Team COOLA Sustainability

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

Over the years COOLA has made vast strides to improve our sustainability in our packaging, ingredients and overall office lifestyle. We are proud of our accomplishments in reducing our carbon footprint and are always setting goals to further improve!

Celebrating our planet looks a little different this year as our team is working remotely. Nonetheless, we are carrying over our sustainable mindset and practices into our own homes. See what some of our all-star team members are doing to live a greener lifestyle and make Earth a happier & healthier place. 😊

 

“I love getting plants and filling my house with greenery. Not only do they help purify the air, but they add some liveliness too! I also buy most of my clothes off of Poshmark so that I'm recycling what's already out there rather than purchasing new items. I sewed this bag out of some scrap fabric, an old pillowcase and a belt I never used. Now I can bring it to the farmer's market or around town daily!”

Emma Wilson | Junior Designer

“Afternoon tea is one of my favorite rituals. Did you know those trendy new "mesh" pyramid shaped tea bags release billions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles into every cup? Make your tea party more sustainable with loose leaf tea or paper tea bags.

Style points: Switch from single-use paper napkins to chic cloth napkins. They're softer, more colorful and dare I say classier than their paper counterpart. “

Casey Bartels | Senior E-Commerce Marketing Specialist

 

“No paper towel? No problem! I recently made the switch from paper towels/disposable wipes to using reusable dish rags to help clean up around the house. When it is laundry day, I toss all of my rags into the washing machine so they are ready to be reused for the following week. Since all of the grocery stores have ran out of paper towels lately, I can still clean up while reducing my environmental footprint.” 

Jai Manatt | Community Manager

 

“Water is our most precious - and our most limited - resource, so I am working on conserving it in my home where I can. I shorten my shower times and I turn off the faucet when brushing my teeth or washing the dishes. Another trick I’ve been implementing at home occurs during my weekly aquarium water changes. Instead of pouring the dirty aquarium water down my drain, I utilize it for all of my house plants! Not only is the water full of nutrients to help my plants grow, but it lets me recycle water that I would otherwise just waste! “

Nikki Callies | Operations Coordinator

 

“We vermicompost to reduce food waste! My husband and I have been vermicomposting for a few years to reduce food waste. It is super easy and low maintenance, plus we get superstar quality fertilizer for our plants! Our little wigglers convert organic waste and other compostable products into natural fertilizers.They go crazy for banana peels, melon, apple cores, lettuce and coffee!”

Rebecca Webb  | Customer Service & Reception

 

“Being part of a plant-powered family, we go through our fair share of produce! We love being able to go into the backyard and pick some fresh organic tomatoes, kale, and lettuce. Jasper (seen here) loves that time too! 

We ran some irrigation that is on a digital timer, which helps keep everything healthy, while at the same time minimizing the amount of wasted water.”

Tyler Porteous | VP Marketing & Business Development

“Here at the Birchby house we try and do as much as we can to be kind to the earth! We plant a garden every year and compost all of our fruit and veggie scraps as well as coffee grinds and eggshells. After some time it provides us with "black gold" the ultimate amendment to enrich our garden soil. While we garden (sometimes they join 😊) our kids play in the dirt, collect worms and soak up the sunshine while working in their mud kitchen. We feel this helps the kids appreciate nature and a way for us to teach them if we nurture the planet it will do the same for us.”

Chris and AJ Birchby | CEO / Founder

“Finally bit the bullet and went solar powered!!! I spend most of my days thinking about how to protect people and their skin from the damaging effects of the sun’s rays. That said, it feels good to have found a way to harness the sun for good and help protect our collective playground in the process.”

Eric McCue | President

 

"Just a girl and her glass tupperware - a love story: About a year ago I started researching all of the harmful plastics that we use on a daily basis. I began my journey to limit plastic in my life and invested in glass tupperware, among other things! These are a lifesaver for commuting to and from the office. However, I find them equally useful at home to store leftovers and my beloved overnight oats. Plus, if I ever decide to part ways with this set (highly doubt it), glass is highly recyclable. It feels good to do something healthier for me and Earth!”

Stefanie Mahan | Social Media Manager

 

We hope these ideas inspire you to make a difference in your own home and on our planet. Happy Earth Day! 💙 The COOLA Team