, but because we know that they are the
00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:31.579
things that... really make an impact for people
00:23:31.579 --> 00:23:36.839
and make them feel like they are doing something.
00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:39.079
Bottle Underground came first when we first opened
00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:40.839
the store I knew that they had a program running
00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:45.359
like this with Goodbye Supply so I reached out
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.019
and said like hey I know that like we're maybe
00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:51.240
like closer to a lot of people because South
00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.180
Philly to drop it at the Bach or to drop it with
00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:56.200
Goodbye it's kind of a hike from here to there.
00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:00.440
So they set us up with these crates, they come
00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:03.400
once a week to pick up, and then the glass that
00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:06.779
they pick up is either washed and sanitized for
00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:09.660
repurchase, like our 64 ounce growlers are actually
00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:14.519
old kombucha growlers. Yeah. And I know that
00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:17.000
there's other packaging that they sell to other
00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.319
vendors like Melissa from Bellum Street Soaps
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:21.119
buys some of her packaging from them as well.
00:24:22.159 --> 00:24:24.900
our
partnership with Rabbit came afterwards and
00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:26.200
it was just me trying to think about like what
00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:29.140
can I do to lessen this burden on people like
00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:30.720
what can I do for all these things that just
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:32.920
accumulate like the kipple that you generate
00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.599
in your daily life and so when we talked to them
00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:39.019
I was like what are some of the things that you
00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:41.920
see most frequently in the boxes because if you
00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.220
don't know they do like a swap like a single
00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:48.119
stream niche recycling swap program and so they
00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:50.859
gave me like their like junk drawer list of like
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.319
bread tags, rubber bands, twist ties, produce
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.220
nets, the wires and cables, and we we picked
00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:01.779
like I think eight different ones to start off
00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:04.960
with and then eventually we did a flexible plastics
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.519
collection which we asked them about how to pre
00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:10.299
-sort for them so that we could kind of lessen
00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:13.359
the burden on them once they got it. So the the
00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:15.519
glass the shop pays for, the flexible plastics,
00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:19.200
and the niche recycling with rabbit we We'll
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:21.180
get an invoice from them for the cost to recycle
00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:25.500
those items and then Once we get that was like,
00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:28.000
hey friends This is how much it cost this month
00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.660
if you would like to donate to help fund this
00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:38.119
This is how to do so And we've been really fortunate
00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:39.940
that the the whole time that we've been doing
00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:42.079
it it's been fully funded by the community the
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:47.460
whole time So I think it's what I do think is
00:25:47.460 --> 00:25:49.200
really cool that Circular Philly is doing and
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.279
I think kind of unique to Circular Philadelphia
00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:54.720
is it's not exclusive to business owners. It
00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.500
is something that is connecting business owners,
00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:01.480
average citizens, like people who are just interested
00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.839
in sustainability and circularity in a way that
00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:06.740
I don't really know that another organization
00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:09.339
is necessarily because I know that the SBN is
00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:12.000
strictly focused on business ownership and sustainable
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.269
businesses in the Philadelphia region. So I think
00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:17.269
that that is a really cool and really successful
00:26:17.269 --> 00:26:21.609
thing that Circular Philadelphia is doing. It
00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:23.269
would be really cool if there was some kind of
00:26:23.269 --> 00:26:25.750
metric for sustainability that was certifiable
00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:29.029
or like a zero waste certifiable kind of thing,
00:26:29.829 --> 00:26:32.470
you know, low waste or x number of waste. Ideally,
00:26:32.529 --> 00:26:35.569
I think it would encourage more businesses to
00:26:35.569 --> 00:26:37.750
implement sustainable practices and therefore
00:26:37.750 --> 00:26:41.329
be rewarded for them. Like I don't... Like, you
00:26:41.329 --> 00:26:45.049
know, we can have a carrot. Just a little carrot
00:26:45.049 --> 00:26:50.690
to encourage everyone. But yeah, I do think that
00:26:50.690 --> 00:26:53.630
there is a level of what I like to call eco -nihilism,
00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:57.930
where people eventually say nothing matters and
00:26:57.930 --> 00:26:59.930
no matter what I do, the planet is doomed and
00:26:59.930 --> 00:27:02.349
we're all going to die in the climate wars and,
00:27:02.930 --> 00:27:07.890
you know, maybe. But I think that the eco -nihilism
00:27:07.890 --> 00:27:13.369
is really easy to give into. I think those feelings
00:27:13.369 --> 00:27:16.769
are valid. I think that it's valid to feel really
00:27:16.769 --> 00:27:21.049
distraught and upset about what's happening in
00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:26.329
the world and our part in it and larger society's
00:27:26.329 --> 00:27:31.349
part in it. But I think that individual actions
00:27:31.349 --> 00:27:35.990
do still matter. Honestly, I'm really lucky because...
00:27:35.950 --> 00:27:38.430
I'm somebody who gets to just work my job and
00:27:38.430 --> 00:27:39.829
people say, thank you so much for being here.
00:27:39.829 --> 00:27:41.930
I'm so glad you're here. Like, I've been looking
00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:43.869
for a shop like this. So I feel like that's kind
00:27:43.869 --> 00:27:47.549
of where it comes for me is the gratitude that
00:27:47.549 --> 00:27:49.329
I get to experience from people because I know
00:27:49.329 --> 00:27:51.750
in that situation that it's something that's
00:27:51.750 --> 00:27:54.109
really valuable and important for them and that
00:27:54.109 --> 00:27:55.809
they have seen some impact in their life from
00:27:55.809 --> 00:27:58.930
it. That was Ray Dailey from Ray's Reusables,
00:27:59.069 --> 00:28:01.529
a low -waste shop located in Northern Liberty's.
00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:04.190
My name is John Kispulsky and I live in Northern
00:28:04.190 --> 00:28:07.240
Liberty's. I've been a customer of Raise Reusables
00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:10.420
for about six months. I've definitely introduced
00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:13.579
a bunch of my friends to Raise Reusables, and
00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:15.980
what I tell them is essentially like, hey, this
00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:19.240
is a great store, everyone is so friendly, all
00:28:19.240 -->
00:28:22.079
the products are amazing, as well as the fact
00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:24.240
that everything is just good for the environment
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.259
and good for your body. It's a great way to replace
00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:29.579
products that you use on the day -to -day with
00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:32.460
things that are just even better for you and
00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:36.720
for the world. As for the recycling services,
00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:40.640
I definitely have dropped off a few things here
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:43.660
and there for recycling and I love the fact that
00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:46.099
even something as small as my contact lens cases
00:28:46.099 --> 00:28:51.200
have a place to be recycled at Ray's store. My
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.160
name is Sophia and I live in Old City, Philadelphia.
00:28:55.779 --> 00:28:58.940
I've been a customer at Ray's Reusables since
00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:05.740
January of 2022. I decided to use Raise Reusables
00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:10.400
because I hate waste. I really do not like single
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:17.019
use anything. And any way that I can reduce my
00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:22.160
footprint and make less of a wasteful impact
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:27.960
on the environment, I want to pursue. The benefits
00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:31.500
of using services that Raise Reusables are obvious,
00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:36.049
right? We're reducing waste. We're reducing our
00:29:36.049 --> 00:29:39.269
consumption. We're reducing what goes into the
00:29:39.269 --> 00:29:43.430
landfill. That's the no -brainer. But the personal
00:29:43.430 --> 00:29:48.509
benefit to me is Ray and herself. She's just
00:29:48.509 --> 00:29:53.009
a joy. Every time I go into the store, it's like
00:29:53.009 --> 00:29:56.869
being with a friend. And it's great to have a
00:29:56.869 --> 00:30:03.319
friend in the business that can help me to try
00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:07.380
to do better. I think just having Ray in our
00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:15.940
community is a big benefit. One of the cool things
00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:17.859
about Ray's shop is that the glass bottles you
00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:20.460
find there are reused as well. Ray is one of
00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:23.059
the customers of Philadelphia's only glass recyclers,
00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:25.779
Bottle Underground. As Ray mentioned, you can
00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:27.940
drop off glass for recycling at the shop, but
00:30:27.940 --> 00:30:30.480
what happens after it leaves Northern Liberties?
00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:36.960
Hi, I'm Rebecca Davies from Remark Glass and
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.119
Bottle Underground. Remark Glass is a recycled
00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:43.259
glass design studio. So we do glass recycling
00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:48.220
and glass blowing. Remark Glass makes recycled
00:30:48.220 --> 00:30:51.779
glass homeware and gifts. So we think about...
00:30:51.769 --> 00:30:58.130
how our design passion can
be included in a home.
00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:02.730
So we like to make useful things. The three founders
00:31:02.730 --> 00:31:05.769
of Remark Glass are myself, my business partner
00:31:05.769 --> 00:31:08.710
Danielle, and then my partner Mark. We all three
00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:11.309
have a glass background, so we were fabricators.
00:31:11.589 --> 00:31:13.289
Our work histories are in making things out of
00:31:13.289 --> 00:31:18.529
glass. We were interested in really creating
00:31:18.529 --> 00:31:21.930
our own design language and kind of getting our
00:31:21.930 --> 00:31:24.730
creativity to the people, right? We wanted to
00:31:24.730 --> 00:31:27.470
see things that we had come up with go into production
00:31:27.470 --> 00:31:30.690
and then be accessible. The recycled glass component
00:31:30.690 --> 00:31:35.549
of it was almost half in stance. We were thinking
00:31:35.549 --> 00:31:38.890
we all of us were new parents. All of us had
00:31:38.890 --> 00:31:42.190
just lost our workforce participation, right?
00:31:42.210 --> 00:31:43.950
We were not employable as new parents for the
00:31:43.950 --> 00:31:46.109
most part and we were thinking like what what
00:31:46.109 --> 00:31:48.680
do we actually have access to? that we can bring
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:52.599
our skill set to and accomplish that goal. So
00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:54.980
over the course of a few years we were able to
00:31:54.980 --> 00:31:58.299
really develop methods for taking bottles and
00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:02.200
glass literally out of recycling and reforming
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:04.440
that material with the skills we had already
00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:06.579
developed into the products that you now can
00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:09.180
find on our website and you know up on our media
00:32:09.180 --> 00:32:12.470
and everything like that. So cups, glasses, vases.
00:32:12.829 --> 00:32:14.869
But we do have a huge segment of our business
00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:17.710
that we say is for ceremonial and celebratory
00:32:17.710 --> 00:32:20.029
glass. So we're thinking about gifts often from
00:32:20.029 --> 00:32:22.609
somebody's wedding or retirement where they can
00:32:22.609 --> 00:32:26.250
send us a bottle from their event or we do have
00:32:26.250 --> 00:32:28.910
some ceremonial things where it's like a little
00:32:28.910 --> 00:32:30.769
breaking glass that you would mazel tov at the
00:32:30.769 --> 00:32:32.569
wedding and we can do products from there. So
00:32:32.569 --> 00:32:35.250
to really kind of encapsulate the keepsake part
00:32:35.250 --> 00:32:37.329
of glass. You can see those products up on our
00:32:37.329 --> 00:32:39.150
website and just keep an eye out for what we're
00:32:39.150 --> 00:32:41.170
working on. has to do with what the glass looks
00:32:41.170 --> 00:32:42.970
like when we see it and then what we think we
00:32:42.970 --> 00:32:47.990
can make from there. We're a little bit unique
00:32:47.990 --> 00:32:50.490
in our field in that we do use 100 % recycled
00:32:50.490 --> 00:32:52.630
glass so we don't add anything to it. We just
00:32:52.630 --> 00:32:56.670
make that glass into our product line. We're
00:32:56.670 --> 00:33:01.089
in Philly or in Philadelphia and if you live
00:33:01.089 --> 00:33:03.210
here, if you're in a residence, you likely have
00:33:03.210 --> 00:33:05.009
access to single stream recycling so you have
00:33:05.009 --> 00:33:07.849
a blue bin. The city comes around weekly and
00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:11.559
collects that blue bin from you. you most likely
00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:13.819
are well behaved and you think about what could
00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:15.779
go in that blue bin, what the city says can go
00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:18.079
in that blue bin, and you do your best to make
00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:19.400
sure that the things you put in that blue bin
00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:23.279
are on the list. Then the truck comes, right?
00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:25.339
The truck comes to your house every single week
00:33:25.339 --> 00:33:28.140
and it collects everything you put in that blue
00:33:28.140 --> 00:33:37.130
bin and instantly destroys it. immediately crushes
00:33:37.130 --> 00:33:40.650
it in the compacting side of the truck into what
00:33:40.650 --> 00:33:46.910
I think of as like mush or smithereens and every
00:33:46.910 --> 00:33:48.630
single thing in that truck becomes a little bit
00:33:48.630 --> 00:33:52.670
less valuable because of that step however if
00:33:52.670 --> 00:33:55.170
I'm thinking like a city I might be thinking
00:33:55.170 --> 00:33:57.940
well how many trucks do we need? How much traffic
00:33:57.940 --> 00:33:59.660
does this cause? How many households are they
00:33:59.660 --> 00:34:01.319
going to serve in one day in one route in one
00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:03.440
load? So it's a quite effective way to move material
00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:05.660
from the sidewalk of every single residence in
00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:09.159
Philadelphia every single week to its next life.
00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:11.639
It is however ineffective at recovering materials.
00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:18.199
Glass, I think it's really important to just
00:34:18.199 --> 00:34:20.760
like fully back up like this, right? Like glass
00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:24.110
is recyclable. It is something that you can take
00:34:24.110 --> 00:34:27.449
it and reheat that material and modify that material
00:34:27.449 --> 00:34:29.369
or remove that material and remake something.
00:34:29.909 --> 00:34:32.230
In fact, when you ask most people what is recyclable,
00:34:32.389 --> 00:34:34.789
they think about glass, right? A bottle can be
00:34:34.789 --> 00:34:37.230
melted and it can become another bottle. Awesome.
00:34:39.010 --> 00:34:41.590
Additionally, glass is really important for a
00:34:41.590 --> 00:34:43.389
different reason that I think is becoming more
00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:45.110
and more people are becoming
more and more aware
00:34:45.110 --> 00:34:48.610
of. Glass is inert. It's the only material that's
00:34:48.610 --> 00:34:50.489
FDA approved to be sitting next to your food,
00:34:50.789 --> 00:34:53.329
meaning every other material is in fact poisoning
00:34:53.329 --> 00:34:56.230
you in some way. And we're all aware of this,
00:34:56.349 --> 00:34:59.889
right? That isn't a secret. Glass is inert. It's
00:34:59.889 --> 00:35:02.409
generally regarded as safe, which is a grass
00:35:02.409 --> 00:35:07.849
category in the FDA. And it is inert both as
00:35:07.849 --> 00:35:09.510
it interacts with you and your products, but
00:35:09.510 --> 00:35:12.050
also as it interacts as waste with the earth,
00:35:12.309 --> 00:35:15.639
right? So a glass bottle. littered into the woods
00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:19.760
is just that. It's not going to cause micro things.
00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:22.780
It's not going to degrade the soil. It's gonna
00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:26.380
be in there, not in the best location, but ultimately
00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:30.760
not causing more harm. So I say like, it is reusable
00:35:30.760 --> 00:35:33.920
as well, right? Glass can easily be sanitized
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:35.739
and reused. You do it every time you drink out
00:35:35.739 --> 00:35:39.500
of a glass cup in a restaurant. It's not... the
00:35:39.500 --> 00:35:43.079
glass material that has a problem in our world
00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:45.480
and society. It is, in fact, the systems we have
00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:49.659
built are not a good fit for glass. And it goes
00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:52.260
right back to that chemistry, right? So there
00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:54.139
are a lot of different types of glass. There's
00:35:54.139 --> 00:35:59.699
windshield glass, grandma's crystal, my crystal,
00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:05.070
no. Right, you know. Bottle glass, solar panel
00:36:05.070 --> 00:36:06.849
glass, these things are chemically very different
00:36:06.849 --> 00:36:10.909
from each other. Medical glass, beakers, those
00:36:10.909 --> 00:36:13.369
aren't the same. There's different chemical components
00:36:13.369 --> 00:36:16.210
that go into the glass. Ultimately, the core
00:36:16.210 --> 00:36:20.829
of glass is made from sand. Sand makes glass.
00:36:21.530 --> 00:36:24.849
Glass then can be made back into sand. And that
00:36:24.849 --> 00:36:28.449
is its lowest life, in my opinion, is kind of
00:36:28.449 --> 00:36:31.469
going... Into a sand component or a down cycle
00:36:31.469 --> 00:36:37.289
component, but it isn't causing harm So my understanding
00:36:37.289 --> 00:36:41.969
of our current system is that glass is now smithereens
00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:47.170
and will sort of fall and There's not a whole
00:36:47.170 --> 00:36:49.610
lot of sorting on them a windshield and a bottle
00:36:49.610 --> 00:36:52.409
are two different glasses. They won't ever be
00:36:52.409 --> 00:36:54.530
together, right? They're never gonna melt together.
00:36:54.570 --> 00:36:56.909
They don't want to be together. They won't make
00:36:56.909 --> 00:36:59.920
anything except Crackled glass if you try to
00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:03.960
do it and it will be difficult. So Because there's
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:06.179
not a whole lot of separation at that point Almost
00:37:06.179 --> 00:37:08.500
all the glass in my current understanding of
00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:11.099
Philadelphia's waste goes out as what they call
00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:13.699
alternative daily cover alternative daily cover
00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:17.719
is used to Cover a landfill for safety reasons
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.800
every single day so there's a need for the cover
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:24.420
but the glass itself is then lost to us, right?
00:37:24.699 --> 00:37:27.019
Every time I'm taking, I bought my jelly, I used
00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:28.940
my jelly, I had every intention of that jelly
00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:31.039
jar becoming more jelly jars or at least a soda
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:35.960
bottle. Now, that same jelly, when I go back
00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:40.099
to the store, got made from the sand, right?
00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:42.260
So bottle for bottle, every time I think, oh,
00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:44.840
I'm recycling this bottle, I'm actually digging
00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:49.909
a hole deeper somewhere to get more sand. Sand
00:37:49.909 --> 00:37:53.210
is an exploited resource, so everyone is getting
00:37:53.210 --> 00:37:57.650
sand from further away. So sand and a few other
00:37:57.650 --> 00:38:00.150
things from the earth would be melted to make
00:38:00.150 --> 00:38:03.630
new glass. It takes a lot of energy to make new
00:38:03.630 --> 00:38:08.349
glass and every time a glass bottle if you know
00:38:08.349 --> 00:38:09.670
the way I think about it it's like okay I go
00:38:09.670 --> 00:38:12.750
to the store I buy my jelly right I eat my jelly
00:38:12.750 --> 00:38:15.389
and then I take my glass and I put it into the
00:38:15.389 --> 00:38:18.349
recycling and I feel great about it because glass
00:38:18.349 --> 00:38:21.710
is recyclable. Systems make that a little different
00:38:21.710 --> 00:38:24.309
than what we want it to be, and we can talk about
00:38:24.309 --> 00:38:26.289
where they break and how they break later, but
00:38:26.289 --> 00:38:27.949
for now, I would just be like, hey, I feel good.
00:38:27.989 --> 00:38:30.730
I put it in the recycle bin. Hypothetically,
00:38:31.469 --> 00:38:34.829
that same jelly jar could, I would recommend,
00:38:35.190 --> 00:38:38.349
be refilled with jelly, right? So ideally, it
00:38:38.349 --> 00:38:41.210
would be washed and refilled with jelly. That's
00:38:41.210 --> 00:38:43.389
its highest use, right? Its second would be like,
00:38:43.389 --> 00:38:46.130
okay, we could take that same jelly jar, and
00:38:46.130 --> 00:38:49.130
we could have it at a quality that's high enough
00:38:49.130 --> 00:38:52.030
that a manufacturer
would remelt the to the jelly
00:38:52.030 --> 00:38:54.429
jar and maybe it could be a soda bottle next.
00:38:55.750 --> 00:38:58.650
That is a huge difference between melting sand
00:38:58.650 --> 00:39:00.969
from raw materials and melting glass so it takes
00:39:00.969 --> 00:39:03.949
much much less energy because you've already
00:39:03.949 --> 00:39:06.030
sort of had the release of emissions from your
00:39:06.030 --> 00:39:08.170
original sand and you've already it just isn't
00:39:08.170 --> 00:39:11.050
as high of a temperature it's already glass you're
00:39:11.050 --> 00:39:13.570
remelting something instead of kind of getting
00:39:13.570 --> 00:39:15.750
it to its maximum possible temperatures so that
00:39:15.750 --> 00:39:20.809
it becomes something. The difference there, I
00:39:20.809 --> 00:39:23.429
don't have a data point handy, but it'd be easy
00:39:23.429 --> 00:39:25.590
enough to confirm it, is it's pretty significant
00:39:25.590 --> 00:39:27.170
for a company that's melting a lot of glass.
00:39:27.230 --> 00:39:29.969
So every ton that they're adding in is a real
00:39:29.969 --> 00:39:32.030
live carbon and cost savings for the company.
00:39:32.070 --> 00:39:33.590
So there's an incentive from those companies
00:39:33.590 --> 00:39:38.469
to use recycled glass. Again, glass isn't the
00:39:38.469 --> 00:39:41.639
problem, right? Why they don't use glass well,
00:39:41.940 --> 00:39:44.079
why we don't recycle a lot of glass here in this
00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:46.619
country, it has everything to do with the systems
00:39:46.619 --> 00:39:55.059
that waste typically goes through. Glass is made
00:39:55.059 --> 00:39:58.139
for bottles to be really quick in manufacturing,
00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:01.860
so a lot of other studios might add additives
00:40:01.860 --> 00:40:03.800
that make it slow down so that they can use it
00:40:03.800 --> 00:40:08.389
by hand. It is... difficult to work with from
00:40:08.389 --> 00:40:11.429
a chemical perspective and just across the industry
00:40:11.429 --> 00:40:13.190
it's not something that most people get trained
00:40:13.190 --> 00:40:15.829
to work with so we've kind of worked for the
00:40:15.829 --> 00:40:18.590
past 10 years on how exactly we can make products
00:40:18.590 --> 00:40:22.789
out of this glass. There was so much interest
00:40:22.789 --> 00:40:25.489
in getting glass to remark glass it was like
00:40:25.489 --> 00:40:29.230
we'd be in the studio making glass and People
00:40:29.230 --> 00:40:30.630
would come in all day and be like, oh, I brought
00:40:30.630 --> 00:40:32.630
this for you. And we'd be waving and saying thank
00:40:32.630 --> 00:40:35.010
you and leaving it in the hallway for weeks and
00:40:35.010 --> 00:40:37.070
weeks. And then we were like, we need systems.
00:40:37.210 --> 00:40:39.809
We need better customer service. We really need
00:40:39.809 --> 00:40:42.010
to be thinking about these community members,
00:40:42.110 --> 00:40:45.110
what's motivating them, how big this problem
00:40:45.110 --> 00:40:48.949
is, and what a small company like ours can do
00:40:48.949 --> 00:40:51.639
to impact the overall field. Bottle Underground
00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.260
is our nonprofit. We decided to do a split in
00:40:55.260 --> 00:40:57.019
the business from an entity perspective so that
00:40:57.019 --> 00:40:58.659
we could be a little bit more community -facing.
00:40:59.059 --> 00:41:01.800
I think of it in three programs. We take in glass
00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:04.179
donations so people and businesses can donate
00:41:04.179 --> 00:41:06.579
their waste glass to Bottle Underground to divert
00:41:06.579 --> 00:41:09.739
it from landfill. We salvage glass, so that means
00:41:09.739 --> 00:41:12.679
we recover what we can from the donations to
00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:14.659
find the highest and best use of the material
00:41:14.659 --> 00:41:17.800
again to divert it from landfill. And then our
00:41:17.800 --> 00:41:19.380
third program is our community program. So we're
00:41:19.380 --> 00:41:21.880
running our workforce and internship programs
00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:23.920
from there, but also our community outreach and
00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:32.150
our events. Bottle Underground is accepting glass
00:41:32.150 --> 00:41:34.369
from community members and running our collections
00:41:34.369 --> 00:41:36.030
route. So whether you're a part of a drop -off
00:41:36.030 --> 00:41:38.110
program here at Bottle Underground in South Philly,
00:41:38.170 --> 00:41:39.710
whether you're a part of a drop -off program
00:41:39.710 --> 00:41:42.130
up at some of our community partners like Raise
00:41:42.130 --> 00:41:44.210
Reusables, you're bringing your glass there,
00:41:44.510 --> 00:41:47.269
we're going to get it from there, and then we're
00:41:47.269 --> 00:41:48.230
going to bring it back here. The first thing
00:41:48.230 --> 00:41:53.670
we do is weigh your box. We take a little bit
00:41:53.670 --> 00:41:56.369
of information from you at that point or attribute
00:41:56.369 --> 00:41:57.969
it to where we just got it from, for example,
00:41:58.070 --> 00:42:02.519
the zip code. of where you brought it from. And
00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:04.480
then, so we have your weight, we know where it
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:06.039
came from, then we're gonna actually look at
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:09.320
the box and decide which pieces of glass are
00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:12.639
better for which projects or markets as Bottle
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:16.119
Underground has developed them. Approximately
00:42:16.119 --> 00:42:19.400
10 to 15 % will go on to remark glass to become
00:42:19.400 --> 00:42:22.420
something else. grows up to be something else
00:42:22.420 --> 00:42:25.880
right in a way that the glass has been upcycled
00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:28.900
or reheated and its life will now be like for
00:42:28.900 --> 00:42:32.039
example my same jelly jar could hypothetically
00:42:32.039
--> 00:42:34.139
become a cup that I drink out of for the rest
00:42:34.139 --> 00:42:37.559
of my life right so it has a reuse life but also
00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:40.300
not a single use life and it's in its format
00:42:40.300 --> 00:42:43.599
here at Remark Glass. We do take a certain amount
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:45.619
or certain percentage of glass that we like to
00:42:45.619 --> 00:42:49.579
call reused so there it is a labor of love absolutely
00:42:49.579 --> 00:42:53.460
but we're thinking like Why does the jelly jar
00:42:53.460 --> 00:42:59.300
need to go into being sand? Why couldn't it be
00:42:59.300 --> 00:43:02.019
used by a business that would refill it with
00:43:02.019 --> 00:43:05.139
maybe not jelly, right? Maybe it's just laundry
00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:09.079
soap pods and you're kind of using those containers
00:43:09.079 --> 00:43:11.340
for whatever our clients are selling. So we think
00:43:11.340 --> 00:43:13.440
about micro businesses, we talk to a lot of candle
00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:15.760
makers, we talk to a lot of body products and
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:21.099
home product makers and manufacturers. We see
00:43:21.099 --> 00:43:23.579
it as not only creating that feedstock for the
00:43:23.579 --> 00:43:25.440
local business, but ultimately stimulating the
00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:27.400
local circular economy. Because what we're saying
00:43:27.400 --> 00:43:30.039
is, where would you have bought your candle jars?
00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:32.940
And where would they have been shipped from?
00:43:33.519 --> 00:43:37.400
And what would you have paid? And we are doing
00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:39.820
business here at Bottle Underground as if on
00:43:39.820 --> 00:43:41.380
fair market values. So we're thinking, okay.
00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:44.059
Sounds good. Let's take away the shipping. Let's
00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:45.519
talk about how we can move forward from here.
00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:47.019
Let's talk about your margins. Let's make sure
00:43:47.019 --> 00:43:49.219
this works for you. And let's make sure we can
00:43:49.219 --> 00:43:50.840
do the number of jars that you need a hundred
00:43:50.840 --> 00:43:53.920
a month or you need a thousand. Most of our micro
00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:55.780
businesses in Philadelphia are not competing
00:43:55.780 --> 00:43:57.820
well on their packaging. They don't store pallets
00:43:57.820 --> 00:44:00.739
in their basement. They don't order from my major
00:44:00.739 --> 00:44:03.000
wholesalers that are shipping to our local in
00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:04.719
-city addresses. They're thinking I do need the
00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:06.300
hundred a month. That's about how many candles
00:44:06.300 --> 00:44:08.119
I'm making. Yes, I make candles all year. Yes,
00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:10.829
I sell them mostly for the holidays. But now
00:44:10.829 --> 00:44:13.130
I have my inventory, right? And I've had my workflows
00:44:13.130 --> 00:44:15.309
make sense and I don't need
any pallets or deliveries
00:44:15.309 --> 00:44:18.690
on my sweet, sweet, small block. So that's one
00:44:18.690 --> 00:44:20.610
way, you know, part of your glass will go there.
00:44:21.409 --> 00:44:24.190
A lot of your glass is going to go to either
00:44:24.190 --> 00:44:26.489
one of our pilot programs, which we're developing
00:44:26.489 --> 00:44:29.730
to get glass truly remelted for recycling. So
00:44:29.730 --> 00:44:32.329
we have a couple of programs where clear glass
00:44:32.329 --> 00:44:34.789
will absolutely be remelted by one of our partners
00:44:34.789 --> 00:44:37.909
and amber glass will be sent out to be remelted.
00:44:38.460 --> 00:44:40.139
through a little bit of an intermediary, but
00:44:40.139 --> 00:44:41.780
it will ultimately go to a factory that's making
00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:44.639
amber bottles. If none of those things can be
00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:46.179
true for something that we found in your crate,
00:44:46.300 --> 00:44:50.000
then we will probably still take the time to
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:52.679
sort it to the color section that it belongs
00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:54.179
in. If it's a green, it would go with greens.
00:44:54.260 --> 00:44:56.380
If it's a blue, it would go with blues. And then
00:44:56.380 --> 00:44:59.460
we'll pulverize it down into a sand so that again
00:44:59.460 --> 00:45:02.099
glass can become sand again and that can we say
00:45:02.099 --> 00:45:04.920
more like a sand alternative for your creative
00:45:04.920 --> 00:45:06.579
uses because there's a lot of things you can
00:45:06.579 --> 00:45:08.159
do with sand that you can also do with glass
00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:11.579
sand for the most part landscaping which is involving
00:45:11.579 --> 00:45:14.179
either burying it in Pennsylvania you can use
00:45:14.179 --> 00:45:16.440
it for septic you can use it in your plantings
00:45:16.440 --> 00:45:18.739
it helps with the drainage and a few other things
00:45:18.739 --> 00:45:20.440
but you can also just use it as a top dressing
00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:27.130
to beautify the planting so Bottle Underground
00:45:27.130 --> 00:45:29.869
has our drop -off program. We accept the glass
00:45:29.869 --> 00:45:31.329
here. You can come from anywhere to do that.
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:33.039
There's people coming from all over the place
00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:35.000
to drop off their glass here. And then there
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:36.840
are a couple of neighborhood hubs where you can
00:45:36.840 --> 00:45:38.900
drop off glass. Ray's Reusables is a great one.
00:45:38.940 --> 00:45:42.059
So if you are in there, take a look around the
00:45:42.059 --> 00:45:44.820
store, take a look around for how you can make
00:45:44.820 --> 00:45:46.719
small changes in your life. But ultimately, if
00:45:46.719 --> 00:45:48.260
you're dropping your glass there, you'll have
00:45:48.260 --> 00:45:50.440
an excuse to go in every few weeks and do that,
00:45:50.500 --> 00:45:52.000
right?
You can drop off your glass, you can fill
00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:54.019
up your containers, and you can make some changes
00:45:54.019 --> 00:45:56.280
with Ray. Then we run our collections program.
00:45:56.300 --> 00:45:59.699
So our e -bikes do drive around the city to collect
00:45:59.699 --> 00:46:02.929
glass. We do have a route that goes up to Rays
00:46:02.929 --> 00:46:04.809
and a couple of places around there. Those are
00:46:04.809 --> 00:46:06.949
the primary ways the glass gets here. In terms
00:46:06.949 --> 00:46:09.349
of where it goes, I think that's also another
00:46:09.349 --> 00:46:12.489
bit of data that we look at. So for every person
00:46:12.489 --> 00:46:14.210
who's using glass here or buying glass from us
00:46:14.210 --> 00:46:15.869
for any reason, I'm thinking about that zip code
00:46:15.869 --> 00:46:19.809
too. A circular economy is material circular,
00:46:19.849 --> 00:46:23.170
but a local circular economy is really important
00:46:23.170 --> 00:46:26.150
to consider. Which zip code did the glass come
00:46:26.150 --> 00:46:33.050
from and where is it then going? Right? So in
00:46:33.050 --> 00:46:35.449
a local circular economy, I'm thinking a community
00:46:35.449 --> 00:46:39.190
member delivered material here. We did our very
00:46:39.190 --> 00:46:43.550
best to create value for every part of that circle,
00:46:43.650 --> 00:46:46.849
meaning the next thing we did was hire someone
00:46:46.849 --> 00:46:49.969
to process the glass. So we created value by
00:46:49.969 --> 00:46:52.849
creating the job because we run workforce development.
00:46:53.090 --> 00:46:55.349
Oftentimes those jobs are in zip codes that do
00:46:55.349 --> 00:46:58.050
not often come down to donate their glass. So
00:46:58.050 --> 00:47:00.780
we're creating value in often a disadvantaged
00:47:00.780 --> 00:47:04.539
neighborhood by creating a job and ultimately
00:47:04.539 --> 00:47:08.059
leaving full control over that revenue or that
00:47:08.059 --> 00:47:10.800
earning to the person to say I am using this
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:13.059
money from my job to live my life how I choose.
00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:16.519
Then we're servicing that micro business right
00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:19.559
and she's thinking the same thing so we sell
00:47:19.559 --> 00:47:22.280
our glass to these candle makers or to raise
00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:25.820
reusables for example to sell in the store right
00:47:25.820 --> 00:47:28.099
so now what we've done is we've hired somebody
00:47:28.099 --> 00:47:31.030
we created that value. Now we sold it locally.
00:47:31.369 --> 00:47:33.130
So again, if you think about that sale, it went
00:47:33.130 --> 00:47:37.250
from Rays to Bottle Underground. Everybody benefited
00:47:37.250 --> 00:47:40.590
and the value stayed here, right? So we've passed
00:47:40.590 --> 00:47:43.489
it again. Now Rays is selling it to her clients,
00:47:43.750 --> 00:47:47.449
probably local clients, probably helping that
00:47:47.449 --> 00:47:49.989
store, right? To make sure that they can do,
00:47:50.190 --> 00:47:52.449
they can choose the products that really bring
00:47:52.449 --> 00:47:54.730
value to the clients and not necessarily think
00:47:54.730 --> 00:47:58.539
about the containers. And that is the full circle
00:47:58.539 --> 00:47:59.860
right so we're thinking like okay this came out
00:47:59.860 --> 00:48:02.480
of the waste it passed value through an employee
00:48:02.480 --> 00:48:06.239
through a local business sale through a you know
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:08.599
a storefront sale and ultimately went on to a
00:48:08.599 --> 00:48:10.820
customer who if they're at raise is probably
00:48:10.820 --> 00:48:13.559
thinking what can i do as a person to improve
00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:16.980
these systems that was the goal right to think
00:48:16.980 --> 00:48:19.519
like how can we create value and then move it
00:48:19.519 --> 00:48:22.280
in a circle so that everybody who participates
00:48:22.280 --> 00:48:26.090
gets some part of the value that was donated
00:48:26.090 --> 00:48:28.409
here, right? The material itself is where the
00:48:28.409 --> 00:48:30.710
value comes from. It's an entirely different
00:48:30.710 --> 00:48:33.789
thought process than a smash truck full of things,
00:48:33.909 --> 00:48:35.690
right? They're thinking, okay, the problem is
00:48:35.690 --> 00:48:37.449
getting it off the sidewalk and we don't care
00:48:37.449 --> 00:48:39.230
about that value as much, right? We went with
00:48:39.230 --> 00:48:41.829
the opposite approach. So, Ray's is a good example,
00:48:41.829 --> 00:48:44.789
you know, of how we all interact to do that.
00:48:44.829 --> 00:48:47.139
So, I would say even if you're not... in one
00:48:47.139 --> 00:48:49.260
of our service areas directly, even if you're
00:48:49.260 --> 00:48:51.619
not able to get here, you may have participated
00:48:51.619 --> 00:48:55.059
in the creation of value in just the products
00:48:55.059 --> 00:48:57.059
that you're already purchasing or in some of
00:48:57.059 --> 00:48:58.840
the glass that is being collected from community
00:48:58.840 --> 00:49:00.639
members in your area and getting brought to one
00:49:00.639 --> 00:49:02.679
of those locations. We do see community groups
00:49:02.679 --> 00:49:05.860
that will do their block, for example, and then
00:49:05.860 --> 00:49:08.179
somebody's going to raise anyway and will drop
00:49:08.179 --> 00:49:10.199
off or somebody's coming down to bottle underground
00:49:10.199 --> 00:49:14.000
anyway. So we've done that. I think there are
00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:18.940
plenty of ways to continue to include other businesses,
00:49:19.219 --> 00:49:21.360
especially, and then residents and community
00:49:21.360 --> 00:49:26.360
members who really want to see improvement. One
00:49:26.360 --> 00:49:28.159
of the projects that I like to highlight is with
00:49:28.159 --> 00:49:30.659
Bennett Compost. So we started
working together
00:49:30.659 --> 00:49:33.820
several years ago and worked with a landscape
00:49:33.820 --> 00:49:36.960
architecture firm, Olin, and their lab to think
00:49:36.960 --> 00:49:42.599
how could waste be used to build this city, especially
00:49:42.599 --> 00:49:44.400
in thinking about landscaping and gardening.
00:49:45.650 --> 00:49:48.369
Over the course of years we developed, or they
00:49:48.369 --> 00:49:50.869
really developed, and we supplied both food waste
00:49:50.869 --> 00:49:54.489
compost and glass waste sand to work to create
00:49:54.489 --> 00:49:58.750
a soil that is also allowing plants to grow well
00:49:58.750 --> 00:50:00.730
and filtering the water appropriately for something
00:50:00.730 --> 00:50:04.769
like a rain garden. That's really cool to see,
00:50:04.849 --> 00:50:06.610
right? Because now we have this idea where like,
00:50:06.829 --> 00:50:09.309
okay, so if the city is building something, if
00:50:09.309 --> 00:50:11.190
they're thinking about rain gardens on every
00:50:11.190 --> 00:50:14.420
block in a certain neighborhood, what would have
00:50:14.420 --> 00:50:16.679
happened, right? They would have then purchased
00:50:16.679 --> 00:50:20.039
organic material, which isn't something the city
00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:23.820
has extra of, from somewhere else, moved it into
00:50:23.820 --> 00:50:27.460
the city, made the rain garden, and instead of
00:50:27.460 --> 00:50:31.320
them relying on other places to be able to supply
00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:33.440
organics here for our ability to grow plants,
00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:35.900
we worked together to find a way to make it so
00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:39.079
that waste could be the primary ingredient in
00:50:39.079 --> 00:50:41.820
something that could then produce for the city,
00:50:42.099 --> 00:50:44.340
even in beautification, but also in filtration,
00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:50.000
which is a big deal. Bottle Underground itself
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:53.079
isn't really in a position to be thinking we're
00:50:53.079 --> 00:50:54.619
going to serve every Philadelphia household,
00:50:54.920 --> 00:50:57.579
right? We're quite small. Our goal, our mission
00:50:57.579 --> 00:50:59.900
at Bottle Underground isn't serve every Philadelphia
00:50:59.900 --> 00:51:02.320
household. It's actually model the best possible
00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:05.139
glass recycling. So being small ends up being
00:51:05.139 --> 00:51:07.260
a bit of an advantage because we're thinking...
00:51:07.400 --> 00:51:10.039
With the material that we got, what is the best
00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:11.719
use? And then we might be thinking about some
00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:13.920
of our clients who really could benefit from
00:51:13.920 --> 00:51:18.860
very small orders of glass. We're creating end
00:51:18.860 --> 00:51:20.460
markets for those materials, cultivating those
00:51:20.460 --> 00:51:23.159
markets and becoming local feedstock for the
00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:27.360
material. However, I have some ideas about the
00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:32.679
best systems. They are entirely speculation.
00:51:35.559 --> 00:51:39.340
I believe Bottle Underground believes that the
00:51:39.340 --> 00:51:41.659
best way to move forward from a waste system
00:51:41.659 --> 00:51:44.840
in recycling for the people in a city as big
00:51:44.840 --> 00:51:48.699
as this one would look something like this. Number
00:51:48.699 --> 00:51:52.280
one, we would set up drop sites in every community
00:51:52.280 --> 00:51:55.860
so that every resident could, every resident
00:51:55.860 --> 00:51:58.059
and I would even stretch towards businesses that
00:51:58.059 --> 00:52:00.460
use these materials, would have access to drop
00:52:00.460 --> 00:52:03.300
sites that do in fact ask for them to separate
00:52:03.300 --> 00:52:05.300
materials, right? Glass goes with glass, cardboard
00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:08.019
goes with cardboard. At those drop sites, yes,
00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:09.960
the community member would do these things. They
00:52:09.960 --> 00:52:12.440
would put glass where glass goes. I imagine those
00:52:12.440 --> 00:52:14.380
sites would have many vendors like us, right?
00:52:14.420 --> 00:52:16.699
We would think about glass because we specialize
00:52:16.699 --> 00:52:19.280
in glass. Other Philadelphia businesses specialize
00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:24.659
in, for example, food waste or batteries or electronics
00:52:24.659 --> 00:52:28.639
or hard to recycle materials. And I think that
00:52:28.639 --> 00:52:31.239
a single site in every neighborhood, ideally
00:52:31.239 --> 00:52:33.630
something that the city is involved with. like,
00:52:33.630 --> 00:52:36.170
for example, on city land, would be a great use
00:52:36.170 --> 00:52:38.630
of our community resources and the existing infrastructure
00:52:38.630 --> 00:52:40.130
in these very small businesses. So community
00:52:40.130 --> 00:52:45.150
members would go there. Secondly, each of our
00:52:45.150 --> 00:52:47.230
independent businesses would need to scale to
00:52:47.230 --> 00:52:50.449
be able to take on that much glass. I imagine
00:52:50.449 --> 00:52:52.250
Vidal Underground would need to, for example,
00:52:52.570 --> 00:52:54.409
build a facility that wasn't underground to be
00:52:54.409 --> 00:52:56.949
able to scale at that rate. and take on that
00:52:56.949 --> 00:52:58.789
much glass from residents and businesses that
00:52:58.789 --> 00:53:00.570
produce it. So that would be my number two would
00:53:00.570 --> 00:53:02.210
be, so we would need drop sites in every community.
00:53:02.269 --> 00:53:04.210
We would need a place that we can process at
00:53:04.210 --> 00:53:08.409
that scale. Thirdly, and I have four, thirdly,
00:53:08.429 --> 00:53:12.190
we would ask the city to contract us to do the
00:53:12.190 --> 00:53:15.130
work at the market rate for the material. So
00:53:15.130 --> 00:53:20.010
for example, my last check
understanding is that
00:53:20.010 --> 00:53:23.489
recycling costs, I think they are about $70 a
00:53:23.489 --> 00:53:27.579
ton right now. So at $70 a ton bottle underground
00:53:27.579 --> 00:53:29.860
could interact with that material, get it off
00:53:29.860 --> 00:53:33.199
the site and process it in our new facility above
00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:35.539
ground to something that we can then sell at
00:53:35.539 --> 00:53:38.340
a market rate. The fourth thing that I would
00:53:38.340 --> 00:53:40.840
ask for is for the procurement department of
00:53:40.840 --> 00:53:42.840
the City of Philadelphia to mandate that recycled
00:53:42.840 --> 00:53:44.960
materials from the City of Philadelphia be purchased
00:53:44.960 --> 00:53:48.099
whenever possible from vendors like us so that
00:53:48.099 --> 00:53:51.159
we do develop end markets in addition to serving
00:53:51.159 --> 00:53:56.409
the people in their recycling needs. If you're
00:53:56.409 --> 00:53:59.590
thinking about recycling overall, there's a bunch
00:53:59.590 --> 00:54:01.929
of factors that affect it. Policy is one, right?
00:54:01.929 --> 00:54:03.369
So the systems that we have in place, a lot of
00:54:03.369 --> 00:54:05.289
them are policy -driven, but end markets are
00:54:05.289 --> 00:54:07.710
the other. And markets, like I just described,
00:54:07.829 --> 00:54:10.769
in glass recycling, at a melter, at a manufacturer
00:54:10.769 --> 00:54:13.909
of bottles and things like that, they would want
00:54:13.909 --> 00:54:18.289
clean, recycled glass. However, our systems would
00:54:18.289 --> 00:54:24.929
need to be in place to sell it. I love that Philadelphians
00:54:25.260 --> 00:54:28.840
want better. In fact, I'll just say, Philadelphians
00:54:28.840 --> 00:54:33.420
absolutely deserve recycling materials. It isn't
00:54:33.420 --> 00:54:37.079
optional, right? It is something that we should
00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:39.659
be able to do as a society and it's something
00:54:39.659 --> 00:54:41.659
that each person shouldn't have to figure out
00:54:41.659 --> 00:54:43.659
different solutions for, right? It shouldn't
00:54:43.659 --> 00:54:45.800
be that every household is sitting there thinking,
00:54:46.139 --> 00:54:49.639
how can I change what happens to a service that
00:54:49.639 --> 00:54:55.280
I am paying taxes to cover? I... want this for
00:54:55.280 --> 00:54:58.039
them. I love this about them. We started Bottle
00:54:58.039 --> 00:54:59.920
Underground so that we could continue to talk
00:54:59.920 --> 00:55:04.659
through how we would do this together. We can
00:55:04.659 --> 00:55:07.480
think differently. We can take the energy that
00:55:07.480 --> 00:55:09.860
a Philadelphian would have about their materials
00:55:09.860 --> 00:55:12.400
and the energy that got them all the way to us
00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:15.360
with their box out of their way on an inconvenient
00:55:15.360 --> 00:55:18.699
time midweek, most likely, when we're in operation.
00:55:19.740 --> 00:55:23.219
and what will change in our communities, right?
00:55:23.340 --> 00:55:26.340
How will this value bring us different results?
00:55:26.440 --> 00:55:29.119
And I just think it's gonna take a lot of time,
00:55:29.420 --> 00:55:32.039
but I do see it happening. We've been in, Bottle
00:55:32.039 --> 00:55:35.760
Underground has existed for five years. I wouldn't
00:55:35.760 --> 00:55:39.619
say we have grown necessarily in the way that
00:55:39.619 --> 00:55:41.619
we're doing more and more and more tonnage every
00:55:41.619 --> 00:55:44.900
year, but we are. selling more and more and more
00:55:44.900 --> 00:55:47.360
glass to more end markets that are useful. And
00:55:47.360 --> 00:55:49.079
because some of those programs started five years
00:55:49.079 --> 00:55:53.159
ago, we have seen candlemakers grow. We have
00:55:53.159 --> 00:55:57.210
seen our stores. grow. We have seen some of these
00:55:57.210 --> 00:55:59.969
pilots stay open long enough that the impact
00:55:59.969 --> 00:56:02.610
is worth talking about, right? We can say that
00:56:02.610 --> 00:56:05.710
there are tons of recycled glass being remelted
00:56:05.710 --> 00:56:08.610
for manufacturing from Philadelphia. No one could
00:56:08.610 --> 00:56:10.590
have said that five years ago, and no one but
00:56:10.590 --> 00:56:21.590
us, so far as I know, says it now. That was Rebecca
00:56:21.590 --> 00:56:23.989
Davies from Remark Glass and their associated
00:56:23.989 --> 00:56:26.909
nonprofit Bottle Underground, located in South
00:56:26.909 --> 00:56:38.010
Philly but servicing all of Philadelphia. My
00:56:38.010 --> 00:56:41.489
name is Kate and I live in Philadelphia in Fishtown.
00:56:42.269 --> 00:56:45.690
My name is Em. I live with Kate, also in Fishtown.
00:56:47.309 --> 00:56:50.489
We have been recycling glass with Bottle Underground,
00:56:50.849 --> 00:56:54.489
I think, probably since around, I moved in with
00:56:54.489 --> 00:57:00.070
you Kate in 2021, I would say. And we do work
00:57:00.070 --> 00:57:02.650
with Bottle Underground through Raze Reusables,
00:57:03.210 --> 00:57:06.690
who is a drop off partner for them. There was
00:57:06.690 --> 00:57:08.489
a little while before Raze started collecting
00:57:08.489 --> 00:57:10.969
them where pals in the neighborhood, we would
00:57:10.969 --> 00:57:14.110
like coordinate a drop off. and schedule one
00:57:14.110 --> 00:57:17.170
at Bottle Underground. So like one of us would
00:57:17.170 --> 00:57:19.989
just get a big Ikea bag or something and drive
00:57:19.989 --> 00:57:22.269
to a couple of houses and pick up everybody's
00:57:22.269 --> 00:57:25.489
paint about a jar of wine bottles. One of the
00:57:25.489 --> 00:57:28.550
things that's hard about the glass recycling
00:57:28.550 --> 00:57:31.630
is that it is not an automated pickup. So it's
00:57:31.630 --> 00:57:33.449
a little bit more of a mental load and figuring
00:57:33.449 --> 00:57:35.269
out, you know,
like when are we going to take
00:57:35.269 --> 00:57:37.630
it, making sure that wherever we take it, that
00:57:37.630 --> 00:57:39.070
they have that space to accommodate the drop
00:57:39.070 --> 00:57:41.730
off. and also that in our house you just have
00:57:41.730 --> 00:57:45.090
to have a place to store the glass until it's
00:57:45.090 --> 00:57:46.929
you're you're full up on glass so you have to
00:57:46.929 --> 00:57:48.170
figure out where you're going to put all that
00:57:48.170 --> 00:57:51.670
stuff until you're able to do a drop off. I think
00:57:51.670 --> 00:57:54.650
it's important to me to recycle glass specifically
00:57:54.650 --> 00:57:58.250
because it is of the materials that we recycle
00:57:58.250 --> 00:58:01.690
in Philadelphia it's the one that can be infinitely
00:58:01.690 --> 00:58:04.849
recycled and reused and I know that Philadelphia
00:58:04.849 --> 00:58:08.010
curbside pickup Even though it's great that it's
00:58:08.010 --> 00:58:10.269
a single stream system, I think the reputation,
00:58:10.349 --> 00:58:13.250
at least in Philadelphia. And what people see
00:58:13.250 --> 00:58:15.590
with their own eyes is that sometimes those recycling
00:58:15.590 --> 00:58:18.050
bins just get chucked in with the trash. So it
00:58:18.050 --> 00:58:20.690
doesn't always actually get recycled. So I wanted
00:58:20.690 --> 00:58:23.309
to start actually recycling those materials where
00:58:23.309 --> 00:58:28.630
I could. Importance in glass recycling for me
00:58:28.630 --> 00:58:31.469
is I think fairly generic. It's like, again,
00:58:31.670 --> 00:58:35.510
the feedback of like. having to lug your recycling
00:58:35.510 --> 00:58:38.869
bin through the row home alleyway before and
00:58:38.869 --> 00:58:41.010
after you start recycling your glass separately
00:58:41.010 --> 00:58:44.650
and feeling how much lighter that bin is to drag
00:58:44.650 --> 00:58:48.739
down the alley. And the fact that Ray's does
00:58:48.739 --> 00:58:52.840
it, I love Ray's as a business, and it's cool
00:58:52.840 --> 00:58:55.719
to not only bring our glass to Ray's to recycle
00:58:55.719 --> 00:58:58.940
it, but at the shop there, sometimes Ray keeps
00:58:58.940 --> 00:59:01.780
the jars back and recycles them in the shop for
00:59:01.780 --> 00:59:04.539
community jar use. So when people come into the
00:59:04.539 --> 00:59:06.800
store and they maybe are sort of unprepared for
00:59:06.800 --> 00:59:09.940
what to do at a refill shop, they can access
00:59:09.940 --> 00:59:12.280
stuff right there. The massive amount of peanut
00:59:12.280 --> 00:59:17.480
butter jars that we leave with Ray every... Yeah,
00:59:18.840 --> 00:59:20.500
yeah, we do supply them with a steady stream
00:59:20.500 --> 00:59:23.480
of peanut butter jars that Ray I think has told
00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:27.420
us are one of one of the shop's favorite sizes
00:59:27.420 --> 00:59:30.280
and uses for jars. So yeah, happy to provide.
00:59:34.369 --> 00:59:37.010
Thanks for listening to episode two of the Circle
00:59:37.010 --> 00:59:40.130
Up podcast. You can learn more about Raise Reusables
00:59:40.130 --> 00:59:42.449
and Bottle Underground by visiting their websites
00:59:42.449 --> 00:59:45.829
at raisereusables .com and bottleunderground
00:59:45.829 --> 00:59:49.269
.org. We have those sites and a whole lot more
00:59:49.269 --> 00:59:51.869
resources in the show notes. Join us for episode
00:59:51.869 --> 00:59:53.809
three where we talk about the action that you
00:59:53.809 --> 00:59:56.869
can take that makes the biggest impact on climate
00:59:56.869 --> 01:00:00.760
change, composting. The Circle Up podcast is
01:00:00.760 --> 01:00:03.860
presented by Circular Philadelphia. It was produced
01:00:03.860 --> 01:00:06.519
by Meredith Nutting at Cool Goon Productions.
01:00:07.099 --> 01:00:09.860
This podcast was supported by a grant from Pentry
01:00:09.860 --> 01:00:12.639
Special Services District. If you want to learn
01:00:12.639 --> 01:00:15.579
more about the circular economy, go to circularphiladelphia
01:00:15.579 --> 01:00:16.360
.org.