Disrupting disposable food service

Business
Written By Matt Prindiville

Episode #39

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Pioneering the New Reuse Economy with Samantha Sommer.

Samantha Sommer built a project called Rethink Disposable that helped several hundred food service providers in the San Francisco Bay Area make the shift from single-use to reuse. From mom & pop restaurants, to chains, to institutional dining and college and corporate campuses – Sam helped prove that every single business has saved money once they made the shift to using reusable foodware.

Since joining UPSTREAM as Director of Business of Innovation last year, Sam has been hard at work promoting the benefits of reuse in food service and engaging communities and businesses in co-creating the new reuse economy (even during a pandemic!). Through proven models she’s developed, she’s able to show businesses how shifting to reuse can save money and help remove barriers to creating a sustainable reuse service infrastructure.

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Matt Prindiville

Matt is a recognized thought leader within the plastic pollution community and advises the United Nations Environment Program on their plastic pollution strategies. He is one of the founders of the global Break Free from Plastic Movement and the founder of the Cradle2 Coalition and Make It Take It Campaign. He helped establish and advance the Electronics Takeback Coalition, the Multi-State Mercury Campaign, and the Safer Chemicals and Healthy Families Coalition. Matt has written for the Guardian, GreenBiz, and Sustainable Brands among other publications. He’s been featured in the Economist, the New York Times, on NPR’s 1A, Jack Johnson’s Smog of the Sea film, and consulted with 60 Minutes on their plastic pollution special. He can be found surfing, snowboarding, and coaching his daughter's basketball team.

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