Learn
Blog
All the latest ideas and news from Upstream’s thought leaders and partners.
- 5 Gyres
- 100th episode
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024 strategic vision
- #beverage
- #bffp
- #BlackHistoryMonth
- #brandaudit
- #breakfreefromplastic
- #business
- #celebrate
- #climatechange
- #cocacola
- #earthday
- #ecopreneur
- #environmentaljustice
- #epr
- #food
- #foodservice
- #justtransition
- #newreuseeconomy
- #NYC
- #packaging
- #plasticfree
- #recycling
- #reuse
- #reusemovement
- #reuserefill
- #reusewins
- #reusies
- #skipthestuff
- #takeaction
- #takeout
- #thereusies
- #turnoffthetap
- #vote
- #womenshistorymonth
- #zerowaste
- about Upstream
- activism
- Activist of the Year
- advocacy
- advocates
- Ahimsa
- aluminum
- AMBR
- Amy Larkin
- Arizona
- articles
- Articles
- Ashley Craig
- awards show
- Bagito
- Bainbridge Island City
- Banff
- barriers to scale
- Berkeley
- beverage containers
- beverage packaging
- Beyond Plastics
- BFFPPA
- Bill Sheehan
- biodegradable
- Black History Month
- Bleckmann
- blog
- Board of Directors
- bottle bill
- Break Free From Plastic
- Brooking Gatewood
- bulk
- Burlingame
- business
- business innovation
- business partner
- business sponsor
- BYO
- cafe
- cafeteria
- call to action
- Cancer Alley
- capitol
- CAPS
- carbon emissions
- case studies
- case study
- CBEIs
- CEO
- Cerise Bridges
- challenges
- Chart Reuse
- Chart-Reuse
- Chart-Reuse case study
- circular economy
- Circularity
- climate
- Climate Action Plans
- climate based emission inventories
- climate change
- climate crisis
- climate resilience
- climate solutions
- climate toolkit
- Closed Loop Partners
- coalitions
- Coca Cola
- coffee shop
- Coke
- community
- Community Action
- community activism
- Community Environmental Council
- compost
- compostables
- conference
- consumer brands
- consumer packaged goods
- consumer preference
- Corporate Initiative
- corporate responsibility
- CPG
- Crystal Dreisbach
- cup charges
- cup fees
- Daniel Velez
- Daniel Vukelich
- data
- debunking myths
- defining reuse
- Delaware North
- democracy
- deposit refill
- deposit return system
- dine in
- dishwashing
- diversity
- donation
- DRS
- Earth Action
- Earth Day
- Ecology Center
- ecopreneur
- EJ
- ellen macarthur foundation
- entrepreneur
- environment
- environmental justice
- Environmental Protection Agency
- environmental racism
- EPA
- epr
- EPR
- EPR bill
- equality
- equity
- ESG
- events
- Extended Producer Responsibility
- fact sheet
- feature
- federal government
- federal policy
- food packaging
- food service
- food service business
- foodservice
- FoodWare
- founders
- frontline communities
- funding
- funding for reuse
- Fungal Diversity Survey
- Generation Conscious
- GHG
- gifts
- Giving Tuesday
- global conference
- Global Plastics Treaty
- government
- Government Reuse Forum
- Grand Canyon
- grants
- green jobs
- GreenBiz
- GreenBiz 23
- greenhouse gas
- GRF
- Growly Delivers
- GSA
- Helen Spiegleman
- high school
- history
- holiday
- Holly Kaufman
- home
- huskee
- Huskee Cup
- HuskeeCup
- HuskeeLoop
- HuskeeSwap
- INC
- INC-2
- INC-3
- incentives
- inclusion
- indisposable
- Indisposable Podcast
- infrastructure
- innovation
- inspiration
- International Womens Day
- Ithaca
- Jo Banner
- John Charles Meyer
- Jose Bravo
- Julie Lamy
- just transition
- Just Transition Alliance
- Justice40 Initiative
- LCA
- leadership
- lessons learned
- Levi's
- life cycle analysis
- Linda Corrado
- livestream
- local
- local business
- local deep dives
- local economy
- Macy Zander
- Maine
- Maine EPR
- Marcel Howard
- Matt Prindiville
- mic drop
- Miriam Gordon
- Most Innovative
- MRF
- myth busting
- national bottle bill
- National Park Foundation
- National Parks
- National Reuse Awards
- new reuse economy
- New Reuse Economy
- New York City
- news
- NOAA
- nominations
- non-profits
- notes from the field
- NRN
- obstacles
- Oceana
- on-site dining
- onsite dining
- origin story
- packaging
- Patagonia
- Pepsi
- Petaluma
- petrochemical buildout
- Pheonix
- plastic ban
- Plastic Free July
- Plastic Free Restaurants
- plastic pollution
- Plastic Pollution Coalition
- plastic treaty
- podcast
- policy
- Policy
- policy wins
- policymakers
- PR3
- Press
- press release
- Priscilla Johnson
- prize
- PRO
- Producer Responsibility Organization
- product launch
- Q&A
- r.Cup
- racial justice
- racism
- re:Dish
- recycling
- refill
- reflection
- report
- research
- Resolve
- resource extraction
- Resource Recycling
- resources
- restaurant dining
- restaurants
- returnable packaging
- reusable bags
- Reusable LA
- reusable mailers
- reusable packaging
- reusables
- reuse
- Reuse 101
- reuse analytics
- reuse at home
- Reuse at home
- Reuse Awards
- reuse business
- reuse cities
- reuse coalitions
- reuse company
- reuse danger
- reuse dining
- reuse economy
- reuse for onsite dining
- reuse funding
- reuse in foodservice
- reuse in schools
- reuse messaging
- reuse movement
- reuse outreach
- reuse pilot
- reuse policy
- Reuse Seattle
- reuse solutions
- reuse solutions network
- reuse startup
- reuse system
- reuse targets
- reuse wins
- Rich Grousset
- Rise St James
- roadmap to reuse
- Rose Stephens-Booker
- roundup
- RRAF
- RSN
- scale
- scaling reuse
- schools
- scope 3 emissions
- Scottsdale
- Seattle
- sector based emissions
- Sego Jackson
- Seneca Village
- shipping
- single-use
- social justice
- software
- Solutioneer
- source reduction
- SPC Advance
- sponsor
- sports
- stadiums
- stainless steel
- Starbucks
- state policy
- strategic vision
- student activists
- subsidies
- supply chain
- sustainability
- sustainability goals
- sustainability policy
- sustainable packaging
- sustainable shipping
- Sydney Harris
- systems change
- takeaways
- takeout
- thank you
- The Milkman Model
- The Reusies
- toolkits
- tracker
- UN
- United Nations
- United States
- Upstream
- upstream solutions
- Vancouver
- venues
- video
- Vietnam
- vlog
- voter suppression
- voting
- voting rights
- Washington DC
- waste management
- waste reduction
- waste reduction hierarchy
- women
- Womens History Month
- World Wildlife Fund
- WWF
- Xanterra
- year end giving
- year in review
- zero waste
- Zero Waste Europe
Embracing Reuse in U.S. Packaging EPR Programs
A playbook for best-in-class Producer Responsibility Organizations for packaging EPR programs.
The state of EPR policy in the US
A table tracking how reuse is implicated in state EPR for packaging policies.
3 Takeaways from Circularity 22
Upstream CEO Matt Prindiville just returned from GreenBiz’s Circularity Conference. It was a sold-out 3 day affair with more than a thousand sustainability professionals from virtually every consumer brand, plus representatives from the rest of their value chain. Here are three valuable takeaways from the conference.
EPR: it’s not just for recycling anymore
Even though Extended Producer Responsibility has in theory been about creating a circular economy for packaging, in practice, the only goals that have been applied in legislation so far are recycling targets. The effect has been increased recycling where EPR systems are in place, but no actual reduction in the generation of packaging waste. We can change this.
Celebrating the Visionary Sego Jackson on his Retirement
This week, Sego Jackson - one of Upstream’s founding board members - retired from the City of Seattle. As the saying goes, “People don’t remember what you said. They remember how you made them feel.” And I remember the way Sego made me feel when I first met him back in 2004.
Which comes first? Extended Producer Responsibility or Deposit-Return?
With big brands signaling support for extended producer responsibility (EPR), deposit-return systems (DRS), and – most recently – reuse/refill, opportunities have opened up to pass policies and build infrastructure to transform how we consume products. But with these commitments come competing ideas around vision, strategies and tactics – and about which policies should come first, and which should follow.
How Extended Producer Responsibility Can Help Build a Waste-Free Future
EPR – aka extended producer responsibility – is a policy tool that holds consumer brands responsible for the environmental impacts of their products and packaging. Learn how EPR can move us toward a circular economy that follows the waste reduction hierarchy of reduce and reuse first, before recycling.
How Bottle Bills Reduce Waste and Support the Circular Economy
Walk through the history – and future – of bottle bills (aka deposit-refund systems) and explore how bottle bills were used in the past and what caused the shift from this reuse–refill economic model to the modern-era throw-away system.
EPR for Packaging is (finally!) now law in the US.
The Governor of Maine signed a new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill into state law. More than a decade in the making, Upstream CEO Matt Prindiville describes the history of the bill’s development and what it means for the future of reuse solutions and for holding big brands accountable for their contributions to packaging waste and pollutes.