Here at our headquarters in Chicago, we take sustainability seriously. Every minute, two million plastic bags are used. That’s 22,046 pounds of plastic or 10 tons worth of plastic bags. The world has a plastic problem to say the least. Keep reading to learn more about the 5 ways we are reducing plastic at Rise Gardens!
Dry Nutrients
For those Rise Members, you may have noticed we completely removed plastic from our nutrient packaging. You’ll no longer find your nutrients contained in a plastic bottle–or liquid for that matter. Our nutrients are now contained in kraft paper packaging.
By transitioning to this more concentrated formula, we have also removed 100% of water needed to produce the nutrients. These changes alone have massively reduced our carbon footprint as the volume and weight we ship out to you is much less compared to previous liquid nutrient shipments.
More metal, less plastic in the Rise Garden
By using sturdy and long-lasting metal components, replacements of the exterior components of your garden are far less frequent than if they were made up of plastic. This is because of metal’s physical properties, which lend to its strength.
Recycling and composting initiatives at Rise HQ
Rise Gardens has been recycling and composting in the office since 2021. We recycle most of our materials in the office (given that materials are in accordance with Chicago’s recycling restrictions). We also have implemented other office programs such as battery recycling, repurposing old t-shirts and tote bags as dish rags, and donating shipping materials to a local Chicago company aiming to divert shipping material waste.
Purchasing refills for office supplies like dish soap and hand soap instead of new bottles
Like any office, the coffee pot is always hot and mugs are frequently in use. As a result, we frequently wash dishes, thus purchasing refills for our existing soap containers has both saved us money and reduced our plastic consumption. No more purchasing a new bottle of soap every time the office runs out!
No plastic single use water bottles in office
In our office, it will be tough to find a single-use bottle of anything. Having access to the city of Chicago’s tap water, as well as filtered water from the fridge, we are lucky to be able to reduce our plastic usage in this way. Over the holidays, employees were gifted a Yeti tumbler which gave all the more incentive to keep drinking sustainably.
By making these active decisions and policies for our office, products and company, we're committing to doing our part to reduce plastic consumption in the US + Canada.
