Raised in Vancouver, Canada, Lauren Gropper’s love of the pure world grew early on — and so did her need to assist protect it. After pursuing environmental research and geography in school, Gropper did a variety 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 excited by 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 tooth. It was a life-changing, near-death expertise. It cemented my [conviction to] do one thing on this planet that made an influence.”
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Gropper was decided to construct a profession with that aim in thoughts, however beginning a enterprise wasn’t on her radar to start with. She continued to achieve expertise within the inexperienced constructing house consulting for giant companies, 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 approach round utilizing disposable objects. It is simply the character of the enterprise. Every little thing’s very short-term. It simply grew to become apparent to me that this was, no pun meant, not sustainable.”
Together with her design background, Gropper noticed an obvious resolution to the difficulty: A cleaner, greener product that did not final perpetually in a landfill. Gropper began researching options that already existed and found it was potential to make comparable merchandise out of plant-based, unhazardous supplies that may break down inside 90 days.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Repurpose
“ There was a zero-waste round resolution, which embodied all the things that I had studied, so I obtained actually enthusiastic about that,” Gropper says. “And it felt like enterprise could be a extremely useful gizmo to amplify the change. [I started to think about] how we might use enterprise for good or as a software for influence.”
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As Gropper continued her analysis into the plant-based options, she discovered that some had been way 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 giant chemical firms “create the constructing blocks” for a lot of these merchandise, that are usually made out of a mix of plant-based resin and agricultural waste, Gropper explains. Basically, the method includes taking one thing that may 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 unbiased our bodies as compostable.”
Within the U.S., merchandise should endure third-party certification, full with a soil take a look at 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 options to single-use plastic.” The group had already been manufacturing merchandise that carried out properly at an excellent value level; it appeared like a possibility to aim client 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 making a model round all these completely 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’re truly making a model that might lengthen into completely different product classes, that may characterize this better-for-you, better-for-the-planet model for the trendy client.”
“ Product high quality has at all times 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 presents greater than 15 various kinds 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 through the years: ones that always require inventive problem-solving. There have been merchandise printed the wrong way up forward of an vital retail launch, money circulation constraints that main legacy gamers do not face, conflicts to navigate amongst staff 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 progress and success — as has an unwavering dedication to the model’s product high quality.
“ Product high quality has at all times been paramount for us,” Gropper says. “However at a value level that is accessible. [We want this product to be] out there to all People. [And also] as sustainable as potential. When you can ship on these three issues on the similar time, you will be profitable. And that’s what we have achieved.”
This text is a part of our ongoing Girls Entrepreneur® collection highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of working a enterprise as a lady.
