Eco Friendly Packaging at Expo West

Hitting the Expo West floor this year was different. I wasn't there to sample every gluten free pizza, although I might have. I was on a mission to explore an often undiscussed, but tremendously important piece of the Expo: Packaging. I don't mean this from a branding perspective, but from a sustainable and eco-friendly one.

I needed to find the companies that didn't stop with a natural product, but one that included nature in their packaging. This includes the companies that are skipping plastic and unnecessary packaging. Food companies offering incentives for refilling their glass jars, or cosmetic companies that package their products in home compostable paper packaging.

To find natural products, in natural packaging, was a game changer.

With every booth I approached, the product being displayed became second to the packaging. Using the Waste Less Challenge "This-for-That" approach, I was able to discover brands that supported greener practices by using low waste packaging. If a product came in plastic and there was a similar product in a more sustainable material, I opted to learn about the product with greener packaging.

What comes to mind as I write this is that I was judging a book by its cover. But when plastic packaging has the potential of leaching chemicals into its natural product unknowingly to its consumer, isn't it better to judge by the packaging than trust just what's on the inside?

Enjoy this photo collection of companies in the natural products world inside and out.

Note: I did not sample all of these products. The purpose of sharing these photos is to demonstrate that eco-friendly packaging is a viable option that some companies are taking advantage of. 

 Spices in paper containers? Yes! Even when spices come in glass jars the lids are usually made of plastic. Algarrobos Organicos of Peru showcased a variety of cooking ingredients in simply beautiful paper containers.

Have you dreamed of refilling your glass cleaning container at a eco-friendly store near you? Common Good is encouraging just this. Their laundry and dish soap come in glass bottles with their refilling stations being available for awesome retailers. 

Gluten free granola that comes in a glass jar. PUREnola. Is there more to say?

Evanhealy offers serums, oils and creams with the majority of their products in glass containers. It is great to see more cosmetics skipping the plastic.

Joyful Bath Co's packages their bath salts in glass jars for a more eco-friendly bath.

Eco Soul Life had these fun camping sets that at first glance look to be enamel. They are actually made from bamboo and have a life of about 3 years. When they reach the end of their life, their products can be home composted. Their packaging was made of compostable materials too.

Expo West 2015: Waste Less Recap

Riding the ART bus to the Anaheim
Convention Center was a big part
of my success at reducing waste
at Expo West

With the rush of the Expo behind me, I took today to reflect on my experience at Natural Products Expo West. Even though this was my third go at walking the expo floor, it felt like my first. This was partly due to the larger exhibit areas and the educational lectures. But what really made it different this year was having a clear definition of what I wanted to get from the expo, and preparing to achieve it without losing my mind, or my taste buds.

I knew at the start of Expo West that I wanted to be as waste free as possible. Packing my bag accordingly helped tremendously. So many exhibitors were accommodating to serving drink samples in my cup, food samples on my cloth napkin and accepting their business card back after I photographed it. A big part of my success was observation and figuring out what, or even how I could try products and food without creating so much waste.

Waste Free breakfast at the Marriott and Hilton in Anaheim

I started out my Friday and Saturday mornings with breakfast inside of the hotels. The Boulder Brands hosted breakfast on Friday was held at the Marriott with gluten free pancakes, bagels, cereals and coffee all served on ceramic plates and cups, real utensils and cloth napkins. The next morning at the Hilton I enjoyed a cup of coffee, veggie breakfast burrito and banana with the same waste less setting. I do have to mention that the Hilton breakfast also offered paper cups for the coffee and plastic plates for the breakfast. It amazed me how many people opted for the disposable items over the real deal.

Samples are better without waste! Thank you Canyon Bakehouse, American Flatbread and Ardenne Farm

Getting on the expo floor with a full stomach is key to not over doing it on samples, which also helped cut down on waste. I kept my cloth napkin in my back pocket and my reusable jar handy while walking the aisles. I opted to bring a reusable plastic jar and lid that I already owned instead of glass in case I dropped it. The last thing I wanted to deal with was broken glass with tons of people around. Sampling cookies, chips or gluten free pizza was easy enough to place on my napkin. Drinks that were being poured from bottles or in spouted containers were simple as well.

Kombucha, Popsicles and ice cream all sampled waste free thanks to the support from Revive Kombucha, Good Pop and Artic Zero

Sampling without waste  became more of a challenge with foods that were liquid, like yogurt or ice cream, or if they were already served on a napkin or cup. Many of these exhibitors were kind enough to place a sample on my reusables. If that wasn't possible I made sure that what the food was served on was compostable. Those wooden spoons and paper wrappers I carried around in my pocket were able to be composted today. I did come home with 4 pieces of non-compostable trash. Two were food wrappers, and the others were stickers that were put on me by vendors as I was walking through the halls.

Let's talk plastic and trash, because both are found everywhere at the Expo.

Trash found on exhibit tables, overflowing trash cans and in the Anaheim Convention Center water feature.

For a group of people interested in naturals and organics, it is incredibly surprising how wasteful they can be. Plastic cups and spoons used to serve samples and food packaging could all be placed in the trash and then recycled, but instead trash was being left on tables, the floor and even in the water feature in front of the convention center. This was disappointing.

Composting my Expo West trash

I don't believe hope is lost when it comes to plastic and other trash at the expo. Eco Tesil was on the floor showing exhibitors how their compostable paper spoons are an alternative to plastic. The expo itself is listening too. Loliware, a biodegradable cup that you can eat, won the Expo West New Hope 360 NEXT accelerator pitch slam. I'm hopeful that as more compostable products are made available, brands take advantage of a more natural alternative to serving their foods.

A big thank you to everyone who supported my low waste Expo West experience.  Stayed tuned later this week for a round up of products that ditched the plastic packaging. 

Expo West 2015: Creating A Low Waste Experience

As I prepare for my third visit to Natural Products Expo West my mind isn't on the best gluten free foods or even the best low chemical beauty products. This year I want to focus on attending the expo and making little to no waste, while discovering products that support a no plastic and low waste lifestyle.

Years past I have brought home an abundance of free swag. I make a conscious effort to only take samples of products I am truly interested in and will use. I still find myself emptying bags, yes plural, of samples on my living room floor. I found myself having excess in 3 different ways and have decided to create an action plan to stop wasting so much by limiting  the amount of waste I create while still being able to share the experience of the expo.

1. Bags. There are a lot of bags. The bright side is they are reusable bags given away by exhibitors with their logo on the side. During the expo it is a great way to carry samples and flyers, and of course can be used later. I would arrive home with 10 reusable bags that I truly didn't need. The upside was being able to give my family members reusable bags for them to take shopping. This year, I'd like to come home with zero.

The Solution: I plan on taking my own canvas tote and only using the one tote for any items I bring home.

2. Paper. Flyers, coupons, business cards and advertisements are handed out by all and received by many. When I am preparing a blog post about the products I discovered while at the Expo it is great to have website information and a contact’s name so that I can connect with the product rep after the post has been published or while I'm writing if I have any questions. But then what? Long are the days of rolodex since contact information can now be loaded into a digital address book. I plan on collecting zero paper.

Solution: After thanking the exhibitor for the information, I will explain that I am trying to limit my waste at the expo and will instead take a photo of their business card, flyer, etc. I have a feeling I may be met with mixed reactions, but considering it is a natural expo, I'm hoping most people are eco-conscious.

3. Packaging. Expo West has an enormous amount of food sampling, which on the expo floor is generally full sized items cut down to snack sized portions. Samples are usually served on paper products, which are compostable. Many samples given to attendees to take with them are in single use packaging. Food items like single serving yogurts, sample size bars or even mini sized bottled water are often provided as snacks outside the expo as well. My goal is to not have any food packaging waste during the expo aside from compostable napkins and spoons that samples are served on.

Solution:  Along with a reusable water bottle, I will bring along unpackaged snacks and look out for waste free samples.

Have you experienced a successful waste free expo or conference? Share you tips in the comments.

March WLC: This for That

I was hoping to end January with a celebration of successfully completing the month’s Waste Less Challenge without buying anything. This didn’t happen. As I flip through my notebook where I kept a daily log, I realize that sometimes life just happens. What a terrible excuse, right? After all, I initiated the challenge and shared it with you, and now I’m telling you how flippant I was about it. Just hear me out.

My first purchase was 2 vintage Pyrex bowls from a thrift shop for $3. As a vintage hoarder collector, there are times when a purchase has to be made in the moment or the item is gone forever. That is a tough choice to make regardless of your intended consumer footprint, however thrifted is always better than purchasing a new product. More on that later this month.

Next I bought a yoga mat because I needed it. No really. Under doctor’s orders I needed a yoga mat for prescribed exercises. Knowing that yoga mats are made of plastic, I wanted to make a healthy choice for my body and the environment. I chose a mat that was made without latex, PVC or phthalates. I can rest on my mat comfortably knowing that my body isn't going to absorb chemicals.

Although part of my personal challenge was to not buy any packaged food, I failed miserably here. I thought that eating vegetarian and ditching packaged food at the same time would be a no brainer, you know, because plants don’t need packaging. I was poorly prepared which left me eating out more than I would have liked. I tried to choose restaurants that served their food in paper or compostable material, and even kept track of the waste. There were times when water arrived with a straw already in it, or dressing came in a plastic container. Keeping a log made me realize how much packing goes into food that comes prepared, and to go.

Although I didn't complete the challenge with 100% success, the purchases I did make taught me the importance of thinking before buying. Really evaluating how something impacts your life, the environment and even your local economy, which brings us to February’s Waste Less Challenge.

Coming out of our consumer cleanse, let’s think before we buy.

1.     How much packaging is too much packaging? Is the packaging compostable? Is it made of plastic? Can it be recycled?

2.     Does it have to be new, or can it be thrifted?

3.     When I’m done with what I’m buying, how can it be reused, repurposed, regifted and finally, recycled?

With the amount of consumer goods and packaging made of plastic, we are quickly polluting our water ways. By avoiding new items, reusing, repurposing and shopping thrifted items, we are becoming part of the solution by not contributing to consumer plastic pollution.

  

Vintage: Old is the new, new. Aside from the unique, vintage is a great alternative. If something from the 1960s is 50 something years old and still in great working condition, then it was made to list.

Go thrifting: You might find something new, or old, but it is new to you. Thrifted clothing keeps textiles which are usually not recyclable out of the landfill and into your closet.

Buy from the source: Farmer’s Markets and buy in bulk stores lend themselves to be more waste free than conventional markets and will help cut down on food packaging.

Read the label: Chemicals in plastic is nothing new. Be sure to read not only what’s not in what you are buying, but what is in your purchase. This goes for beauty and cosmetic products too.

Before you buy, learn to consider the impact your purchase has on the environment, local economy and most importantly on you. 

Be sure to share your story in the comments and by social media with #wastelesschallenge