Support and Accelerate Reuse Services in Your Community
One of the many actions you can take on the Roadmap to Reuse includes supporting the local businesses that are bringing us goods and services in reusable and refillable packaging.
Your community group can help to expand the availability of reuse systems locally in the following ways:
Identify existing reuse business models and work with them to accelerate.
Encourage local regulators to create grants and provide government support.
Increasingly, state and local governments are prioritizing reuse by providing grants to spur the development of local reuse services. If your city or state doesn’t fund grants or provide technical support to local businesses, you can
We find that many people in our communities are excited to learn about new models for consumption and to try them out. If we reach those eager to make change and get them involved in reuse and refill, they can help spread the word and become influencers within their own communities. Your job is to be a catalyst in any of the following ways (or make up some of your own and share them with us.)
Share information and excitement about local zero waste and reuse-based businesses.
For example:
spread the word about a local dry-cleaners that uses reusable garment bags,
encourage people to get take-out in reusable containers or delicious vegan meals delivered in reusable containers,
share news in your school about school districts bringing reusables back to school lunch service, like Palo Alto, CA and Austin, Texas;
share the moos about dairies providing milk and other dairy products in refillable glass bottles.
Find reuse businesses in your area by checking Upstream’s reuse services and business directory.
Ways to spread the word about local reuse businesses
Post a list and/or map on your website;
Share on social media;
Engage the local news media to write a story;
Share in your neighborhood free weekly paper;
Share in your neighborhood online communications platforms and listservs;
Share news blurbs for posting in online and print news bulletins of local parent’s associations, business associations, faith-based groups, watershed and conservation groups, garden clubs, and other local interest groups.
The Roadmap to Reuse was generously funded by the Ocean Protection Council.