By Giacomo Abrusci
Loop, launching spring 2019, offers every day brands and products from ice cream to mouth wash, in specially engineered reusable and returnable containers. Yes, it is the moment we have all been waiting for.
Food packaging is the problem but now there is a zero-waste solution
Everyone knows food packaging is one of the leading causes of pollution on land and in the sea. From water bottles to potato chip bags, that plastic litter is everywhere. People have tried politely protesting at supermarkets, others try to buy in bulk, and some are so frustrated they try to only buy direct from farms and wholesale markets. That does not work for everyone.
Realistically, grocery shopping with no excess packaging is impossible for the majority of the public. Whether limited by time or location, convenience is going to prevail. Now, seemingly as easy as returning something on Amazon, we can send back Loop’s durable and reusable containers so they can be sterilized and reused.
Their containers are designed to be reused at least a hundred times which would make a tremendous dent one what gets dumped routinely into the trash.
So who is Loop?
Incubated at TerraCycle, an organization we already love, Loop has already wrangled some mega brands that are found in just about every household on the planet. The Loop website describes themselves as “the milkman reimagined,” bringing back a zero-waste shopping concept most people have never even experienced before. UPS has partnered with this new platform and plans to seamlessly integrate deliveries and pickups into their system.
The initial roll-out is slated to be this spring in New York City and Paris but I am sure once the wheels are greased, we can expect to see them in cities everywhere.
As of now, it seems that Loop will be offering their products through their own e-commerce platform. No news yet on if they will be partnering with other apps or online grocers.
Brands that have already partnered with Loop:
Getting Loop into your home
This is so new all you can do is reserve your spot online but seems like launch dates are only weeks away. Start by going to the bottom of this page: https://loopstore.com/ You can also follow them on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/loopstoreUS/ to stay up-to-date. It will be great to see this program rolling out and expanding to more and more cities.
There is sure to be some initial criticism over the carbon footprint of delivery or even the containers themselves (I can imagine the social media comments already) but the faster the demand builds the sooner design and operations get streamlined.
Spread the word about this new platform because it has the potential to change the way we all fill our pantry. Let’s make sure all conscious consumers are aware of this solution!