Priscilla Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer at Upstream

I just returned from Scottsdale, AZ and GreenBiz’s annual flagship conference – GreenBiz 23. It was a sold-out 3 day affair with more than 2,000 sustainability professionals from a wide range of industries – from finance to reuse solutions, to tech companies to investment firms, to tax savvy CPAs. Here are three takeaways from the conference.

One: The business of how to operationalize sustainability is only growing. 

As people seek to understand and synthesize what it means to operationalize sustainability within all levels of their organization, they are hungry for information on how to account for the complexities of implementing ESG goals. From emissions that they can control like Scope 1 and 2 and emissions that remain elusive to account for like Scope 3. Navigating the voluntary and involuntary rules can seem like a minefield. There were answers and rich discussions in a collegial environment.

Two: Reuse has become a reality.

Over 100 attendees packed into a rain-soaked tent on a windy and cold Arizona afternoon at the Making Reuse a Reality session. It was an inspirational learning session for those who wanted to learn about how a $32B grocery conglomerate like Ahold Delhaize’s Steven Jennings and TerraCycle Loop’s Tony Rossi are collaborating on a reuse project in Giant Foods selling common products like ketchup in reusable containers.

We also learned how Ellie Moss at Perpetual is rolling our reuse at the municipal level in four cities across the country starting in Galveston, Texas. A reusable foodware system in Galveston would allow consumers to borrow a reusable cup or container from a restaurant or cafeteria and return it when they are done with it, either in the same location or at one of many collection bins around town.

Businesses would pay a per use fee comparable to disposables. A third party would collect, clean, and redistribute the reusable items to ensure the system is efficient, hygienic, and convenient. What an awesome achievement that would be to roll this out in four cities across the US!

Matt Prindiville, Upstream’s CEO, led a thought-provoking panel, A Traveler's Guide to the Circular Economy. It opened with a provocative question from Suzanne Shelton of the Shelton Group when she asked “why do people know that recycling is good for the planet?” The answer was belted out by an audience member who assuredly shouted “Because we’ve been telling them since 1978!” That opened a session on how marketing is key to all that we are trying to achieve in the reuse movement and beyond.  

Nellie Cohen of Anthesis talked about her experience at Patagonia starting their Reuse Repair program that diverted their products from landfills and lengthened the useful life of their products.

Jennifer DuBuisson from Levi’s is continuing the 150 year tradition of making lasting jeans through their SecondHand shops and repair services. She spoke about how a brand new business model was formed out of the desire to make Levi’s more sustainable both as a brand and a product. She also emphasized how we shouldn’t wash our jeans. I don’t know how I feel about that yet!

Three: The Reuse Movement is grateful to organizations like GreenBiz. 

GreenBiz is propelling the sustainability movement through their incredibly rich content and are leading the way to diversify the movement as evidenced by their Emerging Leaders program led by Bryan Lewis which elevates, cultivates and supports the next generation of Black, Indigenous and other leaders of color (BIPOC) in the climate community. 

Thank you to GreenBiz for a  time well-spent! See you at Circularity in June!