THIS PAGE : ( TOP ) COURTESY OF OZZI ; ( BELOW ) COURTESY OF ARTISANS / ETSY . COM .
A North Kingstown company offers a sustainable solution to single-serve dining waste across the globe .
We know this to be true : Single-use products are a
waste . Even the ones that feign sustainability — we see you , compostable containers spilling from the trash can — aren ’ t fooling anybody .
But the single-use industry has a dirty little secret , says Tom Wright of OZZI . “ It ’ s very expensive . It ’ s unsustainable , financially .”
In 2013 , Wright , a native Rhode Islander , left his post as dean and senior vice president of Johnson and Wales ’ culinary school to launch a restaurant consulting business . There , he learned just how much single-use dining products were eating up his clients ’ budgets . Along with a former partner , Bill Andreozzi , he wondered : Is there a better way , both for the bottom line and the planet ? After gathering empirical data and partnering with manufacturers across the country , OZZI ( pronounced oh-zee , after Andreozzi ) was born .
The company is built around a line of O2Go reusable serveware — containers , plates , cups , utensils made in Oregon — and a built-in- Rhode Island , no-contact patented OZZI Machine that collects the used serveware and keeps track of it , too , via tokens or users ’ digital identification numbers . Each piece of serveware can be washed by dining services up to 1,000 times . At the end of the products ’ lifetime , they ’ re recycled back into more # 5 plastic O2Go containers , which are NSF Internationalapproved for food safety .
Wright recalls attending a conference where an Air Forcewoman stopped by his booth to learn more about the system , which costs around $ 22,000 for a 1,000-piece program and machine . The woman brought OZZI back to her base in Boise , Idaho , where it paid for itself in eight months .
“ One container costs less than $ 5 , and it never costs a customer a penny once they ’ ve made the
initial investment ,” says Wright . “ It eliminates all of the purchasing .”
To date , the OZZI system is in forty-two states and seven countries , and clients include Disney , BP , Exxon and , here in Rhode Island , the Rhode Island School of Design , Moses Brown School and , in the fall , Providence College . In early 2020 , Truckee , California , launched a town-wide OZZI program where diners could pick up takeout in an O2Go container from one restaurant and return it to another . Wright expects California ’ s single-use plastic ban , which goes into effect in 2024 , could also drive interest to OZZI .
And in 2021 — amid a global pandemic with more to-go food service than ever , yet more consumer interest in sustainability — OZZI is positioned for additional growth .
“ We were first . We were cool before it was in vogue to be sustainability-minded ,” he says . “ In the next twelve , twenty-four , thirty-six months , there will be a real desire of the restaurants for alternatives , for a few | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 94
Zero-Waste Beginners ’ Kit
Source some sustainable gear from local makers on Etsy . com .
FROM LEFT : Bees and leaves reusable facial wipes , $ 6 for a set of five , LMessCreations . “ Misty Mountain ” produce bags , $ 18 for a set of two , Finding HippyNess . Piggery travel mug , $ 32 , Crystallinehorse . “ Shopping Makes Me Feel Pretty !!!”– Karl Marx tote , $ 22 , FrogandToadPress . Del ’ s cloth face mask in lemon , $ 15 , ClothesHorse Clothing . Bamboo utensil set with straw , spoon , knife , fork , chopsticks and wire brush , $ 9 per set , Beechers Botanicals .
42 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2021