Packaging:
Our team has introduced a variety of incredible sustainable initiatives at Ground Up. A few years ago, the team noticed that we were using packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and plastic tape for our online orders. We were also encountering a lot of jar breakage (3-4 orders per month -- Eeek!). A group of Ground Up team members began planning how to solve this issue and cut down on waste. Through their hard work, Ground Up's custom packaging was born!
With this new packaging, we have drastically cut down jar breakage (only 1 report every few months), the amount of wasted product, eliminated single-use plastics from packaging, and reduced our carbon footprint from not needing to re-ship so many packages.
Recycling:
We also have a variety of recycling programs we use at our warehouse. We recycle paper, cardboard, glass, and various metals through the city of Portland's recycling program.
For materials that don't qualify for the city's recycling program, we use a company called Ridwell instead! They are an amazing company that picks up directly at residential homes and workspaces in Portland and Seattle. Ridwell recycles styrofoam, soft plastics, lightbulbs and batteries (just to name a few!) and they have drastically cut down our waste at the warehouse.
We also recycle our broken pallets through a wonderful man that comes and picks them up directly at our warehouse to bring to the recycling center.
It's the Small Things:
A few other things we have introduced over the past year are:
- Custom paper-based tape that's easily recycled with our cardboard boxes
- We cut down on our printer usage and transitioned from using a laser-jet printer for our labels to a Rollo thermal printer. Not only does the Rollo printer not require ink (it's heat-based), but they also donate to charity with every purchase!
- To reduce our carbon footprint, we now offer free local pick-up at our warehouse and at the Farmers Market! If you live in Portland, simply select the pick-up option at check out.
