Reel Green™ Vendor Spotlight: ShareWares

Reel Green™ Vendor and Circular Economy Committee Member, ShareWares, is an easy and affordable zero-waste packaging company that provides a city-wide borrowing program where reusable cups and takeout containers are used, returned and sanitized for redistribution. They focus on creating reusable containers that can be convenient and accessible, so the containers could be the default choice for all packaging options. 

ShareWares mission is to “end the world’s waste crisis” and to help make Vancouver a zero-waste circular economy.  

1. Could you provide an overview of Sharewares and how your business model is helping reduce single-use plastic waste in Vancouver? What inspired the creation of your startup? 

ShareWares is actually a pandemic pivot. Before the pandemic, we were in the process of transitioning offices to zero-waste, but when all offices closed, we grew our ambitions and set out to create impact at a global scale.  Our platform makes it easy and affordable for any food service operator, including film caterers and craft services, to ditch disposables.  It is now possible to effortlessly end our society’s dependence on single-use cups, bowls, containers, and other food packaging that are often destined for landfills, incinerators, or worse, our lands and waters.  

We offer budget-conscious reusable serve wares that are purchased, served, and enjoyed just like disposables, but instead of trashing them, they are washed, sanitized, and reused.  

2. Sharewares collaborates with Reel Green’s circular economy committee. Can you share some insights into the role your company plays in this committee and how these collaborations contribute to a more sustainable film industry? 

We absolutely love collaborating with Reel Green and supporting the film industry! It’s lots of fun chatting with the community to demystify reuse and showcase how easy it is to dramatically reduce waste on set, as well as achieve productions’ sustainability goals. 

Considering the extremely dynamic nature of the industry, zero-waste food service for film can seem too good to be true. However, collaborating with sustainability powerhouses like Noah Rogers and catering logistics specialists like Campbell Watson from Show Thyme, it’s now just as easy as disposables!  

3. How does Sharewares work with grocers, retailers, cafes, and restaurants to promote reusability? Can you share some success stories or examples of how your products and services have made a positive impact on these businesses and their environmental footprint? 

It’s really exciting working with food and beverage operators to help normalize reuse. The most effective way to do this is to serve only reusables and not offer customers single-use options. People are so used to disposables that they often default to this when there is a choice. We haven’t received any complaints with this strategy and customers actually love it! For example, Bard On The Beach is a partner of ours for their annual Shakespeare festival and the organizers as well as the attendees can’t say enough good things about using reusables. Customers have a better experience being served in higher quality wares, and they love that they aren’t creating unnecessary waste. This year we replaced over 24,000 single-use cups that would have ended up in the usual waste streams. It’s a big “win” all around! 

4. What types of reusable options and products does Sharewares offer, and how do they benefit both the environment and your customers? Are there any innovative or unique products or initiatives that you’d like to highlight? 

We have over 20 different food and beverage packaging options that are plug & play with any food service operator. We also offer the option for brands like Tim Hortons to apply our technology to their custom packaging. This way big brands can still benefit from offering customers a fully branded experience while easily eliminating waste to achieve their sustainability goals.  

One fun fact is that both Tim Hortons reusable cups and our in-house Kits Cups are made from 100% recycled material. In addition, the Kits Cups are made in the USA by a B-Corp….it’s a pretty magical cup!  

Regarding initiatives, we are an inclusive employer and have spent 2 years developing a program to hire, train and employ community members with barriers to employment. This has been a lot of work, but it’s incredibly rewarding. For example, one of our team with Autism Spectrum Disorder got his first job with us as a dishwasher, but after realizing he has a passion for graphic design, he is now helping us with design while we help him start a career in this field. It’s truly amazing all the social and enviro opportunities that are possible in the reuse space. 

5. Sustainability is a significant focus for Sharewares. Could you discuss any future goals or projects related to sustainability and waste reduction that your company is currently working on or planning to implement? 

We believe that reuse isn’t just some cool niche or fad, it’s the future. For humans to live sustainably on this planet it is critical that cities transition to reusable products and services (a circular economy). With this in mind and funding from the BC government, we are upgrading our washing facility to become a new utility for Vancouver. By the end of next year we are planning to be able to wash hundreds of thousands of products per day and prove that zero-waste cities are not only possible, but will be happening within years instead of decades. 

6. As a Vancouver-based startup, how do you see Sharewares influencing the local community and encouraging more businesses to adopt eco-friendly practices? Are there any upcoming initiatives or partnerships you’d like to share with our readers? 

Our technology has been described as “the best on the planet” and our products are plug & play with food service operators across industries, however changing the status quo is no easy feat. We are planning to use our rapid scalability and collaboration with brands to build momentum and create awareness to how easy, affordable, and impactful zero waste packaging is. With this we hope to inspire and influence progressive change in Vancouver and beyond. 

Regarding upcoming announcements, we have a few super exciting top-secret things in development but can’t share just yet. If the wonderful folks out there reading this want to see what kind of fun we are getting up to next, feel free to follow us on Instagram (@share.wares) to get all the latest updates. 

For more information, visit the ShareWares website. 

There are over 30 Reel Green™ Vendors that offer a wide range of sustainable services or eco-products to help green our world. Let us know any Reel Green™ Vendors you would like to see in the spotlight next! If you are a Reel Green™ Vendor, and would like to be featured, send us an email at reelgreen@creativebc.com to set up an interview.      

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