Loopt Joins Lewis & Clark for a Pioneering Journey into Circularity and Entrepreneurship

Loopt proudly participated in the world’s only week-long, residential high school entrepreneurship program dedicated exclusively to sustainability.

The 2023 Circular Innovation Challenge, hosted by the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Portland’s Lewis & Clark College brought together 68 students from across the United States to address the following challenge:  Develop a viable circular business idea that solves a problem, replaces a linear business model, and makes a positive impact on the world. 

Loopt Executive Director, Scott Welch, joined Meredith Goddard, Director of Enterprise Solutions at the Bates Center to introduce the students to circular economy concepts including linear systems, closed and open loops, and how circularity relates to sustainability.   The presentation included an exploration of today’s fashion industry illustrating the impacts of linear systems and the urgent need to evolve to circular solutions.

“It’s so inspiring to see Lewis & Clark combine circularity with entrepreneurship,” said Welch.  “And even more inspiring to see the next generation of entrepreneurs embrace it.

Students worked in teams throughout the week to develop their proposed challenge solutions.   These included: better housing insulation made of styrofoam pellets (to remove styrofoam from the waste stream), a B to B business pioneering better (non-plastic) packaging for personal hygiene products, biodegradable glue for packaging, beer yokes made of cork, non-toxic, biodegradable menstrual products made of hemp and wool, biodegradable plant covers and weed barriers, a better wrapping paper - perforated, biodegradable with biodegradable tape, a subscription toy box of eco-friendly toys dedicated to end toy ownership (and disposal), circular and biodegradable pens, and algae-based single-use water bottles that 3-D prints water bottles with algae-based filament. 

Participants who successfully completed the Circular Innovation Challenge were also offered a $20,000 per year merit scholarship if they apply and are accepted into Lewis & Clark College.