Our Vancouver landfills
are mountains of single-use containers.
These containers were designed for a moment of convenience and require hundreds of years to decompose. Many of these items are leaching toxins, chemicals, and microplastics into our environment.
Something needs to change.
Around the world, we all have something in common – we want clean air to breathe, healthy soil, and clean water to drink.
What if the whole world
operated on reusable containers?
The economy has been linear, focused on take-make-dispose sequences, and highly focused on disposable convenience items. Materials are extracted from natural resources, transported, made into products, transported again, used for just a moment, and then landfilled or incinerated.
Shifting into a circular economy
Our mission is to shift into a circular economy model where products and services are designed for reuse again, and again, and again, to minimize the amount of natural resources extracted and wasted while maintaining city-wide systems of convenience, jobs, and a healthy planet.
Leading experts in the circular economy and the new plastics economy, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, explains how we can redefine growth and focus on positive society-wide benefits. It focuses on designing waste out of the system and unlinking economic activity with the consumption of finite resources. It’s built on the foundation of transitioning to renewable energy sources to build economic, natural, and social capital.
The circular economy focuses on three main principles:
1
Design out waste
and pollution
2
Keep products and
materials in use
3
Regenerate
natural systems
Our mission
With so many great possible solutions from these principles, our mission is to help Vancouver have less waste in our landfills and incinerators each year. We’re focusing on eliminating problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation, and new delivery models. Our vision is a city-wide reusable container program for all restaurants, cafes, and anchor institutions in Vancouver.
We challenge YOU, your business, and your community to choose reusable containers over single-use containers where they are offered.
Business
Are you a café or restaurant that wants to start offering reusable containers?
Individual
Are you an individual who wants to choose reusables at your next takeout purchase?