How to Reset Your Sustainability Goals

As unboxing videos continue to take over the internet, startup Olive aims to eliminate the waste from the wonderful of online shopping.

The company launched as a cardboard delivery box alternative for fashion shoppers in search of convenience and sustainability. For members who download the app or Chrome extension, Olive consolidates their fashion purchases across retailers into a single tote, or “shipper,” to be delivered at a selected time. The tote is then picked up or used to make returns from the shopper’s doorstep. So far, Olive has cinched hundreds of brand and retail partners, including Outdoor Voices, Revolve and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Nate Faust, founder of Olive and former founder of Jet.com sees his startup as a way to not only eliminate waste, but as a way to eliminate the hassle of having to deal with boxes, make trips to the post office, and inevitably find pieces of plastic in your couch for months to come. The pandemic prompted a burst of online buying, and as such, the amount of packaging waste has increased exponentially since then. And though brands and retailers have made efforts to sort the situation out with lofty plans and promises, and brands like Rent the Runway and ThredUp that are based on the idea or repurposing have had better luck than others, the sustainability issue continues to stick.