Close the Loop: B-Corp and Triple Bottom Line Description: The three P’s: People, Planet, Profit ~ and how business can do well by doing good ~ focusing on purpose, accountability and transparency. One day, all companies will compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world! #BtheChange Discover how the Benefit Corporation's positive impact on society, the community and the environment in addition to profit, is the new way of doing business in Pennsylvania! Bio: After 15 years of working in various IT departments, Rita Lacey left corporate America to pursue a new challenge. In October, 2000 she started an online business, Close the Loop- a Benefit Corporation- which is dedicated to affecting a positive force for social and environmental change within our communities. At Close the Loop, they work with environmentally conscious small businesses so they can have a presence on the web, with no cost to them. Close the Loop has shipped over 7 million pounds of rubber mulch and 150,000 pounds of recycled plastic fencing, and is also working on expanding the market on glass mulch and other recycled materials. After the 2008 financial crisis, Mrs. Lacey sought other ways to help our community. While witnessing lines of unemployed citizens outside of the Monroe County Careerlink, she began offering free website building workshops and has since written an e-book titled, “Building a Business Website, on a Shoestring Budget”.

1. ž PA’s 1st Benefit Corporation ~ a “B CORP” is a new legal entity type to
create a positive impact on society and the environment
The start of a new economy in Pennsylvania, one based on a triple
bottom line: people, planet, profit
Using the power of business to solve social & environmental
problems…
And you CAN do well by doing good!
We offer:
Recycled products made from waste tires, plastics and glass
Free Website Building Workshops
Give & Take Days…all items FREE!

3. ž Who are some B-Corps?
ž Warby Parker ~ buy one, give one to the poor
ž BetterWorldBooks ~ Recycles used books, funds
local libraries & global literacy
ž Patagonia
ž Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
ž Making money & making a difference…using
business as a force for good!
ž 60 B-Corps in PA today, check out:
http://benefitcorp.net/businesses/find-a-benefit-corp

4. ž Give & Take Days, annually since 2008

5. To truly “close the loop”,
we need to do 3 things:
1) recycle our waste
2) make something new out of it
3) buy recycled

6. We have one planet with finite resources, in nature there is no waste.
Nature builds up & breaks down…every organism provides an
environmental service during and after its life ~ we can do the same with
humans to create a society in which there is also no waste.

8. ž There are thousands of people out there
leading lives of quiet, screaming
desperation, where they work long, hard
hours at jobs they hate to enable them
to buy things they don't need to impress
people they don't like. ~ Nigel Marsh

9. We can change society's definition of
success away from the simplistic notion
that the person with the most money
when he dies wins, to a more
thoughtful and balanced definition of
what a life well lived looks like.
Collect experiences, not things…
Remove the excess that is holding you
back, remove the debt, free to do work
you actually care about. Path to
security, path to happiness.
1) sell or donate your “stuff”
2) pay off your debt
3) do what you love

11. < = >
Less = More (Happiness)

12. Tiny House
Living Benefits:
1. Less stuff/clutter
2. Less time cleaning
3. More savings/money to enjoy life!
4. Higher quality of Life, work less
5. Lower carbon footprint, less materials
6. Less expensive to build/heat/maintain
7. Easily moves for travel/job relocation
8. Can help reduce poverty/homeslessness

13. ž Consumption is a big problem, but design is
the best solution.
ž Waste is really a DESIGN FLAW!

14. ž Minimalism ~ buy less, buy quality things
that last…
ž What you can do to help ~ REFUSE single
use plastics ~ ditch the straw, the lid,
disposable razors, etc.

15. ž “You have succeeded in life when all you
really want is only what you really need.”
~ Vernon Howard

17. According to the EPA, the waste materials
generated in the US annually:
§ Plastics - 30 million tons of plastic waste (nearly 60 billion
pounds). Only 12% of plastic waste gets recycled
§ Glass – 13.2 million tons of glass, about 22 % recycled
§ Tires – 300 million tires in the US, 12 million in Pennsylvania
alone.

18. Humans make products that do not break down, creating problems
throughout the world on land and sea for generations to come.

19. Source: Closed Loop Fund

20. ž About 88% of the total plastic waste generated was landfilled,
littered, incinerated or finds its way into our oceans…
ž Only about 12% is recovered for recycling…

21. ž How can you
make something
disposable that's
indestructible?
Photo:
Midway Journey

22. Plastics kill 1.5
million marine
animals each
year ~ litter
finds it way to
our oceans

23. Plastic Waste

24. …can be turned into
Plastic Livestock Posts

25. ž It is hard to increase the quantity of
recycled raw material without
compromising quality. (Single Stream)

26. Glass Waste

27. The Process of
Glass Recycling

28. …can be turned
into a sparkling
landscape glass
walkway or used in
a gas fire pit

29. This is where we came from…

30. This is the progress
we’ve made:

31. We can do the same with plastics…

32. Waste tires can be turned
into playground surfacing,
horse footing, rubber
timbers & tiles…

33. ž It takes 525 gallon-sized milk jugs to
produce one 2-rail section of plastic post
& rail fencing.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ž It takes 100 tires to make 1 ton (2,000
lbs) of rubber mulch ~ enough to cover
an average size home playground.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ž It takes 4,000 beer bottles to make 1 ton
(2,000 lbs ~ about 1 cubic yard) of glass
mulch. It takes 100 beer bottles to make
1, 50 LB bag of glass mulch.

34. In your lifetime there are ~50 yrs of oil left for
gasoline, heating, plastics, tires, much more…
Question:
Will we be forced to mine landfills
for raw materials?
Video ~ America's National Wonder: Plastic!?

35. Areas of Green Opportunities:
1) Conserve, recycle, and efficiently use energy
and materials
2) Use renewable & alternative sources of energy
3) Purchase materials with recycled content
4) Reduce the amount of waste we throw away.
5) Encourage Extended Producer Responsibility
or enact legislation to require it.

36. According to NRDC Report
“More Jobs, Less Pollution” report shows that a 75 percent
national recycling rate would create nearly 2.3 million jobs.
The US recycles about 35% now…
Jobs in:
ž Recycling Industries: MURF’s ~ collection and processing of
recyclables to make them available for use
ž Reuse and Remanufacturing Industries: new recycled
products
ž Source: Natural Resources Defense Council, http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/recycling-create-23-
million-jobs-according-nrdc-report/

37. § Design products with the end of life in mind…
cradle to cradle, not cradle to grave (landfills).
Focus for the future: waste = food (resources)

38. Impacts of Buying
US Made Recycled Products
§ Investing in American made products creates jobs
§ Sets a good example & helps our economy
§ Long-term economic and environmental benefits.
§ What better raw material to use than our waste
materials transformed into a valuable resource ~
in nature there is no waste.

39. Leave less of a footprint on the earth…

40. Favorite quotes:
§ Every single individual makes some impact on the
planet every single day and we have a choice as to
what kind of difference we’re going to make. ~Jane Goodall
§ Plastics, like diamonds, are forever! ~ Capt. Charles Moore, Algalita
Marine Research Foundation
§ If only they made a pesticide for litterbugs! ~ Monroe County,
PA Beautification Organization

41. www.closetheloop.com
rita.lacey@closetheloop.com
570.629.8414
Thank you!
Rita Lacey