Single-use plastic is detrimental to the environment, creating huge amounts of waste. This week, we spoke to Jesse Langley, CEO of Lotus Sustainables, about eliminating single-use plastic bags with reusable alternatives. For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/eliminating-single-use-plastic-bags-with-jesse-langley
Single-use plastics are extremely harmful to the environment, both in terms of their production and disposal. All plastic creates issues regarding fossil fuel emissions and waste, but single-use plastics are specifically detrimental because they contribute to the immense amounts of waste piling up on our planet. Because these plastics are not biodegradable, according to EarthDay, “79% of plastic that has ever been made still sits in landfills or the natural environment.”
While numerous efforts have been made to reduce the amount of single use plastics available, the amount of plastic entering our landfills has yet to substantially decrease. For example, in 2014, California enacted a ban on thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but allowed customers to purchase bags made with thicker plastics, which retailers argued would make them recyclable and reusable. In reality, consumers were not reusing or recycling the thicker plastic, ultimately leading to an increase in the poundage of plastic trashed per person.
Lotus Sustainables aims to eliminate single-use plastic by providing eco-friendly alternatives, with reusable grocery bags and food storage pouches. Founded by Jennifer and Farzan Dehmoubed in 2017, the company aims to eliminate the need for single use plastic. Since its founding, they have been able to divert 5 billion bags from landfills. Lotus also prioritizes ethical and sustainable manufacturing efforts by closely monitoring the production and studying the life cycle of their products. The bags are made with eco-friendly materials such as recycled plastic bottles for fabric and renewable resource products like jute, a plant based fiber. Using these materials ensures that the product is durable and reusable. The process reduces the amount of waste that enters landfills both by using recycled products, and creating a long-term, reusable alternative.
Lotus’ mission also contains environmental justice initiatives. In pursuit of these goals, Lotus donates 10% of their profits to likeminded companies, including The Plastic Pollution Coalition, the Surfrider Foundation, and Project New Village. Further, according to co-founder Jennifer Dehmoubed, the company donates to “Black-created organizations that focus on food justice, the preservation of land, and enriching agriculture,” with hopes to “repair horrific injustices imprinted in the Earth and bring ownership of the land and agriculture education into the hands and lives of Black people.”
In order to realize Lotus’ goals, consumer demand and legislation must respond to the planet’s growing need to eliminate single-use plastic. Without the support of consumers, no amount of legislation or innovation can have an impact. According to Jesse Langley, CEO of Lotus Sustainables, “ Legislation doesn't happen unless there's people behind it…And same thing with businesses, these businesses are not gonna get behind an initiative if Consumers are not looking for it.”
Jesse Langley is the CEO of Lotus Sustainables and a seasoned entrepreneur in the environmental space, helping to develop climate action plans and greenhouse gas reductions for local governments in California. Lotus Sustainables is a certified B-corp on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic bags.
For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/eliminating-single-use-plastic-bags-with-jesse-langley
Ethan: I’m Ethan Elkind, and you’re listening to Climate Break — climate solutions in a hurry. Today’s proposal: replacing single-use plastic bags made from fossil fuels with reusable alternatives. We spoke to Jesse Langley, CEO of Lotus Sustainables, about their array of reusable shopping bags.
Jesse: It really started in California in 2017 with the ban of plastic bags. So the founders of Lotus created, uh, one product, the Lotus Trolley bag, which we had, uh, six months of inventory and sold out that six months and three weeks. So we realized, hey, there's some interest from the consumer side. And so that's what we've done over the last seven years, is find other opportunities where we can eliminate plastic as part of a consumer's experience.
Ethan: Lotus Sustainables, along with other companies working in this space, have already made a significant impact reducing plastic pollution.
Jesse: We've been able to divert over 5 billion plastic bags from landfills and basically how we get to those numbers is looking at the amount of bags we've sold, and given the statistics that the average family of four uses about 1200 plastic bags per year.
Ethan: Despite the progress Lotus has made, Langley says we’ll need many sectors of society to help push for reductions in plastic pollution in order to achieve a meaningful scale in the fight against climate change.
Jesse: So there's multiple states have plastic bag bans. Another force is, corporations are looking at this and saying, how can we have a lighter footprint? And then the third force out there is consumers are becoming more and more aware to the impact of plastic and how detrimental it is. So when you combine those three different forces together, each one of those are really continuing to move this journey forward.
Ethan: To learn more about Lotus Sustainables and how reusable shopping bags can help fight climate change, visit climatebreak.org