Raised in Vancouver, Canada, Lauren Gropper’s love of the pure world grew early on — and so did her want to assist protect it. After pursuing environmental research and geography in faculty, Gropper did a spread of labor in associated fields. Then she went on to check sustainable design in graduate faculty.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Repurpose. Lauren Gropper.
In graduate faculty, Gropper was in a horrible accident that reconfirmed her dedication to pursuing work that made a distinction, she says.
“Like many foreigners overseas, I used to be very all for using mopeds and bikes,” Gropper recollects, “and I used to be within the mountains of Thailand and ended up colliding right into a bus. I broke my jaw and misplaced all my enamel. It was a life-changing, near-death expertise. It cemented my [conviction to] do one thing on the earth that made an impression.”
Gropper was decided to construct a profession with that objective in thoughts, however starting a business wasn’t on her radar at first. She continued to achieve expertise within the inexperienced constructing house consulting for giant corporations, then moved to Los Angeles to do the identical work for design on movie and tv units.
“This was, no pun meant, not sustainable.”
Though Gropper had a hand in constructing sustainable units, she could not assist however discover the intense waste that unfolded on them as soon as filming began: Disposable plastic cutlery was the norm for each meal.
“Individuals needed to break to eat [and] eat rapidly,” Gropper explains. “There was no means round utilizing disposable objects. It is simply the character of the enterprise. Every part’s very momentary. It simply turned apparent to me that this was, no pun meant, not sustainable.”
Along with her design background, Gropper noticed an obvious resolution to the problem: A cleaner, greener product that did not final perpetually in a landfill. Gropper began researching alternate options that already existed and found it was attainable to make related merchandise out of plant-based, unhazardous supplies that will break down inside 90 days.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Repurpose
“ There was a zero-waste round resolution, which embodied the whole lot that I had studied, so I received actually enthusiastic about that,” Gropper says. “And it felt like enterprise can be a very useful gizmo to enlarge the change. [I started to think about] how we may use enterprise for good or as a instrument for impression.”
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As Gropper continued her analysis into the plant-based alternate options, she discovered that some have been rather more viable than others. Lots of them not solely did not work properly but additionally got here with prohibitive prices. Gropper wanted to determine the way to develop a product that carried out and did not require folks to pay considerably extra.
“[It’s] mainly taking plant starch and turning it right into a polymer that mimics plastic.”
Two massive chemical corporations “create the constructing blocks” for most of these merchandise, that are usually constituted of a mixture of plant-based resin and agricultural waste, Gropper explains. Basically, the method entails taking one thing that will be burnt or discarded and giving it a second life.
“[It’s] mainly taking plant starch and turning it right into a polymer that mimics plastic,” Gropper says. “That mixture is what offers you a product that may maintain as much as a traditional plastic product, however then break down in a 90-day interval and be licensed by impartial our bodies as compostable.”
Within the U.S., merchandise should endure third-party certification, full with a soil check and microplastic and toxin hint evaluation, to obtain the “compostable” designation.
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Gropper’s analysis led her to a Taiwan-based group ”that was form of main the cost globally in alternate options to single-use plastic.” The group had already been manufacturing merchandise that carried out properly at a very good worth level; it appeared like a chance to try shopper adoption at mass scale, Gropper says.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Repurpose
“ There was white house all over the place,” Gropper says, “however what felt actually compelling was the thought of creating a brand round all these totally different merchandise, as a result of you then weren’t simply making one product. You were not simply making a commodity and placing it right into a system. You might be really making a model that might lengthen into totally different product classes, that will signify this better-for-you, better-for-the-planet model for the trendy shopper.”
“ Product high quality has all the time been paramount for us.”
Gropper’s Repurpose hit the market in late 2011 and has grown significantly over the past decade-plus. Now, the model boasts eight-figure gross sales, has changed 656 million items of plastic and affords greater than 15 several types of sustainable family merchandise in 20,000 shops nationwide.
Like many founders and CEOs, Gropper acknowledges the plethora of challenges that got here with constructing her firm over time: ones that usually require artistic problem-solving. There have been merchandise printed the other way up forward of an essential retail launch, money movement constraints that main legacy gamers do not face, conflicts to navigate amongst group members and so many extra.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Repurpose
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In response to Gropper, being agile sufficient to beat these obstacles as they come up has been key to Repurpose’s growth and success — as has an unwavering dedication to the model’s product high quality.
“ Product high quality has all the time been paramount for us,” Gropper says. “However at a worth level that is accessible. [We want this product to be] accessible to all People. [And also] as sustainable as attainable. In case you can ship on these three issues on the identical time, you might be profitable. And that’s what we have finished.”
This text is a part of our ongoing Girls Entrepreneur® sequence highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of operating a enterprise as a girl.
