The key to a waste-free society?
The milkman.
To explain: The just-launched Loop aims to rid the world of single-use plastics, while still letting you use brands you like and trust. Started by TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based company best known for turning “non-recyclable” waste into new products, Loop is turning to a very old-school model of delivery.
Which is, yes, the idea of the milkman. But here, Loop promises to deliver reusable bottles of, say, Tide, Haagen-Dazs or Clorox (among two dozen mainstream bands), and then pick up the empty containers up to be cleaned and refilled.
The positives here: No need to throw away or recycle (you drop empties in a tote). You can schedule a pickup of your used bottles when it’s convenient. And everything you’ve finished will be automatically replenished. And there isn’t any wasteful shipping (boxes, ice packs, etc.)
On Loop’s end, they’ll clean and sanitize your containers and then refill ‘em — if you’re done using the product, your initial deposit will be refunded. You won’t see your products in their normal vessels — ice cream will be in good-looking metal tins that keep the product frozen for longer periods of time, and toothpaste may arrive as tablets that you chew instead of squeezing out of a tube.
As of now, Loop is launching in spring in New York and north-central France, and you can sign up on the waitlist here.
Photos: Loop
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