Indianapolis’ recycling rate is just at 7% and even cities like New York still struggle to exceed a 17% recycling rate. Waste is a problem everywhere, but Indianapolis is struggling more than most at implementing solutions that residents will adapt. In Indianapolis, residents have to pay close to $100/year for opt-in curbside recycling. Most do not.

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Our founder has been researching the circular economy and climate change solutions since 2017. After studying New York City's recycling programs first-hand, she realized recycling was only part of the solution and began to tackle one problem - glass waste in the candle industry.

An average 2 billion 8oz candles are sold each year in the U.S. If even half of those are sold in glass, that's over 1 billion glass jars that we hope would be recycled. But the reality is American's aren't recycling nearly that much - yet.

The national average recycling rate is around 34.7%, the average person produces 1,600 lbs of garbage per year, and on average only 26.6% of glass is recycled.

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Candles are thrown into landfills by the hundreds of thousands in January.

Jaymee & Olive is ready to change the conversation by starting with a philosophy of up-cycling and reuse.

Our artisan candles, are made from up-cycled glass — collected from Indianapolis residents who donate or join our membership.

Members are enrolled with a monthly donation of 5 or more accepted vessels* to receive a free candle every season in the fragrance of their choice. By offering incentive to donate glass before you trash, our vision is to make sustainable living accessible and luxurious. When any customer is done burning one of our candles, we'll take it back. Drop off the glass at any approved pickup location, or collect 5 and we'll pick them up. Don't worry about cleaning out the wax. We do it all.

Every element used in one of our artisan candles is sustainably sourced, from the wick and wax to the label and packaging. We stand by the belief that zero-waste products don't have to be bland and reuse shouldn't be out-of-reach.

Like every solution, we're certain there will be much to learn. But change starts with taking the first step. You can make a difference today by shifting your buying habits and purchasing one household product that's upcycled or zero-waste.

Jaymee & Olive is committed to making sustainable living accessible, one household, one neighborhood, one community at a time.

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Sources:

https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/indianapolis-deemed-most-wasteful-city-in-the-united-states

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/christmas-candles-in-landfills-266171

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If you're interested in partnering with us on glass collections, PR, or would like to promote a sustainable, zero-waste product in our store, please contact us at hello@jaymeeandolive.com.

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