Achieving a sustainable future begins with evaluating the way products are made, packaged, distributed, and recycled. In 2020 we began beta testing a Houston based pilot program in partnership with POD and a select group of our commercial clients. This program focuses on eliminating single use packaging by developing closed loop packaging solutions and eliminating CO2 tailpipe emissions from last mile delivery.
Most last mile deliveries are carried out using cargo vans or box trucks which burn a lot of fuel and pollute air quality. To eliminate last mile delivery tailpipe emissions, we launched an electrified fleet of delivery vehicles in partnership with POD. Since 2020 This Houston based pilot program has already eliminated over 187,000 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, and we are just getting started.
In 2021, we launched phase two of our environmental program which utilizes the V1 POD reusable package. The goal was to eliminate the single use coffee bags and labels used to distribute our freshly roasted coffee to our commercial clients.
The package that was created to replace all those disposable coffee bags was the V1 POD. This package is constructed from stainless steel which makes it very durable and efficient to sanitize and reuse eliminating landfill waste.
To replace the coffee bags paper label the team at POD developed a very unique lid for the V1 POD package. This lid is constructed utilizing recycled coffee grounds which make up 75% of its total material mass. The used coffee grounds are collected during cold brew coffee production at Zeppelin Coffee, before being sent to POD for processing. Once there, the team at POD imbeds a chip into the substrate before pressure casting the final lid. Once this process is complete, you simply tap your phone to the lid and the digital coffee label will appear on your phone. The chips that are used can be rewritten a minimum of 100,000 times, offsetting that many labels from entering the landfill.
In 2021 this program eliminated over 4,800 coffee bags and labels from entering the landfill. This combined with the electric delivery fleet at POD offset over 108,000 pounds of CO2 in the first year of this program. Thank you to the trailblazing team at POD for making this happen.