Earthware Tasty, Without the Wastey

The United Way describes a social-purpose company as:

“A business with a social purpose is a company whose enduring reason for being is to create a better world. It is an engine for good, creating societal benefits by the very act of conducting business. Its growth is a positive force in society.”

In just 16 months, Calgary-based Earthware has become a force for garbage and waste reduction in Calgary.  This social purpose company has a big vision – to significantly reduce single-use items in Alberta’s food industry by reducing 1 Million containers from waste management systems. In just one year, Earthware’s ever-growing list of restaurants, grocery stores and others in the food industry has stopped over 20,000 takeout containers from hitting our landfills! 

Earthware is growing exponentially through a new partnership agreement with the Alberta Bottle Depot Association.  Businesses using Earthware packaging charge a small deposit on all Earthware containers, and consumers can retrieve a portion of that deposit by returning Earthware containers with their bottles and cans.  They needed this big break to hit their vision of scaling to 1 million containers by 2025.

John MacInnes saw a problem in our consumer and waste systems. He also took note of the changing legislative landscape regarding the management and production of single-use items. Earthware combines the environmental and social challenges of Albertans and other similarly-sized jurisdictions with a practical, profitable business solution that everyone can see themselves as part of. In addition to addressing a critical environmental issue, John and his team provide employment opportunities to marginalized citizens (homeless and transient workers).

A simple solution, John is cornering the marketing on recreating how the food industry packages and distributes food.