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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1458960
MARCH/APRIL 2022 BCBUSINESS 35 SPUD.CA; ECOLOGYST Environmental Sustainability W I N N E R SPUD.ca R U N N E R - U P Ecologyst It's no secret that the clothing industry is a dirty one, says Rene Gauthier. "It's contributing about 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions on our planet, about 20 percent of the water pollution," notes the co-founder and CEO of clothier Ecologyst. Overconsumption is also a major issue, Gauthier adds: "We're now making over a 100 billion garments a year." Victoria-based Ecologyst, founded in 2019, is charting a more sustain- able path with its manufacturer-to- consumer model. "We look to cut out as many steps as we possibly can in the process of building a garment, and look to make it as close as possible to where it's being sold," Gauthier explains, adding that his 40-employee company also pays a family living wage. "This model can reduce the car- bon footprint up to 90 percent in the manufacturing part of the process." Ecologyst, whose hometown factory also serves as its warehouse, office and showroom, makes all clothing in North America. With about a third of production now taking place in Victoria, the company aims to reach 100 percent. Its garments, which use no plastic fibres, aren't cheap, but Ecologyst promises to repair all products for life. In another bid to reduce cloth- ing waste, the business recently soft-launched Second Life, which lets customers sell used items via its website. Asked what's next, Gauthier says Ecologyst plans to open manufacturer-to-consumer hubs in other North American cities. "We've built one of them so far, and we're looking to scale up." H elena McShane didn't always know that supermarket produce displays are just for show. "Not to shame other gro- cery stores, but I never realized that those piles of oranges are there for me to look at, not to buy," says McShane, communications and sustainabil- ity manager with Vancouver-based online grocer SPUD.ca. "There's so much waste in displays and what they think consumers want." About 2.5 billion tonnes, or 40 percent, of all food goes uneaten each year, according to the World Wildlife Federation and grocery chain Tesco. Meanwhile, food waste accounts for 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Canada loses or wastes 58 percent of its food, found a study commissioned by Toronto-based charity Second Harvest. SPUD, which claims to have the lowest food waste of any grocery retailer in Canada, has taken several steps to make waste reduction part of its business strategy. For starters, it has no food displays, and fewer hands on produce means that less gets thrown away. The com- pany's FoodX technology flags when a product with a short lifespan needs to go on sale. By look- ing at how customers fill their online shopping carts, SPUD can also forecast demand as far as two weeks in advance, McShane says. "That means we can buy just what they need." With help from local vendors ready to quickly meet demand, the company turns over 60 per- cent of its stock within 48 hours. SPUD also sells imperfect produce, which is typically rejected by grocery stores. To win over consumers, it's created recipes for such fruits and vegetables with local nonprofit Food Stash Foundation. McShane's Food Waste Fighters team finds a home for anything the 280-employee business can't sell: "I have, like, six food insecurity orga- nizations on my speed dial." SPUD runs a TakeBack program that collects soft plastic packaging from cus- tomers and sends it to TerraCycle, which upcycles the material into new products. The company also sells a variety of items in returnable glass containers. By delivering its food via van in reus- able plastic bins, SPUD is carpooling for groceries, McShane notes. She cites a University of Wash- ington study showing that using a grocery deliv- ery service instead of driving to the store can cut carbon emissions by at least half. Each day, about 40 SPUD vans deliver 1,500 to 2,000 orders, pick- ing up empty bins as they drop off full ones. "It's truly a circular model," McShane says. GO OD THEBUSINESSOF 2 0 2 2 A WHEEL DIFFERENCE Besides making waste reduction part of its business strategy, online grocer SPUD helps reduce carbon emissions from driving by packing 45 to 55 orders into each of its delivery vans Rene Gauthier