The Trayak team traveled to the heart of the rust belt to participate in this year’s Sustainable Brands conference. The theme for this year’s event was ‘Redefining the Good Life,’ and Detroit, a city that is striving to uplift itself, was a perfect host! Over 2,000 attendees were a part of the 4-day conference, engaging on a range of hot topics centered around Redefining the Good Life and the role that brands can play.

Sustainable Brands 2017 painted the picture of how leading companies are embracing sustainability and using these challenges as a chance to drive innovation. Our company used this as an opportunity to showcase the MyGizmo platform and encouraged companies large and small to fight back against E-Waste and rethink their electronics use. We are working very hard to close the loop on electronics and this event was a great opportunity to share our ideas, learn from others in the industry, and make connections to make our platform even more effective. We hope to share some big news soon about a few potential partnerships, so stay tuned and keep reusing!

When asked to define the Good Life, people across the world all agree that this means having: Good Health & Wellbeing, Financial Security & A Good Job, Meaningful Relationships, and a Sense of Purpose. Companies are beginning to develop social platforms that provide value to their customers in these areas. Here are some of the highlights:

–William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, stressed that we all need to switch from “Less Bads” to “More Goods”. Sustainability goals need to see a shift from words like “reducing” and “minimizing” to words such as “replenishing” and “eliminating” to create an overall positive environment impact rather than a less negative impact.

-L’Oréal released a Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver line of shampoo and conditioner, Biolage R.A.W. Nourish, reminding the audience that sometimes products need to be reinvented by forgetting everything that is known and starting from scratch.

-The founder of Chobani is Hamdi Ulukaya tells his story, a Turkish immigrant who bought a closing yogurt plant and without a business model was able to create the best-selling yogurt brand in the US. His company and employees embody diversity and inclusion settling for nothing less and making each person feel they can be themselves at work.

-Starbucks talks about implementation of a program through Arizona State University which awards students a full-ride to earn a college degree by working as a barista through their college years but having no commitment to the company after graduation.

-KIND shares their Pop Your Bubble campaign to break down the walls most people build through like-minded connections on social media.

-Apple released a new video explaining Liam, an autonomous robot used to disassemble iPhones and use these parts within the supply chain creating a closed loop.

-Various breakout sessions including “Deploying the Principles of Sustainable Packaging” conducted by Trayak’s partner the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

For more info and for a full conference recap check out- https://events.sustainablebrands.com/sb17det/