Product Hunt Daily Digest
January 29th, 2019

The milkman is back

PSA: The milkman is making a comeback. 🥛

But instead of fresh milk, he'll be serving up deodorant, mouthwash, ice cream, shampoo, etc. in reusable containers — and then circling back to pick them up when you're done.

This week, a solid lineup of big-name consumer brands — Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever and Danone — banded together to pilot a new reusable packaging subscription service called Loop. The mission? Phase out single-use plastics.

How it works: Like with Amazon, you create an account online, add items to a virtual basket and checkout. But on top of payment for your items you'll pay a fully refundable deposit for each package too (which will range from $1 to $10). Then, your items will be delivered in a tote bag, which a delivery person will come back later to retrieve with your used packaging. The packaging is then sent to a cleaning facility and recycled for another customer. ♻️

Some reactions on Product Hunt:

“Prediction time: Amazon will buy them or recreate if it's mildly popular.” - Antoine

“I could easily see this having some kind of discount for reusing the same containers” - Alex

“With all the deliveries we get from online shopping these days, packaging is getting ridiculously wasteful. This is a brilliant solution” - Tim

The subscription system will start out in New York and Paris later this year, but if you don't live in one of those cities you can still join the #zerowaste movement. Here's few suggestions:

Get JUST Water (backed by Will Smith!). It's a paper-based bottle made from sugarcane with a 74% smaller carbon footprint than standard plastic bottles. 💦

Eliminate your cup altogether with GO Cubes. It's chewable coffee. ☕️

Buy eco-friendly sunglasses like Joplins. They're made from bamboo fibers — which are 100% sustainable. 😎

Use Moo's recycled business cards made from cotton t-shirts. ♻️

Avoid plastic straws with ELO's reusable smart straw. 🥤

Check out Loop
HIGHLIGHT

In this week's episode of Product Hunt Radio, The Information's founder and editor-in-chief Jessica Lessin join us to chat about:

💸 The distortion of the news industry's business model by the internet
👀 The possibility of tokenizing everything
🤔 The future of Facebook

Listen now and big thanks to our sponsor AngelList and FreshBooks for their support. 😸

Sponsored By
Newsletter Sp-onsor

Postman’s annual user conference will be one of 2024’s top developer events and an unforgettable experience! Join the wider API community in San Francisco and be the first to learn about the latest Postman product advancements, elevate your skills in hands-on workshops with Postman experts, and hear from industry leaders, including:

  • James Q Quick
  • Shweta Palande
  • Kedasha Kerr
  • Hannah Seligson
  • Rui Barbosa
  • And more!
  • See the full agenda and register now to get a 30% Early Adopter discount!