A start-up created by Cal Poly students helps reduce the consumption of single-use plastics. Now, the young company is partnering with the university.
Company co-founder and business graduate student, Benjamin Arts, was not a fan of the thick plastic used for laundry detergent jugs. He began to think of alternatives when he realized the item was not recyclable. That’s when he developed plans for Mr. Turtle.
It’s a wooden box that dispenses laundry detergent into paper bags or other personal containers. Arts said it’s meant to help consumers avoid the purchase of giant plastic containers.
“I had to do my laundry, right, it's this general chore day that I'm going through and I'm pouring over my laundry detergent and noticed it's like I'm out of detergent. Okay, boom, throw it away in my recycling bin which I now found out you actually can't recycle most of those jugs.”
He says the Mr. Turtle product is easier to use than other bulk dispensers. You just line up your personal container and press a blue button until it fills up.
“Skip all of the tearing and the weighing and all of that. You just simply press the start button, this big blue button on the front of the machine and then boom you're refilling–trying to keep it as simple as possible.”
Arts’ said he was able to come up with some of the funding in a Cal Poly start-up competition. Then, pitched his idea to other student entrepreneurs who helped him produce the item.
So far the product is now being used at four stores in San Luis Obispo, including the SLO Foods Co-op. But, because of the partnership with Cal Poly, students can also use a Mr. Turtle at the Poly Canyon Village Marketplace.
