presentation 2014 esu innovation center

PA’s 1st Benefit Corporation ~ a new legal entity type to create a positive impact on society and the environment ~ forgos maximizing profit to pursue public good, even when doing so cuts into revenue.

The start of a new economy in Pennsylvania, one based on a triple bottom line: people, planet, purpose

And you CAN do well by doing good!

We offer:

Free Website Building Workshops, for unemployed and underemployed to start their own small businesses, through a partnership with:

Give & Take Days…all items FREE!

Give & Take Days, annually since 2009

Part of the website building workshop includes:

Register online at http://www.closetheloop.com

To truly “close the loop”, we need to do 3 things:

1) recycle our waste 2) make something new out of it 3) buy recycled

We only have one planet with finite resources, in nature there is no waste.Nature builds up & breaks down…every organism provides an environmental service during and after its life ~ we can do the same with humans to create a society in which there is also no waste.

We make products that do not break down, creating problems throughout the world on land and sea for generations to come.

According to the EPA, the waste materials generated in the US annually:

Plastics - 30 million tons of plastic waste (nearly 60 billion pounds). Only 9% of plastic waste was recycled in 2013

Glass – 13.2 million tons of glass, about 22 % recycled

Tires – 300 million tires in the US, 12 million in Pennsylvania alone.

Source: Closed Loop Fund

About 91% of the total plastic waste generated was landfilled, littered, incinerated or finds its way into our oceans…

Only 9% was recovered for recycling…

Source: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm

How can you make something disposable that's indestructible?

Photo:

Midway Journey

Plastics kill 1.5 million marine animals each year ~ litter finds it way to our oceans

Plastic Waste

…can be turned into Plastic Wood Fencing

Of the Recycled Plastic Bottles Collected:

Source: 2008 United States National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report

Less than half of the PET (#1) collected goes to US manufacturers of recycled products, the majority goes overseas to China and other countries.

In 2014, the Svendborg Maersk was struck by high wind and waves off the coast of France and lost more than 500 containers, now at the bottom of the ocean.

Glass Waste

The Process of Glass Recycling

…can be turned

into a sparkling

landscape glass

walkway or used in a gas fire pit

This is where we came from…

This is the progress we’ve made:

We can do the same with plastics…

Waste tires can be turned into playground surfacing, horse footing, rubber timbers & tiles…

Here’s the Solution:

It takes 525 gallon-sized milk jugs to produce one 2-rail section of plastic post & rail fencing.  

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It takes 100 tires to make 1 ton (2,000 lbs) of rubber mulch ~ enough to cover an average size home playground.  

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It takes 4,000 beer bottles to make 1 ton (2,000 lbs ~ about 1 cubic yard) of glass mulch.  It takes 100 beer bottles to make 1, 50 LB bag of glass mulch.

In your lifetime there are ~50 yrs of oil left for gasoline, heating, plastics, tires, much more…

Question:

Will we be forced to mine landfills

for raw materials?

Video ~ America's National Wonder: Plastic!?

Areas of Green Opportunities:Areas of Green Opportunities:1)1) Conserve, recycle, and efficiently use energy Conserve, recycle, and efficiently use energy

and materials and materials

2)2) Use renewable & alternative sources of energyUse renewable & alternative sources of energy

3)3) Purchase materials with recycled contentPurchase materials with recycled content

4)4) Reduce the amount of waste we throw away.Reduce the amount of waste we throw away.

5)5) Encourage Extended Producer Responsibility Encourage Extended Producer Responsibility or enact legislation to require it. or enact legislation to require it.

According to NRDC Report“More Jobs, Less Pollution” report shows that a 75 percent

national recycling rate would create nearly 2.3 million jobs. The US recycles about 35% now…

Jobs in: Recycling Industries: MURF’s ~ collection and processing of

recyclables to make them available for use Reuse and Remanufacturing Industries:  new recycled

products

Source: Natural Resources Defense Council, http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/recycling-create-23-million-jobs-according-nrdc-report/

Design products with the end of life in mind… cradle to cradle, not cradle to grave (landfills).

Focus for the future: waste = food Focus for the future: waste = food (resources)(resources)

Impacts of Buying US Made Recycled Products

Investing in American made products creates jobs Sets a good example & helps our economy Long-term economic and environmental benefits. What better raw material to use than our waste

materials transformed into a valuable resource ~ in nature there is no waste.

Leave less of a footprint on the earth…

Favorite quotes:

Waste is really a design flaw. ~ Kate Krebs, NRC

Plastics, like diamonds, are forever! - Capt. Charles Moore, Algalita Marine Research Foundation

If only they made a pesticide for litterbugs! ~ Monroe County, PA Beautification Organization~ Monroe County, PA Beautification Organization

Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

www.closetheloop.com

rita.lacey@closetheloop.com

570.629.8414

Thank you!

Rita Lacey