Burt’s Bees partnered with college students to find ways to make their products more eco-friendly. YPulse’s sustainability research shows that 58% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials feel brands should be creating more eco-friendly products. Burt’s Bees is listening to young people’s anxieties about climate change, and addressing recycling issues with its lipsticks and lip balms by teaming up with students at Arizona State University (ASU). The collaboration is part of ASU’s The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)—sponsored by Burt’s Bees, Colgate, P&G, and a municipal recycling company—and the university’s Innovation Space design program where engineering, design, and business students work together to create solutions for brands working to create sustainable packaging concepts. By the end of the project, students introduced three solutions: a “smart dumpster” designed to automatically sort recyclable items and trash, an at-home plastic sorter making it easier for plastic objects to make it through recycling facilities, and an advanced sorting technology to help major recycling facilities better identify small objects. This isn’t the first time Burt’s Bees has worked with students, who they note “are less constrained by pre-existing notions of developing sustainable packaging.” (Glossy)
