Dispatch Goods: Elegantly Solving Circularity

Any climate enthusiast is familiar with circularity: an inevitable principle of a planet-friendly economy. But even for ardent recyclers and mindful consumers the reality of a truly circular economy feels far away, something painfully obvious every time takeout comes in flimsy plastic containers and with excesses of tinfoil and little packets, or an online order comes deeply ensconced in layers of cardboard, plastic wrap, and packing paper. For those impatiently awaiting the arrival of a truly circular economy, meet Dispatch Goods, a company ushering in this exciting new reality.

Not a Normal Day at the Beach

When celebrating a company’s birthday, most people think of a legal filing, an announcement on LinkedIn, the submission of an application, or an agreement between friends. For Lindsey Hoell, the founder of Dispatch Goods, her company’s birth date is marked by a day at the beach. While hiking to a local’s surf spot in Kauai, she noticed that the sand was rainbow colored: far from the pristine beach she expected at a secret spot on the relatively insulated island. When a family member informed her that this unsettling sight was the result of microplastics from the Pacific Garbage Patch, Dispatch Goods was conceived.

Guided by this day on the beach, Lindsey spent the next couple of years making a massive career transition from clinical perfusionist to conservationist to business school student to entrepreneur. Winning the Berkeley StEP pitch competition with the business model that would become Dispatch Goods was the first step in the realization of a goal that started with that rainbow sand: breaking down the linear economy.

The Problem: Restaurants and Beyond

Before official starting Dispatch Goods, Lindsey focused her circularity attention on restaurants in Hawaii, working for an advocacy group that supported them in reaching their sustainability goals. She was surprised to learn that there was really no good option for takeout packaging. The best alternative to the ubiquitous single use plastics were “compostable foodware,” which in spite of the promising name contained chemicals such as PFAs that harmed the environment and often ended up in landfills anyway, thus basically acting as single use plastics. Seeing this, it became clear that waste reduction would not come via different (“sustainable”) sourcing of single-use products but needed to be tackled directly at the source. Simply, the only way to waste less is to produce less.

Dispatch Goods was created from this understanding. The market did not need some new product that would emptily promise to eliminate harmful waste from restaurant delivery and take out, it needed to overhaul the system. Dispatch Goods fills this need by being a logistics company, not a packaging company. Dispatch is thus not limited to restaurants and other food services, they can eliminate waste from the multitude of other sectors that produce single-use packaging in excess.

Their Fix

As a logistics platform, Dispatch emphasizes finding whatever solution works best for each of their clients—understanding the varying needs and situation of each. This means their solutions can take many shapes and are often case dependent, especially given their varying clients.

That means Dispatch gives their clients options. Most notably, Dispatch’s solutions allow their customers to continue using their existing packaging. This makes the transition to waste-free delivery more efficient, without the need to overhaul existing systems. Dispatch will also procure sustainable, durable packaging if needed. Once a customer gets a delivery from a Dispatch partner, they simply have to leave the packaging where the delivery arrived and Dispatch will coordinate its reuse. This final step is also client friendly, Dispatch manages the collection and processing of packaging item, further reducing the need for large-scale overhaul from their partners.

It has become clear that consumers put the onus for circularity on companies, not themselves. This is why so many packaging products that promised to reduce environmental impact failed: consumers don’t think its their job to manage waste; they don’t want to carefully sort through all their garbage, collect compost, and find creative ways to reuse containers. By taking on this job, Dispatch is able to actually create a meaningful reduction in waste.

Their solution is also elegant: it showcases circularity in an extremely pure form. Every packaging item in the Dispatch network is used many times. It goes through the cycle of use and reuse with only a brief stop to be cleaned and inspected. There are no added steps, no convoluted understanding of circularity whereby a product somehow ends up in a landfill or floating in the ocean and is called sustainable.

What Makes Dispatch Goods A No-Brainer?

Successful companies have a “No-Brainer” quality about them: whatever product or service they offer feels as if it would be unreasonable to not use. Great companies have this quality doubly: both from the customer side and from the labor side: being a part of the company should also be a no-brainer.

For their clients, correctly managed reuse can provide immediate benefit on the budget sheet as packaging goes from a constant expense to a one-time cost. It also provides brand image opportunities. Consumers will see a company taking their sustainability responsibility seriously by actually reducing their footprint. They also get the benefit of using sturdy, high quality packaging, a welcome change from the endless array of flimsiness of which they are accustomed. This comes together to increase the satisfaction and loyalty of customers, all while improving the bottom line. Beyond that, Dispatch’s service is extremely malleable, making it a competitive option no matter the industry.

For workers, Dispatch Goods is a company building a cutting-edge solution to a problem that will define our future. Reuse and circularity will be key tenants of the economy and Dispatch is years ahead of its time in building an effective solution in the space. This is highlighted by one of the defining pillars of their company culture: visionary. They understand their solution to be novel and important and take pride in their relentless drive to execute and distribute it. Additionally, they are also characteristically supportive of an out-of-the-box approach and encouraging of other passions. For a person who wants to have a positive impact, innovate, be creative, and live a rewarding life, Dispatch is a no-brainer.

Dispatch Goods is a force of innovation and tangible action in a space that desperately needs it. Their cutting-edge model and drive to see out their vision promise a future where nobody will have to wonder why the sand is the wrong color.

Thank you to Lindsey and Theresa at Dispatch Goods for making this possible!