How Plus Brand is Making Sustainability More…Sustainable

Because the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is so far from any coastline, no country will take up the task of cleaning it. But companies like Plus Brand are a reminder that how consumers spend their money can change the world. 

Plus Brand is the company behind Agua Plus, an alkaline water with uniquely sustainable packaging. Agua Plus is sourced and produced sustainably, using bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic. Agua Plus is also equipped with a unique label with biodegradable scratch ink. This label allows customers to scratch their name into their bottle and prevent waste resulting from bottle confusion. 

Unfortunately, no one company can clean up the microplastics that make up the garbage patch. According to projections, with 67 ships dragging nets around for one year, less than 1 percent of the patch would be cleaned. Plus Brand doesn't pretend to have a quick solution to this problem. But they do demonstrate a path forward that others can exemplify to slow the spread of pollution. 

This approach avoids a core problem with many sustainability solutions touted by activists. That is, where many activists advocate unsustainable solutions, Plus Brand focuses on sustainable mitigation and behavior change through education. 

Plus Brand's Sustainable Path Forward

Some estimates indicate that in the United States, more than 60 million water bottles are thrown away each day. A simple switch to aluminum wouldn't work since cans are lined with polymers that absorb flavor and degrade the product. Not only that, aluminum cans cost about 25 to 30 percent more than plastic bottles to produce. Given that any company that doesn't use plastic becomes so much less competitive, a middle approach is needed. That middle approach means acting and operating in a way that minimizes environmental impact.

This is where Plus Brand's approach shows how useful it is. Rather than ripping and replacing an entrenched system, the idea behind Plus Brand's packaging is to mitigate the system's impact. And that means innovating in such a way that makes sustainability easy for consumers. 

Forming and Sticking to the Habit of Sustainability

Plus Brand's All Scratch! technology demonstrates how sustainability can become a habit. The genesis of the tech came from an experience many people are familiar with. 

Plus Brand CEO Chad Willis had stocked up on water bottles for his family to enjoy during their annual reunion. What he immediately noticed was the massive amount of waste. People were picking up a bottle, taking a sip, then setting it down. Then, when they went back to take another drink, they couldn't tell whose bottle was whose. Rather than risk cross-contamination, they'd simply grab a fresh bottle. 

Willis talked through the problem and potential solutions with his brother. The first and most important insight was that the solution needed to be easy and convenient. If it were simply a matter of getting people to write their names on their bottles, it would've been done. So Willis started pulling patents, and the idea for All Scratch! was born. To eliminate bottle confusion, all customers would have to do was scratch their name or a symbol into their bottle. They didn't need a pen or a separate label. They just needed a fingernail and a bottle of Agua Plus. 

The Issue with Sustainable Solutions

The climate activist Greta Thunberg famously sailed to a UN climate summit in New York from Europe rather than flying. As noble a signal as that is, it's simply not practical for most people interested in reducing their carbon footprints. 

In the same way, a mission to fully eradicate plastic bottles from the face of the Earth is doomed. If it were enacted, many of the poorest people in the world would be the hardest hit. In many developing countries, the only way to get clean drinking water is in a plastic bottle. 

A less black and white approach can help stem the tide though. The trouble is that compromise isn't a great way to maximize exposure. Grand, paradigm-shifting ideas-even if they're unfeasible-are what move people to pay attention, donate, or show up to a protest. But while grand gestures create noise, it's the small things that make a difference. Just as every person is more than the sum of their accomplishments, sustainability is about a synthesis of all parts. It's about creating accessible, bite-sized behavioral changes that can be maintained over time. 

Plus Brand and The Recycling Knowledge Gap

Plus Brand CEO Chad Willis and his team don't do things halfway. So when evaluating the plastic problem, they honed in on a critical missing link: recycling education. From the recycling infrastructure to the consumers, there's a gap in recycling knowledge. 

In the United States, California has one of the nation's highest recycling rates. Yet the recycling system there is still overwhelmed. The EPA estimates that 75 percent of waste in the U.S. can be recycled, but only around 34 percent of it is. In South Korea, a leader in recycling, recycling rates have climbed to 83 percent. Austria and Germany have recycling rates of 63 and 62 percent, respectively. And the European Union's recycling rate sits at 43 percent. 

These disparities are why CEO Chad Willis and his team prioritize education. They do so by investing in social education with school partnerships and sponsorships. Plus Brand also continues to invest in waste reduction campaigns in local communities. 

Even more encouragingly, Plus Brand is not alone. Thanks to rising consumer awareness of pollution, there's real, marketable demand for sustainable corporate citizenship. And companies are responding. Rothy's, a retail company, reuses tens of millions of recycled bottles to help produce their shoes, bags, and face coverings. Bank of America has helped facilitate $10 billion in investments working towards the UN's sustainability goals. Etsy partners with 3Degrees to fund carbon emission reduction projects to offset their shipping carbon footprint. 

The list, fortunately, could go on and on. And through education, more people will become aware of, and value, corporate sustainability efforts. So long as Plus Brand and others continue to lead the way.