World Environment Day Statement

June 04, 2023 0 Comments

Today is World Environment Day which is a call to the world to take actions, no matter how small, on reducing plastic pollution in the environment. Our central and most important value as a business is to be a role model in sustainability in all aspects of our existence. The reason why this is important to us is because we don't believe businesses can go on ignoring the environmental damage caused by pollution any longer. Being a sustainable business is a fundamental criteria for being in business. What that translates to for us is taking conscious and deliberate actions to assess and improve our operations in favour of a more sustainable, less pollutive and more environmentally just solution. 

Neo Juicery has existed for a little over 6 years. Since opening our virtual doors in March 2017, we have diverted 153,887 bottles from the plastic waste stream by using glass as our primary packaging. This business model has allowed us to stay financially sustainable, as well, because the Bottle Rebate Program we have also saves us dollars on raw material purchasing. 

There is credible science that says it takes far more energy to produce, transport and recycle glass than plastic, making it a less sustainable option (overall) to some environmental scientists. Sure. However, using plastic means for every unit produced, one unit will be discarded into the waste stream down the supply chain. That is a guarantee because you cannot reuse plastic packaging. Whereas for us, for every glass bottle we purchase brand new, we not only discard none, we also reuse it 3.7 times, on average. When weighing the evidence available to us in 2017, we made the decision that glass is the far better choice, despite criticisms from evidence-pickers in the environmental community. 

Since February 2022, we have been experiencing ripple effects from pandemic supply chain disruptions that ended up being both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we ended up transitioning to a reputable glass bottle supplier in Quebec, locally owned and operated which we felt so good about supporting. That reduced our costs and it reduced significantly our energy usage for bottle transport. We now get one shipment per month as opposed to multiple shipments from our old supplier. On the other hand, we lost a very important supply option for our 2oz glass shot jars and 250ml glass minis. This forced us to transition to plastic for both SKUs. This is a waste stream we are actively working on cutting down to zero by finding an affordable glass alternative for both SKUs by the start of 2024. Wish us luck on that!

It's worth highlighting that there are great local businesses in Edmonton who are also reducing plastic waste by offering glass/other reusable alternatives. For example, Earths' General Store as a bring-your-own containers program for their bulk section. Re:Plenish is a zero waste business offering all kinds of household items in bulk where you can also take your own reusable containers. It's worth following Zero Waste Edmonton, a non-profit dedicated to reducing waste in Edmonton and they talk a lot about reducing plastic waste. 

Thank you, as always, for staying up to date on our news and supporting our vision for a more sustainable, just and equitable food system. 

In health, 

Kareema, Ala & the Neo Team :)

 

 

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