USEFULL Welcomes Head of Operations and Product Development
I’m M.J. Eldridge and I’m thrilled to join the USEFULL team as Head of Operations and Product Development.
I grew up in a very rural town in the woods of northern Rhode Island. So rural that my house was on a dirt road, had a pole number and didn’t have trash service. We were fully responsible for bringing our own trash to the dump once a week. Going to the dump was the chore in the house that everyone hated, so we were very careful to avoid waste. We had a compost heap. We wore hand-me-downs. We rinsed, reused and recycled out of basic necessity. Cool Whip containers were our Tupperware, bread bags were our lunch sacks.
Fast forward to now and I’ve been in the CPG world for over 15 years, developing all sorts of products - from consumer electronics to cosmetics and baby gear, air cleaners and wine accessories. I even made earplugs for a little while! But, to be brutally honest, mostly? I made trash. The amount of waste I personally created over the course of my career making products packed in cardboard, made out of plastic and shipped in bubble wrap - is really quite shameful. I have helped to create landfills - one container ship at a time.
We know now that rampant consumerism and access to cheap goods has caused our waste to be out of control. But unfortunately, even if we try to do the right thing and move our families to recyclables or compostables, by and large, we’re being greenwashed by companies who seem to believe that “life on Earth” is simply “trendy”.
So, I decided to make a change and use my skills as an operator and product developer to help the planet, rather than continue to hurt it. It took some time to find the perfect fit but once I met Alison Rogers (our amazing founder and CEO) and learned about USEFULL’s solutions - I was sold. I am enthralled with the notion that not only are we able to reduce waste - but we are able to help the campuses save money as well! It’s a no brainer and a true win-win for all involved - especially this rock we all call home.