What 3 Philly companies are doing to support sustainability

Reusable water bottles, plastic recycling partnerships and eco-friendly cleaning products.

Three companies with ties to Philadelphia recently announced initiatives that make sustainability a priority.

Hersha funds clean water in Tanzania

Former Eagles defenseman Chris Long’s nonprofit, Waterboys, is bringing a well to Tanzania, a project funded by Old City-based Hersha Hospitality Trust.

The hotel owner and operator raised funds for the well through its sustainability program, Earthview. It sold water bottles made from 100 percent recyclable materials at its hotels and for every eco-friendly bottle sold, Hersha donated $1 to Waterboys.

Long, a two-time Super Bowl champion, founded Waterboys in 2015 to provide clean drinking water for communities in need. The program attains this goal by funding sustainable clean water projects.

“Our first well in Tanzania will provide water to 8,000 people who previously lacked any permanent source of clean water,” said Hersha’s CEO, Jay H. Shah.

The well will be in Unyankumi, a village in Tanzania’s Singida region, and installation is estimated to be complete in March 2020.

Green cleaning products firm gets $16M

A London-based investment fund is investing $16 million in Dropps, a Center City-based company focused on plant-based household cleaning products with eco-responsible packaging and carbon neutral shipping.

Led by CEO Jonathan Propper, Dropps first introduced the laundry detergent pod in 2005 and continued to disrupt the market with its eco-responsible packaging, and by shipping directly to the customer.

“Dropps is a model challenger brand making the right choices for the planet and its consumer,” said Elio Leoni Sceti, co-founder of The Craftory, which bills itself as a socially conscious investment fund that supports mission-driven consumer brands.

Th $16 million investment will go towards “broadening their product offering, expanding market reach and building an infrastructure that allows for them to offer the most sustainable lifestyle products to consumers and industries alike,” according to a Dropps press release.

Manufacturer’s new recycling program

Hand in Hand, a South Philadelphia-based soap manufacturer, is partnering with the world’s leader in repurposing complex waste, TerraCycle to produce a new recycling program.

Hand in Hand’s leftover flexible plastic tubes will go to TerraCycle, which then recycles the plastic into new products such as bike racks and park benches.

This program adds to Hand in Hand’s sustainable initiatives. The local firm previously teamed up with nonprofit Eco-Soap Bank, an organization that collects used soap from hotels, sanitizes it and then supplies it to children in the developing world.

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Photo courtesy of Waterboys.