Innovative Businesses Taking Action to Restore Our Earth in 2021

Fifty-one years ago, on April 22nd, marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement we recognize annually as Earth Day. What began as an idea to educate, motivate, and mobilize United States college students and raise public awareness of growing environmental concerns, has grown to include over 190 countries and over one billion people taking action on Earth Day. The success of the first Earth Day in 1970 caused a ripple effect launching the  United States’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The creation of the EPA has resulted in the passage of vital environmental laws, such as the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clear Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Millions of men, women, and children have been protected from disease and death, as well as hundreds of species have been preserved from extinction due to the development of these laws.

Today, as awareness of our climate crisis and civil society mobilization continues to grow, a fever pitch across the globe has begun. While each individual plays an important role in the restoration of our planet, and as knowledge and understanding of the climate emergency has globally grown, the necessity for businesses, industries, and companies to get involved has become paramount to the health and wellbeing of our entire planet.

On Earth Day 2021, we would like to bring awareness to a few businesses that are taking innovative action to Restore Our Earth.

TerraCycle’s mission is to eliminate the idea of waste. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, TerraCycle has grown to be the global leader in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste: operating in over 20 countries, engaging over 80 million people, and recycling billions of pieces of waste through various innovative platforms.

TerraCycle’s evolution began centered in vermicompost. Throughout the years, TerraCycle has vastly expanded their collection, upcycling, and redistribution of products to used soda bottles, yogurt cups, energy bar wrappers, drink pouches, plastic bags, cigarette butts, deodorant tubes, coffee capsules, baby bottles, plastic gloves, three ring binders, cosmetic waste, baby car seats, contact lenses, and many other types of difficult-to-recycle waste. By partnering initiatives with large companies like Target, Walmart, Staples, Office Depot, Home Depot, Henkel, Bausch + Lomb, Taco Bell, SLIQ Spirited Ice, Honest Tea, Stoneyfield Farm, Cliff Bar, Capri Sun, and SUEZ, TerraCycle has been able to expand their efforts globally, developing recycled packaging and products from everyday waste.

In 2019, TerraCycle unveiled Loop, a circular reuse system delivering the world’s favorite brands to your doorstep in durable, refillable packaging, moving away from disposability and single-use for a less wasteful world. And, last year, TerraCycle was the first to launch a large-scale PPE (personal protective equipment) recycling initiative for disposable masks.

We recommend checking out their Zero Waste Box® system that can be used by everyone to recycle everything. Discover more about TerraCycle here.

Ocean Rainforest’s purpose is to improve people’s wellbeing and to make a unique contribution to our blue planet by applying science, innovation, and expertise to grow premium quality seaweed for sale and for research, rather than taking it from existing ocean ecosystems. By cultivating the seaweed instead of taking from wild stocks, they are sustaining the natural balance of the fjords. Earth’s underwater rainforest also takes in carbon dioxide, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Started in 2010, Ocean Rainforest is currently the leading seaweed cultivator in Europe and a pioneer in their industry.

Seaweed is fast-growing algae. These underwater plants utilize energy from sunlight, and absorb nutrients and carbon dioxide from the sea. Scientists suggest seaweed may help fight climate change and offset carbon emissions. Located in the Faroe Islands, this company offers a collection of Nordic seaweed products, mostly for food and cosmetic producers. Ocean Rainforest began building a similar system in California in January 2020, where there’s interest in developing industrialised seaweed production for future biofuels.

Seaweed has a variety of health benefits, and contains beneficial proteins, antioxidants, minerals, essential trace elements, dietary fibres, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. While most farmed seaweed is consumed in food, extracts are used in a wide variety of products. Whether it is toothpaste, cosmetics, medicines, or pet food, these often contain hydrocolloids derived from seaweed, which have gelling or thickening properties. More products are coming, with other firms working on textiles and plastic alternatives, including biodegradable packaging, water capsules, and drinking straws.

Check out this growing company, their products, and the many projects Ocean Rainforest is working on to restore our Earth by visiting their website.

BVT is a leading technology company that uses commercially-reared bees to deliver sustainable and effective crop control. Over the last 20 years, BVT has been developing their easy-to-use tray system which introduces natural organic compounds to commercially-reared bees as they exit the hive. As the bees pollinate, they leave behind the foundation for a season-long, targeted pest and disease management program. Don’t worry, the bees remain healthy and happy throughout the process.

While the idea of bees carrying natural and safe pesticides to crops on their feet may sound like a complex process, this video (adorably) explains how BVT improves crop yields and significantly reduces the use of harmful chemicals — a win all around for our planet.

Good Natured Products makes everyday earth-friendly products that leverage the very latest in plant-based renewable materials. They have done the work to eliminate BPAs, phthalates, and other chemicals of concern from their products so that they are better for our health, the planet, and the delicate ecosystem.

Good Natured Products has been developing innovative plant-based materials since 2006. In 2016 they started turning those materials into products that businesses and consumers are using every day. With over 385 products and services, they are producing and distributing one of North America’s widest assortments of eco-friendly products made from plants, not petroleum. As technology increases in this sector, biopolymers and plant-based plastics can be made from agricultural waste and even CO2 re-capture and conversion. Good Natured Products is expanding their resources to include more products made from sugarcane, fiber, and other rapidly renewable feedstocks.

Some of the products they have designed and developed that have led them to being at the forefront of environmentally friendly packaging include bioplastic food packaging, compostable take out containers (excellent option for the increase in food delivery during a global pandemic), bins, totes, and crates for home use, as well as pallet stretch wrap for commercial shipping.

If you package food in any way, that includes if you meal-prep for the week or are a fan of leftovers, we invite you to check out this giant in renewable resource packaging and products by going to Good Natured Products’ website here.

If you’ve made it this far (thank you). We would be remiss to not mention World Tree and how we are actively striving to Restore Our Earth. World Tree’s mission is to Elevate, Educate, and Innovate for our Planet by uniting investors and farmers for impact and prosperity via the Empress Splendor (Paulownia) tree. It’s important to note that our trees reach harvest maturity in 8-10 years, and regenerate from the stump up to 7 times.

World Tree’s Farmer Program provides qualified farmers with Empress Splendor trees for free to plant on their land, along with guidance and support from the experts on our Farmer Success Team. Investors from all over the world fund the Farmer Program by investing through the Eco-Tree Investment Program. After 10 years, the trees are harvested for high-grade, hardwood  lumber, and the profits are split 50% for the farmers, 25% for the investors, and 25% for World Tree after the sale of the lumber. World Tree currently plants in five countries, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

Our objectives are to restore Earth’s natural ecology, create a legacy for future generations, promote the Empress Splendor tree as a powerful way to impact global warming, regenerate the soil, meet the world’s growing demand for lumber, reduce the carbon footprint of our investors, and provide new opportunities to farmers within the field of agroforestry.

While this list is far from exhaustive on businesses that are centered around making a positive and lasting difference on our planet, we hope to have given you some inspiration for Earth Day 2021 and access to more options on how you can help #RestoreOurEarth.