North Texas man launches 'LoveGreen Company' in effort to create more eco-friendly products
How far would you go to help reduce waste and keep the environment as green as possible?
For one North Texas man, it was a chance meeting and a conversation that helped change his outlook on the environment and led him down a more intentional path toward going green.
"We produce 400 million tons of plastic every single year [and] 40 percent of that comes from the food service industry [like] bags, straws [and other] packaging," said Brian Dockery, Founder and CEO of The LoveGreen Company.
Dockery said his fascination with sustainability started after overhearing a local business talking about a need for straws that worked better and could be recycled.
"I went home and figured out how to source sustainable straws," he said, adding that he found a solution that used avocado.
Digesting the environmental impacts that waste pollution can have on the environment drove Dockery to search for other options for compostable, recyclable and reusable food service packaging. It eventually fueled a new journey as an entrepreneur.
The LoveGreen Company was born with a focus on reducing harmful waste by supplying eco-friendly single-use disposables and sustainable foodservice packaging.
Nationally, waste consumption varies, but the demand for eco-friendly food service is growing at a time when problems with plastic pollution are piling up, including across the state.
In the North Texas region alone, more than 11 million tons of waste were disposed of in landfills in 2021, accounting for almost 30% of the state's total waste, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), documented by the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
"So, [finding] ways to reduce plastic consumption is absolutely key to the issues that we're having in our society," Dockery added.
Now, Dockery's team believes their efforts could be part of a broader solution to sustaining a greener environment across the state.
"Plastic just takes forever to degrade [and] going forward everyone needs to pitch in and do what they can to help out the environment in the long run," added J.D. Lacayo, Head of Operations.
The LoveGreen Company's mission caught the eye of Dallas-based Big Dill Hospitality, as it was on its own search for ways to be more sustainable.
"We make many decisions service-wise that help keep waste down as we go through our business day, and going forward, everyone needs to do what they can," said Mark O'Brien, Director of Operations, Big Dill Hospitality.
Brian said while it may not be possible for North Texas, small changes could have a long-term impact.
"The misconception is that if I'm an individual, what I do won't matter, and I think that's absolutely false," Dockery reflected.
"When a customer knows or is more aware of the issue, then they're more likely to have a conviction about how they live their everyday life," he continued. "You might be thinking, 'I'm one person, if I start recycling, if I start composting, it won't make a difference,' but it actually will."
