< PreviousWelcome to the third issue of Make The World Better Magazine! This edition highlights the circular economy, a game-changing model of production and consumption that is newly entering the mainstream. Read on to learn about amazing organizations that are helping locals eat more sustainably, uniting changemakers to strengthen the force for change, cultivating the next generation of conservationists, reducing and reusing waste, and accelerating Canada’s transition to a circular economy. Stay in the loop on the organizations That are reusing, repurposing, and recycling waste to better sustain our planet. Going Full Circle 10 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEFEATUREBrands for Better Foundation Meet and Greet Tell us about your organization’s mission. Brands for Better Foundation is a volunteer-driven not-for-profi t organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia that unites brands to tackle pressing envi- ronmental and social issues in our community. We do this by developing and hosting inclusive events and initiatives where brands unite, share resources, combine their brilliance, and multiply the eff ects of their eff orts for the local good, turning brand teams into changemakers. What inspired you to start your organization? Brands for Better was conceptual- ized in 2018 at the Outdoor Retailer Expo and Conference by our team at SOLE/ReCORK when we invit- ed sustainable and ethical brands across the show to share lightning talks on their impact eff orts. Th e goal was to amplify the good work of brands that were using their businesses as a force for good, and it drew in quite the crowd! Seeing great success through this initiative, our team returned to our home base in Vancouver with an idea to bring Vancouver-based brands together in a similar fashion. Founded by SOLE/ReCORK executives Karla Peckett and Mike Baker, as well as Digital Hot Sauce and Inbox Booths Founder Scot Sustad, Brands for Better Foundation was established with a clear mission: to bring measurable positive impact to local communi- ties by harnessing the united power of brands and their people. In 2018, 35 senior leaders of Vancouver’s biggest brands were invited to a vision lunch to learn about a conference and design thinking pitch competition called the Brand Battle for Good, aimed at tackling local social and envi- ronmental issues. What set us apart was our promise of implementa- tion and measurable impact; the winning idea would be brought to life with the help of the Brands for Better founding partners. With vol- unteers raising their hands, the in- terest was obvious and immediate. UNITING CHANGEMAKERS TO MAKE LASTING IMPACTS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES W ith today’s pressing social and environmental issues, there’s no shortage of indi- viduals and brands doing their part to make a difference. Some issues, however, quite literally take a village. Harnessing the power of the collective can am- plify existing efforts and fill in the missing pieces necessary to make a lasting change. Since 2018, Brands for Better Foundation has been uniting brands across Vancouver to tackle the issues affecting the city. We spoke with Karla Peckett, VP Brand at SOLE/ReCORK and Founder & Executive Director of Brands for Better Foundation, about their fascinating start, big wins, and future projects. Brands for Bett er Foundation 12 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEBrands for Better Foundation, Scot Sustad (left) and Karla Peckett (right) Photo credit: Maxine Bulloch Photography BRANDS FOR BETTER FOUNDATION WAS ESTABLISHED WITH A CLEAR MISSION TO BRING MEASURABLE POSITIVE IMPACT TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES BY HARNESSING THE UNITED POWER OF BRANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE.Behind the scenes at the 2021 Brand Battle for Good Zero Waste virtual event, held in Vancouver What were some of the challenges you encountered? Th e fi rst Brand Battle for Good, aimed at moving Vancouver toward zero waste, was meant to happen in late 2020 but was postponed a year and reshaped to a virtual event because of COVID-19, thus launching in April 2021. In the interim, our fresh but eager network got together, giving virtual consultations to fi ve local busi- nesses in need on how to pivot in the face of the pandemic. Virtual meeting tools have proven invaluable but can’t compare to the palpable energy that comes from being in the same room with like-minded folks ready to make positive change. Our next iteration of the Brand Battle for Good will be a hybrid of a virtual conference and in-person hack-a-thon. What do you consider your organization’s biggest success? Our inaugural Brand Battle for Good in April 2021 saw brands like Arc’teryx, Lush, Hootsuite, Unbounce, Vancity, Earth’s Own, Happy Planet, and Swany in attendance, alongside founding brands, SOLE, ReCORK, Digital Hot Sauce, and others. In the end, the winning concept was EcoMeter, an online resource for fi nding sustainable restaurants and connecting restaurants with sustain- able partners. EcoMeter offi cially launched in May 2022 with the help of the Brands for Better network. What makes your organization unique? Until now, there really wasn’t an ave- nue for Vancouver brands to connect and create impact. Brands are looking to give back to the city where they live and work, and our organization off ers fl exible volunteer and event oppor- tunities to cater to any professional or business. We harness the collective power of brands and their people and direct their focus on pressing issues that are aff ecting their city. How do you feel your organization makes the world better? Social justice and environmental conversations are as loud as ever, but governments can only do so much. Brands and individuals will need to step up to help catalyze change. We’re looking to make it easier and more impactful for brands and professionals to start making a diff erence locally. Tell us about your organization’s goals. Our number one priority is ensur- ing sustainability of the Brands for Better initiative. We’re starting to think about funding an organiza- tional structure and how we can fi ne-tune, so we can not only ensure its success in Vancouver, but activate Brands for Better chapters in other communities beyond. If mirroring Brand Battle for Good events started popping up in other major cities throughout the world, imagine the amazing reach it could have. Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’d like to share? With the help of the Brands for Better volunteers, we are thrilled to be launching our second Brand Battle 14 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEbrandsforbetter.ca facebook.com/brandsforbetter instagram.com/brandsforbetter linkedin.com/company/ brands-4-better for Good this fall, a two-part hybrid event with a virtual conference on September 28 which will feature close to 35 educational seminars from over 55 local and international subject matter experts, and an in-person strat- egy hack-a-thon on October 5. With this event, we aim to bring together Vancouver’s top brands and indus- try pros to come up with the most compelling, creative, and practical solutions to combat social isolation and loneliness in Vancouver. Th is interactive event promises a mixture of learning, networking, professional development, and team building, combined with a polished production of storytelling, friendly competition, live art, comedy, music, and a party to fi nish. Each team is composed of 10 individual or brand team participants and two local under- graduate or master’s students, plus a dedicated volunteer design thinking facilitator to guide them through the event. Th e issue we’re tackling this year is social isolation, a pressing concern in Vancouver which has been exacer- bated by the forced isolation of the pandemic. Leveraging the infl uence and the existing synergy of their in- ternal teams, a brand with an original solution could spark real change that builds a greater sense of belonging in our city. We expect many ideas coming out of this event will have the potential to make a diff erence for struggling communities. Behind the scenes, Brands for Better is working on an upcoming ini- tiative called the Spark Factor Project, geared toward youth career develop- ment. Th e Spark Factor’s long-term vision is to be a youth development project aimed at increasing diversity in the workforce by inspiring enthusiasm in youth of diverse backgrounds who traditionally face barriers to inclu- sion and support their learning and skills-building journey. Th e project aims to unite local brands to support Vancouver’s youth on their career journey by off ering a behind-the-scenes look at a company through experiential workshops led by leading industry marketers, giving these youth hands-on experience of taking a product from concept to product launch. We are actively on- boarding retail brands to get involved. You can apply on our website. What do you most want people to know about your organization? Brands for Better believes that the biggest and most impactful change is created when brands unite their pow- er: resources, ideas, strategies, experi- ence, and people. We connect brands and individuals who want to create positive change with opportunities to tackle pressing environmental and social issues in our shared communi- ty. We are a network of people and brands that care. How can people help or contribute to your organization’s mission? Th ose interested can contribute by participating in or supporting any of our future events. Send your company’s team of creative thinkers, innovators, and disruptors to a future Brand Battle for Good to learn about and devise solutions for the issues facing our city, donate to our cause to help us continue to off er these incredible opportunities, or reach out and apply as a volunteer! If you’re interested in getting involved with Brands for Better, visit our website at brandsforbetter.ca to get in touch. SEP 2022 • ISSUE 03 15Susgrainable’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix was a fi nalist in the BC Food & Beverage Product of the Year Awards, pictured alongside the trophy and eventual winner. Both products make for a great healthy kids snack! F rom pilsners to stouts, lagers to fruity milkshake IPAs, craft beer has taken over the hearts of beer drinkers around the world. The downside? Spent grain waste. The silver lining? Spent grain can be made into raw ingredients so good you’d barley beer-lieve these grains also made your pint (okay, we’ll cool it on the puns now). Susgrainable is leading the charge here in Canada, us- ing spent grains from craft brewers for their own line of delicious, fibre-rich raw ingredients. We spoke with Marc Wandler, CEO, about this start-up’s fascinating journey, from classroom to grocery shelves. Tell us about your organization's mission. Susgrainable Health Foods rescues spent grains from craft brewers to create nutritious, delicious, and easy-to-make fl ours and baking mixes. Susgrainable is on a mission to rescue the over 450,000 tons of brewers’ spent grain produced by craft breweries in Canada daily – doing our part to decrease the staggering 58% of wasted food. Our mission is to also promote the discus- sion around consuming enough fi bre. Spent grain is primarily composed of fi bre and pro- tein, with the sugars being used for the beer itself. Most Canadians aren’t even getting 50% of their daily fi bre intake; one Susgrainable cookie can help you get 25% of your daily fi - bre while fi ghting food waste at the same time! GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN TO REPURPOSE SPENT BARLEY INTO RAW INGREDIENTS 16 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEMarc (left) & Clinton (right) at their very fi rst retailer CHFA tradeshow. Turns out, retailers were very interested in what Susgrainable is up to. Th is event signalled to the Susgrainable team that the upcycling facility was going to be needed sooner rather than later! SUSGRAINABLE IS ON A MISSION TO RESCUE THE OVER , TONS OF BREWERS’ SPENT GRAIN PRODUCED BY CRAFT BREWERIES IN CANADA DAILY DOING OUR PART TO DECREASE THE STAGGERING OF WASTED FOOD. What inspired you to start your organization? Our story began during my time as an MBA student at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. During one of my classes, we were tasked with identifying a prob- lem and creating a possible business solution for the problem, and a colleague who came from Vancouver’s craft beer industry mentioned the issue breweries were having with disposing of the spent grain byproduct. With my background in health promotion, I realized this byproduct is exactly what Canadians needed more of in their diets. After the class project ended, I carried the business forward with friend and business partner, Clinton Bishop. Clinton was raised on a farm that grew barley (not to mention he’s a beer lover), so he was motivated by the idea of using much more of the grain. What were some of the challenges you encountered? At fi rst, people we talked to were skeptical about us taking on something so innovative. However, once people tried the product, they started believing we were onto something after all. Another challenge is building awareness on a bootstrapped budget and raising capital as fi rst-time founders. By far, however, the biggest challenge has been COVID-19. We had to completely pivot the business and accelerate our timelines on some of the tasks we had for the future. Th is came with a lot of risk and uncertainty. We often joke that we aren’t technically fi rst-time founders, as we have pretty much bootstrapped two businesses due to COVID-related market fl ipping causing us to rebuild from scratch. What do you consider your organization's biggest success? Th is might be a toss-up between our Kickstarter campaign and our fi rst-ever tradeshow, CHFA West run by the Canadian Health Food Association. Despite having some serious things go wrong operationally behind the scenes, we were able to pull things off just in time. Th e ex- citement both events generated was tremendous. What makes your organization unique? While our signature Upcycled Barley Flour is a unique ingredient, our circular economy approach to building our business is unique as well. We are disrupting the way to do business SEP 2022 • ISSUE 03 17Clinton (left) and Marc (right) learning about the spent grain and distilling process at a potential upcycling facility partner. within the food industry in more ways than one. Th e sum of all parts when it comes to how we do business and live our values is Susgrainable’s secret sauce. How do you feel your organization makes the world better? Susgrainable is making the world better by fi ghting food waste, tackling the lack of fi bre in the Canadian diet, and creating work opportunities for students. We like to say our primary focus is on creating impact with positive fi nancial impact being the byproduct of this work – most traditional for-profi t businesses focus on creating fi nancial returns fi rst with im- pact as a secondary focus. We believe fl ip- ping the hierarchy of these two goals is the future of successful, sustainable businesses. Tell us about your organization's goals. Currently, our biggest goal is to launch British Columbia’s fi rst-ever dedicated upcycling facility. Th is will increase our capacity to rescue grains from 10,000 kg/ year to up to 5 million kg/year. With the facility, we can then be in a better position to partner with other food businesses and retailers to innovate on diff erent products and make Upcycled Barley Flour a more known and common ingredient. A secondary goal we have is to work more closely with a few key retailers to grow awareness about Susgrainable’s mis- sion and products. Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you'd like to share? Th e upcycling facility is a big next step and is currently taking up the majority of our time and focus right now. We are currently fundraising to bring this idea to reality. Th at being said, customers have increas- ingly been asking for us to get the product into grocery stores, so we’re excited to announce that we have recently launched into select Safeway, Th rifty Foods, and 18 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINENature's Fare Markets locations in BC! What do you most want people to know about your organization? We want people to know that we are there to support them in their journey to live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. Upcycled Barley Flour can be a fun ingredient to play with in bak- ing. It has a great story, and you can make some incredible prod- ucts with it; my favourite is the Banana Bread while Clinton’s is the Pancake and Waffl e Mix. Th e mixes are a great starting point because they are easy enough for kids to bake something up without making too big of a mess. Plus, it makes for a great conver- sation starter when talking about being mindful of food waste. How can people help or contribute to your organization's mission? Th e fi rst step is giving our products a try – we’ve got a starter pack on our website, or you can look up where to fi nd the product in-store. After that, sharing Susgrainable’s message with friends and family is a huge bonus. Word-of-mouth marketing is greatly impactful for small businesses. We love seeing posts on social media with people enjoying the product; it gives us motivation on those tough days. For those who want to play a bigger part, feel free to reach out and let us know what you have in mind. We are always keen to collaborate when we can. Creativity and collaboration are our jam! ONE SUSGRAINABLE COOKIE CAN HELP YOU GET OF YOUR DAILY FIBRE WHILE FIGHTING FOOD WASTE AT THE SAME TIME! susgrainable.com instagram.com/ susgrainable facebook.com/ susgrainable linkedin.com/company/ susgrainable SEP 2022 • ISSUE 03 19Next >