Here at Joe, sustainability is always at the forefront of our minds—from our commitment to sourcing Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee and working with partners who prioritize lowering their carbon footprints to composting our coffee grounds in our cafes. So naturally, when we discovered Better Packaging Co’s POLLAST!CTM mailers, we were eager to seize the opportunity to make a bigger impact with our packaging choices.
We’re excited to announce that our mail orders will now be packaged in POLLAST!CTM mailers, made 100% from ocean-bound plastic collected from coastal communities in Southeast Asia. In these under-resourced regions where very little waste management infrastructure exists, plastic pollution accumulates on beaches and waterways, becoming the source of much of the world’s ocean plastic pollution. Better Packaging Co works with these communities to collect plastic from the shorelines, paying a fair wage, which in turn helps lift them out of poverty.
In making this shift, we grappled with the question of the sustainability of a recycled plastic product over a paper or compostable product, and you might be wondering the same thing! Ultimately, we believe we can make a more significant impact with this choice. Here’s why: POLLAST!CTM mailers use 75% less CO₂ than a virgin plastic product and 88% less than a virgin compostable bag. They also have a lower carbon footprint than any paper package or recycled product on the market.
What’s more, we are actively supporting shoreline cleanups that prevent plastic from entering the ocean and simultaneously helping communities fight poverty. An estimated 5-13 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year and that figure is expected to triple by 2040. Over 70% of that plastic enters oceans via land and over 80% of that comes from Asia. That’s why Better Packaging Co focuses their collection efforts in Southeast Asian coastal communities. In the course of a year, we’ll be able to divert the equivalent of 54,200 single-use plastic bags from the ocean! Whether you recycle your package with soft plastics, or dispose of it responsibly at home, the plastic ends up in a better place.
As a company dedicated to transparent supply streams, we also appreciate Better Packaging Co’s commitment to traceable sourcing—every mailer comes with a tracing code which you can use to find out where the plastic used to make your mailer was collected! Plug in the code at the bottom of this page to trace your mailer’s origin. Even better, as a B Corp Certified business and Certified Carbon Free business, Better Packaging Co works to offset 100% of their carbon emissions. We’re excited about this new partnership, and look forward to hearing what you think!
