logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
26m 39s

Progress Over Perfection: Sarah Paiji Yo...

Rebecca Minkoff
About this episode

Let’s face it: the burdens of plastic consumption are overwhelming. We try our best to recycle, hoping our used ketchup bottles and takeout containers are reincarnated as earth-friendly reusable water bottles, but the truth is that countless amounts of plastics continue to clog landfills and waterways each year. When Sarah Paiji Yoo discovered that microscopic bits of plastic even make their way into our drinking water, she decided she had to do something.

Sarah and her co-founder started Blueland as a starting point for changing the way we think about cleaning products, and the containers they come in. After discovering most cleaning products contain 90% water, Sarah envisioned a tablet that could then be mixed with water at home, minimizing the need to buy plastic-packaged products every time. The biggest lesson she’s learned? It’s nearly impossible to have a “perfect” solution to plastic at this point, but that’s not a reason to give up trying.

Thanks for listening!

We love our listeners! Drop us a line or give us guest suggestions here, or visit https://anchor.fm/superwomen/messages on your desktop or phone to leave us a voice memo! Follow Superwomen on Instagram.

Big Ideas

  • The disturbing fate of plastics and why we need to change that.
  • The challenges Blueland encountered in product development.
  • How reaching beyond the eco-conscious market actually broadens the environmental impact.

Guest Website

Blueland

@Blueland

@spaiji

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/superwomen/support
Up next
Jul 10
She Challenged the Metrics That Defined Influence, Now She’s Built a Consulting Agency Based on Intentional Marketing with Julianne Fraser, Founder and CEO of Dialogue NYC
This week on SUPERWOMEN, I sat down with Julianne Fraser, founder and CEO of Dialogue NYC, a marketing and strategy consultancy bridging the gap between purpose-driven brands and the ever-evolving world of digital influence. With a deep understanding of the influencer and social ... Show More
41m 16s
Jul 3
She Nearly Lost Everything on Her First Haircare Line—Then Built a $400M Brand Without Investors with Carolyn Aronson, CEO and Founder of It’s a 10 Haircare
This week on SUPERWOMEN, I’m joined by Carolyn Aronson, founder and CEO of It’s a 10 Haircare. Before becoming one of the few female entrepreneurs in the beauty industry to own and operate her own brand, Carolyn spent decades behind the chair as a stylist and salon owner, learnin ... Show More
41m 19s
Jun 26
How to Make a Beauty Trend Stick, Literally, with Aliett Buttelman, Co-Founder of Fazit Beauty
This week on SUPERWOMEN, I’m joined by Aliett Buttelman, co-founder of Fazit Beauty, the cosmetics startup making waves with its viral glitter freckle makeup patches. Fresh out of college, Aliett launched her own consulting company, which led her to Nina LaBruna, who at the time ... Show More
32m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2021
David Katz
We’re surrounded by 2 billion tonnes of plastic – 8 million of which flow into our oceans every year. Those are some pretty upsetting numbers, but by the end of this episode you’ll understand that you’re not helpless; you personally have a huge amount of power to reverse the prob ... Show More
43m 59s
Mar 2021
Plastic Pollution - with Steve Backshall and Georgia May Jagger
“If you’ve eaten seafood, you’ve eaten plastic” It’s time to talk plastics. Every piece of plastic we consume stays in the environment for up to hundreds of years. The sheer scale of plastics in the environment are dramatically impacting ocean wildlife and human health. For this ... Show More
27m 8s
Jul 2017
Is it Time to Ban the Plastic Bottle?
Every single second, 20,000 single-use drinking bottles are sold around the world. That is more than a million pieces of non-biodegradable rubbish produced every minute. And as demand grows in developing economies, so will the mountains of waste, with much of it ending up in the ... Show More
23m 35s
May 2022
Waste Colonialism, Recycling, & Microplastics
Jesi Taylor joins Breht to discuss waste management, how the racialized, colonial and imperialist world order dictates where certain kinds of trash ends up, the impact of landfills on communities, the hyper-localism of recyclying and its effectiveness, the fear of microplastics, ... Show More
1h 16m
Dec 2018
What’s Really Going On With Recycling, Hunny? with Beth Porter
Beth Porter is Green America’s Climate & Recycling Director, as well as the author of "Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: Sorting Out the Recycling System." She joins Jonathan to talk all things recycling: what is is, how it works, whether plastic straws are as dangerous we’ve been told, ... Show More
46m 43s
Jul 2022
Women tackling the global plastic crisis
Two women confronting the dangers of plastic pollution talk to Kim Chakanetsa. They’re sounding the alarm and working on innovative solutions: from an island clear-up that collected 750,000 empty plastic bottles to reducing microplastics in the air and waterways. Estrela Matilde ... Show More
27m 41s
Apr 2024
Where Does Plastic Go?
Happy Earth Day, Curious People! To celebrate, we’re inviting research scientist Marcus Eriksen from 5 Gyres to the pod. Marcus tells us about his 88 day journey from California to Hawaii sailing on a raft made from 15,000 plastic bottles to research microplastics in the ocean an ... Show More
51m 4s
May 2023
Walking, Recycling Bottles, and Two Nostalgic Mall Brands
We’re reminiscing about niche educational retail chains of our youth, making a case for pecans, and learning the rules of a hot girl walk ( 
38m 37s