In this interview, we sit down with Lindsey McCoy, co-founder of Plaine Products, to delve into her journey towards reducing single-use plastic in personal care products. Lindsey shares her inspiration, challenges faced, and the company’s commitment to sustainability. Join us as we explore how Plaine Products is making waves in the eco-friendly movement, one refillable container at a time.
What inspired you to focus specifically on reducing single-use plastic in the realm of personal care products?
For 10 years I lived in The Bahamas doing environment education work, a life-changing experience. On a small island there’s no first world infrastructure to insulate you from the piles of plastic waste we are creating. You see plastic bags in remote areas, bottles and flip flops on the beaches, packaging spilling out of the landfills. There’s even a place so full of plastic its called Junk Beach. The message that plastic lasts forever, no matter how long we use it, is much more obvious living there than it is living in the United States.
Once I saw where all the plastic waste was ending up, I decided I wanted to start using less single-use plastic in my life: carrying a reusable water bottle, reusable grocery bags, skipping the straw at restaurants and bars. I looked for other ways to use less plastic, but I couldn’t figure out how to get those plastic bottles out of my shower. At the time there were no alternatives that worked for me and my hair.
As my family contemplated a move back to the U.S., I realized that I might be able to solve my own problem. Even better, I might be able to help other people use less plastic in their lives. I pulled in my sister, Alison Webster, who has a design degree and strong opinions about the importance of high quality products. Together we spent two years working hard to making it easier for people to get quality products without having to buy single-use plastic bottles. Plaine Products was founded in February 2017 to reduce waste in bathrooms across the country by offering circular packaging that can be returned for reuse. Since then we have eliminated 600,000 plastic bottle from the waste stream.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting Plaine Products, and how did you overcome them?
The day we realized our beta test bottles, which we thought were stainless steel, were rusting, was awful. It meant going back to the drawing board on packaging and accepting a launch delay when we were so close to opening. It would have been easy to give up at that point, but we didn’t and were able to successfully launch six months later in aluminum bottles. The nice thing abut aluminum, as opposed to plastic, is that when it’s recycled there’s no loss in quality. It just turns right back into more aluminum. When plastic is recycled it is downgraded into a lower form of plastic until it becomes unusable and ends up in a landfill or the ocean.
How do you ensure the sustainability and environmental friendliness of your products beyond just using refillable containers?
All of the ingredients in Plaine Products are plant-based, so when they are used there are no toxins on your skin, or chemicals causing problems when they are washed down the drain. While I tended towards natural and organic products in the past, it wasn’t based on fact, more intuition. It was only when I started doing research for Plaine Products that I realizes how many chemicals were in mainstream beauty products. It was an eye opening experience to read about the toxins, detergents, and pollutants I had been putting on my skin and in my body. While I started this business out of concern for all of the plastic we’re putting into the environment, and the fact that there might soon be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, it’s also become important to me to educate people about the importance of natural ingredients to their health.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start a business with a strong environmental focus?
Be curious. I have not had a clear career trajectory. With a background in the nonprofit world, moving into environmental education work and then nonprofit consulting, starting a business didn’t seem like the next logical step. But I’ve learned you can make opportunities by working hard, and being willing to put yourself in uncomfortable positions to learn. My diverse experience has been an asset as an entrepreneur, I’ve worn many hats at our company and continue to learn and grow by asking questions and listening to the answers. We need more sustainable entrepreneurs, there are lots of problems to solve and it’s wonderful now that businesses can be a part of the solution.
How do you navigate the balance between sustainability and affordability when it comes to your products?
Taking responsibility for our packaging means there is an extra cost to Plaine Products, but even including that we’re still about the same cost as other plant-based personal care products. If you are putting more than water and chemicals in a bottle it just costs more. We do our best to keep the products accessible and work with refill shops around the country to offer local and lower cost options!
What role do you see Plaine Products playing in the broader movement towards reducing plastic waste and promoting eco-friendly alternatives?
Really the goal of our company is to raise awareness about circularity and provide convenient reuse system with high quality quality products to help people easily shift away from the disposable lifestyle we’ve all been pushed into living. Here’s how our system works, you order a product on-line along with a pump. When you are running low you return to order a refill, it comes with a return label. When you’re ready you switch the pump over and send the empty bottle back for free to be washed and reused! We’re hoping to be the gateway to other reuse companies and systems.
What are some upcoming initiatives or projects that Plaine Products is excited about?
Our shampoo and conditioner are our best sellers, so we’ve expanded into more hair styling products. We’ve added a styling gel, a deep conditioner and we’re about to add a purple shampoo for those with blonde, white or gray hair! We’re trying to full gaps in the market where there aren’t a lot of alternatives to single-use containers. We’ve seen a lot of growth in cleaning, but not styling, which is why we are putting our efforts in that direction.
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