The here and now… for RePlated

As we lurch from one crisis to the next here in Australia the RePlated blog has taken a bit of a backseat. So hello, how are you? Presumably, you’re reading this from the comfort of your home isolation. Or perhaps in a not too distant future where we can all leave our homes again. Either way, we all can agree 2020 hasn’t quite gone to plan.

In February on LinkedIn our founder Naomi talked about the effect of the shutdown in China on our supply chain. The situation at the time was that, while our containers will be manufactured on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the tool which we use to make our containers has been made in China. We are big advocates for local, circular manufacture here at RePlated but local in the case of our tool was not possible for two factors - one being cost the other being the loss of skills locally. We are fortunate this month to have some great news and that is our tool is finally now on its way to Australia! So we will be shipping and launching just as soon as you’re all back at work.

But doesn’t February seem a lifetime ago? All those coffee meetings and casual conversations  - remember public transport! We are not alone in underestimating the impacts of COVID-19 when it was happening from afar. We would never have imagined the near-complete shutdown of the hospitality sector in Australia. 

As a hospitality service (and as people) we were appalled at the carnage to our local businesses so we moved on last month to advocating the necessity of a return to single-use coffee cups as a factor in keeping our local takeaways afloat. What has become clear to us in navigating this crisis (we really object to calling it the new normal for a number of reasons) is that there clearly is a time and a place for single-use. That time is here and now. 

It might surprise you to learn that we believe that if reverting to single-use keeps businesses open then right now we are all for it.

But what about when it's all over? What then?

Our expectation is that more of us will become waste warriors and more people will be MORE open to the dangers and unnecessary waste of single-use in our everyday lives. At the same time, we all see that those of us fighting the war on waste are open to its necessity in times of health crisis. 

What we want to see after this are more opportunities for reusables to be used more frequently in more places. 

For us, one of the drivers for our business model is ensuring that our reusables are cost comparable to considerably cheaper than single-use. We can prove the competitive advantage of switching to reusable takeaway food containers, as well as the environmental benefits. Get in touch to learn more!

So, are we overly optimistic? Or do you appreciate us striking a chord of hope? What do you think the future holds for single-use beyond coronacrisis?

Please let us know what you think!

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash