Friendlier

Are you passionate about sustainability on your campus? We’re in search of students who want to lead reuse in the 2026–27 school year. Boothing, events, content creation, and more — just a few hours a week doing work that actually makes an impact.

If you’re already plugged into campus life and want to put that energy behind something that matters, this is your chance.

🔗 Navigate to “Our Campus Leader program” using the link in our bio to apply

Today marks the 10th year of , and we still don’t think this issue gets talked about enough. So we put together some stats worth reading 🌏

From homes to restaurants to supply chains, food waste happens all around us, and everyday actions add up quickly.

We love days like this because they remind us that solving our waste problem takes more than awareness alone. Real change takes better habits, smarter systems, and small actions repeated every day. So today, and every day, think about what you can change to make an impact 💙

This is what it looks like when starts to become part of race day.

With Run Ottawa, reusable cups replaced single-use at water stations, keeping 600+ cups out of landfill with a 96% return rate.

Same flow. Same pace. Just a better system in place.

Learn more at the link in bio.

Another location has joined the Friendlier reuse program at 💙 Pacific Poke is now our 13th Friendlier location across UBC’s campus, continuing the steady expansion of   in everyday dining.

Huge shoutout to Pacific Poke for coming on board and to UBC Food Services for continuing to champion   across campus. Expanding reuse across this many locations doesn’t happen by accident. It takes real commitment.

Friendlier, a local startup tackling Canada’s single-use plastic problem head-on, recently closed a $4.5 million dollar funding round. The company, founded in 2019 by University of Waterloo alumni Jacqueline Hanton (BASc ’20) and Kayli Smith (BASc ’20), has raised a total of $10 million and kept almost 3.7 million food and beverage containers out of landfills.

With operations at more than 200 locations in Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Quebec, Friendlier is swiftly building a national presence. The latest funding will expand business operations across more of the country with investments in new technologies, infrastructure and logistics — helping Canadians reduce their plastic waste even further by making reuseable choices easier and more accessible.

“Canada is one of the leaders in the circular economy space globally. People are looking at Canada to see what is being done,” Hanton says. “At Friendlier, we are pushing the needle, making reuse the norm.”

More: https://uwaterloo.ca/news/engineering-alumni/building-business-attracts-funders-and-protects-planet |

Our containers are made to be circular.

But it’s the reuse that makes it all work. Every time you return a Friendlier container, you’re helping keep packaging in circulation and waste out of landfills.

This Circular Economy Month, we’re celebrating all the small, everyday actions that make a big impact — like choosing reuse over single use.

Together, we’re building a system that’s better for people, business, and the planet 🌍💙

October is Circular Economy Month!
It’s a month dedicated to rethinking how we use resources — moving away from the “take, make, toss” system and toward a world where products and materials stay in use, again and again.

At Friendlier, that’s our mission every day: keeping packaging in circulation through reuse, reducing waste, and building a system that’s better for both people and the planet. Every Friendlier product you return is part of that mission 🌍💙

And since today is also International Coffee Day ☕️ why not celebrate with your favourite brew in a Friendlier cup? Coffee tastes better when it’s waste-free.

Photo credits to 💙