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WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.459 How much of your trash and recycling do you think 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:06.139 actually gets either recycled or composted in 00:00:06.139 --> 00:00:10.480 the city? Yeah, zero percent. Yeah, I know. I 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.820 know for a fact my recycling bin and trash bins 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:15.320 get mixed together. I don't know how true this 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:18.140 is, but I heard a rumor that Philadelphia doesn't 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.679 actually recycle. I would say less than 50 percent 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:24.140 of you if I had to like guess. I fully believe 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:26.620 that it all goes to the same place. I think composting 00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:31.579 zero, just self. thought and I think I've seen 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:33.179 them put the trash and recycling in the same 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:37.259 truck. Yep, that happens. I think maybe 50%. 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:40.340 I was hopeful it was 100%. I don't think I'd 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:44.259 be very optimistic there, maybe like 10%. My 00:00:44.259 --> 00:01:03.460 guess is probably like... Welcome to the Circle 00:01:03.460 --> 00:01:06.079 Up podcast where we tell the stories of the circular 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.659 economy in Philadelphia. Well, so let's circle 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:12.790 up. I'm Candice Lawton, executive director of 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:15.170 Circular Philadelphia. And I'm Sam Wichin, co 00:01:15.170 --> 00:01:17.650 -founder of Circular Philadelphia. In the first 00:01:17.650 --> 00:01:20.230 episode, we heard all about how companies like 00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:22.890 Diver and Rabbit Recycling are working to improve 00:01:22.890 --> 00:01:26.340 recycling in the city. But that's just one facet 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:28.659 of the circular economy. And if you missed it, 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:31.079 the circular economy is a smarter way to approach 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.920 how we make, use, and dispose of materials. It's 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.159 a continuous loop where we design out waste, 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:38.840 keep materials in circulation through reuse, 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.579 repair, and sharing resources, and at the end 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:43.920 of their life, recycle them or break them down 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.780 into their component parts to be used for the 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:49.019 next product. So circular economy is not a new 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:52.159 concept. It's really a return to the way we used 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.879 to do things before we had single use. So nowadays 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:57.799 when we walk into a supermarket, you're going 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.819 to see a lot of plastic, right? Plastic bottles 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:03.799 on the shelves, flexible plastic packaging that 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:07.890 your chips and your snacks come in. But before 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:10.530 World War II, a lot of things were still being 00:02:10.530 --> 00:02:13.409 made in metal, glass. When you walked into a 00:02:13.409 --> 00:02:15.789 supermarket, almost everything was packaged in 00:02:15.789 --> 00:02:18.650 glass, or you were going to a local market and 00:02:18.650 --> 00:02:21.069 bringing your own containers, or you had your 00:02:21.069 --> 00:02:23.650 milk delivered to your doorstep in a glass bottle, 00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:26.330 and you would drink that milk, put the milk bottle 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:28.650 out, the milkman would come pick that bottle 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:31.580 up. take it, get washed, and it would go back 00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:35.759 into the system. So this is not a new idea. It's 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:39.419 more so taking a look at how we are making, buying, 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:43.159 selling, distributing goods today and shifting 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:45.520 back to some of those ways that we used to do 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:48.099 things where we weren't so reliant on single 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:52.560 use and disposable packaging. So in a circular 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.000 economy, again, products and materials are kept 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.020 in circulation through maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:02.500 remanufacture, and it's really based on three 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.699 core principles. So eliminating waste and pollution. 00:03:06.700 --> 00:03:09.159 circulating products and materials to their highest 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:12.500 value and regenerating nature. How we got where 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:15.159 we are today as far as being in a linear economy 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:17.379 where, yeah, we're extracting resources, refining 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.580 them, making them into things, using those things 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:21.520 very briefly, and then just burying and burning 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.860 them. A lot of it was, you know, population growth. 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:32.159 A lot more people in places trying to figure 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.789 out how to get goods to people. A big part of 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:40.210 it is business, right? And businesses trying 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:42.909 to, you know, come up with new ways to have a 00:03:42.909 --> 00:03:44.969 sustainable business model. It's like, okay, 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:46.990 we can make something and we can mass produce 00:03:46.990 --> 00:03:51.110 that and distribute it to people. And the more, 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:52.789 you know, more and more people buying more and 00:03:52.789 --> 00:03:55.110 more things, that's continual growth. So that's 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:58.800 like a viable business model. I don't know, I'm 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.180 curious what Sam has to say on this topic too, 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:03.340 because I have a lot of other ideas, but I want 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:04.860 to see what you have to say. Well, certainly

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00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:08.759 the lie of convenience was one of the big ones 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:13.360 after World War II, and we saw the rise of the 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.759 larger supermarket chains and the idea that you 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:18.860 could just grab something and go, and the rise 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.079 of the plastic industry at the same time. The 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:24.360 confluence of those things really changed what 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.920 people thought that they needed to do as far 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.740 as their day -to -day lifestyle and the modern 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:33.120 woman wanted a convenient lifestyle where they 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:34.660 could go to the grocery store and they could 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:37.019 get their goods easily and they didn't have to 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:38.839 worry about their containers and bringing them 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.980 back. And then we see that the plastic industry 00:04:42.980 --> 00:04:46.699 really explodes and creates this opportunity 00:04:46.699 --> 00:04:50.970 for these single -use packaging options. Yeah, 00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:53.370 actually as you were talking I was thinking about 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:56.230 this advertisement I saw that's from Time magazine 00:04:56.230 --> 00:04:58.290 way back in the day and it's like a black and 00:04:58.290 --> 00:05:02.550 white photo of a family having a picnic and They 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:05.149 basically just pulled the picnic blanket up and 00:05:05.149 --> 00:05:07.449 shook it out and all of the disposables are flying 00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:10.550 up in the air and everyone's like, yeah, disposables. 00:05:10.930 --> 00:05:12.629 Like, we just had a picnic and we're gonna throw 00:05:12.629 --> 00:05:14.910 all this stuff away and no work for mom. Cause 00:05:14.910 --> 00:05:17.550 I think you bring up a really good point. At 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:20.910 that time, the house, like the roles of the household 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:23.370 were changing. The roles of women in the household 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:25.990 were changing too. And historically it was like. 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.079 woman would maintain the household, do all the 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:30.639 cooking, cleaning, shopping, and now it's like, 00:05:30.740 --> 00:05:33.560 okay, mom wants to also have a job, it's supporting 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:38.620 while dad is out fighting in a war. Now it's 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.519 so much more convenient and quick and easy to 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:44.420 have these disposable materials and celebrate 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:48.000 not having all that work. but we would probably 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.680 look on that image right in horror now to think 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:54.379 about just like celebrating all this trash being 00:05:54.379 --> 00:05:56.819 created and yeah I mean plastic industry is such 00:05:56.819 --> 00:06:00.540 a big part of it right like plastic is not an 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:03.180 old thing it's still relatively new even though 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:06.360 it's so ubiquitous and everywhere it's it's only 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.699 really been around for 50 or 60 years now and 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.899 you know with plastic it's it's kind of a paradox 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.519 because the very same things that make plastic 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:20.060 so usable, that it's durable, it's flexible, 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.980 it can handle high temperatures, it's lightweight, 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.560 it's relatively inexpensive to produce, are the 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.279 same exact qualities that make plastic so hard 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.459 to get rid of, right? And turn back into new 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.259 things. Plastic is a petroleum product, so it 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:40.829 comes from oil. And it's everywhere. Plastic 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:44.430 bottles, yes, but also things like food packaging, 00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:48.029 beauty products, cars, and even the vast majority 00:06:48.029 --> 00:06:52.290 of clothing. Yeah, and it's convenient and it's 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.550 ultimately what's made so many of those things 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:58.350 more affordable, but at what cost? Plastic is 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:01.350 now covering our planet. It's degrading into 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:04.430 microplastics, which are little flakes of plastic 00:07:04.430 --> 00:07:08.050 that are like a nanometer in size that have been 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:10.990 found now in the human body and our bloodstreams. 00:07:11.149 --> 00:07:13.839 It's having health impacts. It's leaking into 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.879 nature where it's harming animals. And as we're 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.480 learning these consequences to this convenient 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.699 plastic packaging, one way to eliminate these 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:27.160 impacts is to avoid it. So we can opt for complete 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.660 package -free products or we can use materials 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:33.720 that are inert and infinitely reusable. Materials 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:45.100 like glass. I'm Rae Daly and we are in Rae's 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.620 Reusables which is the refill shop in the Northern 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:50.620 Liberties. Rae's Reusables actually started off 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:56.420 in like 2019. I was looking to make something 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:59.379 out of like the jeans that I had worn through 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:00.920 the thigh. You know you get to a certain point 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:02.279 where you wear through the thigh and you can't 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:04.560 really do anything with them anymore regardless 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:07.329 of how you mend them. And I always felt really 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:08.410 bad about that because I was like, it's a ton

00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:10.910 of material still there. That's really obnoxious. 00:08:11.370 --> 00:08:15.149 So I started making cutlery pouches that were 00:08:15.149 --> 00:08:17.189 for travel cutlery out of them. And then in addition 00:08:17.189 --> 00:08:19.350 to that, tote bags and various other things. 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:22.750 So in 2019, I'd done a couple of craft shows. 00:08:23.009 --> 00:08:25.110 I was feeling really confident, getting some 00:08:25.110 --> 00:08:26.850 wind in my sails. And at the beginning of 2020, 00:08:26.889 --> 00:08:29.329 I was like, hey, job, I'm going to pursue this 00:08:29.329 --> 00:08:33.610 full time. Bye. And then my last day was... Like 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:35.070 right when people, I worked at a grocery store 00:08:35.070 --> 00:08:36.570 and it was right when people started panic shopping 00:08:36.570 --> 00:08:42.590 and I was like, what have I done? And all of 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:45.190 the markets that I'd lined up for that year told 00:08:45.190 --> 00:08:48.269 me they were pulling the plug. And fortunately 00:08:48.269 --> 00:08:53.190 because I was sewing stuff and there was a huge 00:08:53.190 --> 00:08:56.769 PPE shortage, I started sewing masks. And as 00:08:56.769 --> 00:08:58.629 I was doing that, because it was like kind of 00:08:58.629 --> 00:09:00.370 a critical need, I was able to sell at farmers 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:02.789 markets and I started adding in some other items 00:09:02.789 --> 00:09:06.049 that were like the reusable paper towels, the 00:09:06.049 --> 00:09:08.250 denim cutlery stuff, and it just kind of grew 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:12.129 and grew from there until I kind of decided to 00:09:12.129 --> 00:09:16.610 fast -track my dream to have a refill shop. But 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:18.429 I didn't want to have a storefront right off 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:20.289 the bat, so we decided to do it mobily so we 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:22.570 could keep people safe in the outdoors and continue 00:09:22.570 --> 00:09:26.960 to do farmers markets and pop -ups. So, I bought 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.779 a full -size cargo van and my father -in -law 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:33.460 helped me outfit the back of it with cabinetry. 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.379 Actually, that's cabinetry from the van. We managed 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:38.580 to save it for the shop after we sold the van, 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:40.960 but he helped me outfit it with cabinetry so 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:45.379 that I could put big gallons of laundry detergent, 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:47.000 dish soap, you know, all the things that we have, 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:48.779 or not all of them, but a majority of the things 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:50.879 that we have for refill in the shop were just 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:53.549 in the back of the van. And I would just drive 00:09:53.549 --> 00:09:56.730 the van to farmers markets. We would set up and 00:09:56.730 --> 00:09:58.230 kind of operate much in the same way that we 00:09:58.230 --> 00:10:01.750 operate the store. So we started with the van 00:10:01.750 --> 00:10:09.549 and that grew into this. So customers are always 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:10.830 welcome to bring any container that they have 00:10:10.830 --> 00:10:12.710 at home. It just has to be clean, dry, and empty. 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:14.769 So it can be glass, it can be aluminum, it can 00:10:14.769 --> 00:10:17.850 be plastic. Plastic is a little bit more difficult 00:10:17.850 --> 00:10:20.029 to get fully dry, so I usually recommend glass, 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.879 but it's not a deal breaker if it's not. And 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.639 then when they come in they'll weigh it right 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:27.200 down the tear weight so we know how much to subtract 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.220 at the end. They'll fill however much or little 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:32.240 they want and then we subtract the empty weight 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:33.759 from the total weight so we know how much the 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:35.059 weight of the product is and they just pay for 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:43.019 the weight of the product. I think that it can 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:45.559 seem a little bit daunting. So part of the reason 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:47.059 that we always walk people through on the first 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:49.200 time is so that we can set up the rules, like 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:50.440 making sure that people know that the container 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:51.940 has to be clean, dry, and empty, but also to 00:10:51.940 --> 00:10:53.639 make sure that somebody knows that there's a 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:56.519 person that they can ask questions to. Because 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:58.059 I think sometimes people feel really self -conscious 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:00.259 asking questions, even though it's literally 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:04.539 my job to be here to answer questions. So I never 00:11:04.539 --> 00:11:06.200 want people to feel like they can't ask something. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:10.919 But I think there are certain elements to refilling 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:12.480 that, like, it's not convenient, right? You have 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.200 to make sure that your containers are clean and 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:15.440 empty. You have to make sure that you have the 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.019 time to come in and write down the tarot weight 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:19.419 and, like, go and fill it and have, like, a more 00:11:19.419 --> 00:11:21.340 timely or, like, time -consuming interaction. 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:23.639 Which is part of why we started doing pre -filled 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:25.360 stuff so that people can come in and grab what 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.419 they need and get out rather than having, like, 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.179 especially if you've got kids coming in here 00:11:29.179 --> 00:11:31.320 with them and, like, you know, the kids are touching

00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.139 everything and, like, you're keeping an eye on 00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:34.620 them to make sure they don't pump liquid all 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:39.000 over the floor. So we tried to... to bridge that 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:40.559 gap, to make it a little bit easier, to make 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.919 it a little bit less time -consuming. And we're 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.100 working on a system for people to return those 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:46.620 containers to us so that we can wash them and 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:48.940 reuse them again and maintain that circularity 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:53.559 in our packaging as well. But yeah, I do think 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:55.700 that there's an element of fear and an element 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:58.220 of not really being sure how to manage the inconvenience 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.940 of it. But once you get into a flow of it, I 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:02.379 don't think it's as inconvenient as people think. 00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:08.490 I think that the people who shop here, mostly 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:11.389 people who are down for the mission, like they 00:12:11.389 --> 00:12:16.190 are invested in trying to do some small part 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:18.169 and feel like they are actively contributing 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:20.950 towards a less wasteful or less environmentally 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:26.570 damaging lifestyle. And yeah, a lot of people 00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:28.629 are people with children. So I think that there's 00:12:28.629 --> 00:12:30.370 some element of it that is like, I want to do 00:12:30.370 --> 00:12:33.259 better so that my... kids have a better place 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:35.360 to live than like maybe we're headed for now. 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:36.980 Some of them are people who've been shopping 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:40.279 with me from early days early days of the van 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:42.659 they would like show up when it was raining where 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:45.320 I'd be like okay you're a real ride or die like 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.340 I don't know if I'd be out here in this weather 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:52.120 but I'm here too so we're doing this. So we have 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:55.759 um a number of ways that we determine what we're 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.740 gonna sell in the shop. Number one is like the 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.409 need like right to People need hand soap and 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:02.529 dish soap and laundry detergent They're the things 00:13:02.529 --> 00:13:04.210 that you use every day and the things that you're 00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:06.610 kind of Constantly buying in a new bottle and 00:13:06.610 --> 00:13:08.110 like also no one's selling laundry detergent 00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:10.490 a glass bottle. It's just all the bad packaging 00:13:10.490 --> 00:13:13.850 So we kind of look at what do people need and 00:13:13.850 --> 00:13:16.190 then to find the vendors that we

want to work 00:13:16.190 --> 00:13:20.570 with We do a lot of research to find ones who 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:22.970 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.

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