A parking garage or high-speed Internet may be the apartment amenities that renters most desire these days, but in the near future, it might be having access to closed-loop consumerism.
Brookfield Properties, a global property management firm, recently announced plans to partner with Loop, a new zero-waste platform attempting to mainstream the concept of selling consumer brands in reusable packaging. Together, the two companies will embark on a pair of trial programs: one in its offices at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan, and another at One Blue Slip, a 359-unit luxury residential tower at Greenpoint Landing on the Brooklyn waterfront. By tethering the service to work or home, the partnership hopes it makes it easier for more consumers to participate.
Basically, how it works is employees or tenants will have unlimited access to a service that operates like a 21st century milkman for consumer goods: Consumers order products, which cost roughly the same as standard goods, then return the packaging, for which users pay a small deposit. With this pilot, residents and employees will be able to order products from brands such as Clorox, Tide, Häagen Dazs, and Seventh Generation that are shipped in durable, reusable containers estimated to last for at least 100 uses.
In addition to the Brookfield partnership, Loop has also announced partnerships with Walgreens and Kroeger, hoping that by adding more convenient places to pick-up and drop off reusable packaging, it can make conscious consuming more convenient.
