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.
Last 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. 🥤
One of last week's top products was an email unsubscription service focused on privacy.
Leave Me Alone connects to your Gmail account and lets you see all your newsletters, subscriptions and spam in one place. Then, you can unsubscribe from whatever you want in a single click. 👏
