Because this isn’t just about plastic jars or
cellophane or the Pacific Ocean. By 2050,
shipping could be responsible for 10 percent
of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. For
a better idea of the magnitude, we plotted
the journeys of four products—from con-
cept to an imaginary doorstep in Oklahoma
City—to plot out a carbon map behind some
products. More and more, companies are
choosing to move their goods by rail rather
than plane. Others are using materials that
would otherwise litter our oceans. We’ll let
the map do the talking. And then let’s keep
the conversation going. —DIANNA MAZZONE
TENNESSEE
Having sprung forth
from a mood board
in NYC, the tubes and
caps for Glossier Balm
Dotcom are molded and
printed in Tennessee.
GLOSSIER
NEW JERSEY
Next, they’re trucked
back East to be filled
with the product,
which was also made
in the Garden State.
WRAP
NATION
PACIFIC OCEAN
For Herbal Essences’
Bio:Renew line, the
journey begins in the
Pacific, where ocean-
waste plastic is culled.
NEW JERSEY
The plastic takes
the slow boat to
TerraCycle’s facility,
where it’s processed
into a raw material
that can be used
to create bottles.
INDIANA
A packaging vendor
sandwiches the Pacific
plastic between
two layers of virgin
plastic. While not
ideal, the bottle still
uses 25 percent less
virgin plastic than a
traditional shampoo
bottle and complies
with most municipal
recycling programs.
The bottles then make
their way, by truck or
rail, to another Iowa (or
West Virginia) factory
to be filled. Then
they’re off to retailers
across the country...
OKLAHOMA CITY
...where a shopper
places it in their cart.
HERBAL
ESSENCES
