Nadin Sadek was born in a community where people live minimalist lives and make things from what they already have, such as repurposing glass and plastic products, and grinding peels to make skin products.
Nadin credits this background as influencing her to study Environmental and Resource Studies at UWaterloo. She began to think about consumerism and waste, and had various ideas about how to make a difference. After thinking “maybe I should talk to someone about it,” she joined GreenHouse this term.
Her initial idea was to develop an app to help redistribute things people were getting rid of. Her idea shifted to one where she talked with policy makers and retailers about reducing consumer waste. But “it was very stressful,” Nadin says. “My GreenHouse advisors helped me to take a step back and look for a simple, relatable idea that could work.”
Nadin thought about the skin products her mom (passed down from her mother) had made, realizing this was a practical way of tackling food waste. She contacted companies making fresh juice and asked whether she might have the peels they were throwing away. Unlike the stress of trying to get policy makers on side, the juice businesses responded instantly.
Now, Nadin is testing products, determining market and developing a team for her company, Loop. She plans to sell products as an e-business this summer.
"This isn’t just about the product or even about food waste. Wasted food is the largest component of trash in North America. When it’s dumped in a landfill, it creates the methane which contributes to climate change.”