🌳 All bark, more bites

Plus: The snowman assist you didn't know you needed, cashiers go remote, flirting help, and more. View Online It's International "Louie Louie" Day, a holiday for fans of the famously incomprehensible rock song, observed every April 11 (songwriter Richard Berry's birthday). Even if you know the song, you probably don't know the lyrics — they're so hard to make out that the FBI once investigated them for obscenities. The 1965 probe concluded that the Feds couldn't prosecute something they couldn't interpret. In today's email: Tree bark: A startup wants to make it a bigger part of daily life. Functional beverages: Ask not what you can do for your soda, ask what your soda can do for you. Weird patents: A deeply serious, yet hilarious snowman-building aid. Around the web: Four days in darkness, flirting for nerds, a wombat family, and more. 👇 Listen: Bioplastics are a multibillion-dollar industry you probably aren't thinking enough about. The Big Idea This startup wants to make packaging that's all bark, no bite Takeout containers could be the answer to pressing environmental waste issues. 2024-04-11T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman Don't get us wrong, we love takeout. But once we learned that recycling isn't the foolproof solution we thought it was, our delivery orders started showing up with something we didn't order: guilt. Don't cry over spilled lo mein just yet — Bpacks, a sustainable packaging startup, is getting closer to an environmentally friendly solution. Bpacks has created what it says is the world's first biodegradable bioplastic made from tree bark to replace petroleum-based rigid plastic containers, per AgFunderNews. Those types of plastics, traditionally used to hold produce, meat, and beauty products, are wreaking havoc on the environment: The world produces ~440m tons of plastic waste each year, and global plastic production is estimated to reach 1.2B+ tons by 2050. Of that plastic, ~36% is used for packaging. And 85% of single-use plastics for food and beverage packages end up in landfills. Plus, tree bark from timber production normally goes to waste. An estimated 300m-400m cubic meters is produced annually. Bpacks takes that leftover bark and combines it with other bio-based materials, like coffee grounds, to create pellets and sheets that can be used to make packages. The result: 100% bio-based packaging, with 75% of materials coming from production waste. It's also "100% home-compostable," able to fully decompose in soil within one or two months — but it can still hold high-moisture content without dissolving. The whole package Though Bpacks has its material down, the company, which is still in a pre-seed funding stage, will face a long road ahead to scale its business. Fortunately, it isn't the only company trying to solve the plastic-packaging pollution problem (say that 3x fast). Ecoroots makes packaging from mushroom mycelium. Traceless uses leftovers from agricultural and food production processes to create a plastic alternative. Notpla manufactures fully compostable packaging with a coating made from 100% natural seaweed. The work of these startups, and many more, is fueling the global bioplastics market, which is estimated to reach $46.1B by 2030. Very good news for the environment and for our Uber Eats orders. Hallelujah. Free Resource Stop loafing, start completing projects If your to-do list looks a lot like an overgrown garden, we know the vibes — and we're trying to help. Use the assets inside this five-piece project management kit to commandeer your calendar and shipshape your schedule. It's filled with ways to make you more efficient. Always be finishing things: How to be more productive at work How to hire and manage freelancers 4 productivity templates 5 time management templates 17 professional email templates Be your own PM → TRENDING The future is weird: To cut costs, NYC's Sansan Chicken apparently replaced in-person cashiers with virtual ones located in the Philippines. They appear on a computer monitor behind two fake plants, ringing up customers over Zoom. One guest noted that "checking out in person with lag is not something that we're used to." SNIPPETS You think you're stubborn? Inflation, that pain in the ass, remained high in March, up 3.5% YoY, casting doubt on the Fed's interest rate reduction plans. … This inflation news was also a stock-market bummer: The Dow took a sharp 400+ point tumble Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both falling 1%. Internet service providers must now display "nutrition labels" that tell consumers their plans, upload and download speeds, fees, and if advertised rates are introductory or discounted and for how long. The US Postal Service wants to bump the cost of its First-Class "Forever" stamps from 68 cents to 73 cents. It would increase the cost of mailing products by ~8% starting in July if approved. Consumer Reports wants the USDA to drop Lunchables from school lunch programs, claiming the two snack kits Lunchables made for schools last year have even more sodium than those sold in stores. The Texas Education Agency is testing out AI exam graders. It expects to save $15m-$20m annually by hiring less than 2k human graders, compared to the 6k it hired in 2023. Norfolk Southern will pay $600m to settle the class-action lawsuit over the 2023 trail derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that forced ~2k residents to evacuate to avoid toxic smoke. Jessica Alba will no longer serve as The Honest Co.'s chief creative officer. The actress, who co-founded the baby and beauty products company in 2012, led it through a successful 2021 IPO that raised $412.8m. Yeah, you know: Sales and marketing need to be in alignment (obviously) — but how do you make it happen? LinkedIn's global product marketing leader shared some ideas. Don't miss this... Educate yourself on the discrepancies experienced by Black content creators — and check out expert tips on how to rise above them. Data Point Too thirsty to function: An ice-cold Coke can definitely make you happy — but you might've noticed the cans in your supermarket's drink aisle are promising way more than that these days. Whether it's lower stress, more energy, or better digestion, functional beverages are drinks with specific goals, and they seem to be taking over. The North American functional beverage market is estimated to be worth ~$54B this year and $75B+ by 2029. Why are people suddenly reaching for carbonated probiotics and adaptogens? It's likely the same reason so many trends have taken off: because consumers want to be healthy. Add in the fact that an increasing amount of young people are opting for nonalcoholic options, and you get a market primed to bubble over. Fit The Bill There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today's billion-dollar brand? Clue 1: This company's ideal customer, according to its founder, is a 32-year-old professional named Ocean who makes $100k; has her own condo, a fiance, and a lust for travel; and can commit 90 minutes to working out every day. Clue 2: Its founder, an ever-polarizing man, said the company's name means nothing and that he just thought it was "funny to watch [Japanese people] try to say it." He later denied that comment, saying the name was picked because it sounded distinctly American. Clue 3: This is not a stretch: This retailer sells its wares at 710+ stores across the globe, but no location was a better fit than its first one — inside a Vancouver, Canada, yoga studio. 👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇 Weird Patents Do you want to build a snowman? You're in luck: Ignacio Marc Asperas of New York filed a patent for an "apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman" in 2011. The spherically shaped body has a surface perfect for adhering a layer of snow — giving you that finished snowman look for a fraction of the effort. Asperas starts by cautioning, "The following is not a joke patent. It is completely serious," before diving into 11 hilarious pages of copy. We'll leave you with this first passage: "The history of the snow man or snow woman is unknown. But, I have to say this. Whoever the first person was to think to form snow into a human figure was a genius." AROUND THE WEB 🎸 On this day: In 1961, Bob Dylan opened for John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City, his first big gig in NYC. 🌑 That's interesting: What happens when you spend four days in total darkness. 💕 Haha: Pickup lines for nerds. 🧠 How to: avoid legal risks at conferences and other work events. 😍 Aww: A little wombat family. SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Don't keep us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we'll send Hustle essentials as a thank you. Share this custom referral link: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Your referral count: 0 Today's Fit the Bill answer is Lululemon Athletica (Market cap: $42.52B) Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman. Editing by: Ben "The hunt for the abdominal snowman is over" Berkley. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. PODCAST JOBS CONTACT US The Hustle, 2 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA 02141, US. Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.