Toothpaste tubes currently are impossible to recycle. Industry giant Colgate has spent five years developing a recyclable tube, which it plans to launch in 2020. But Bite founder and CEO Lindsay McCormick doesn’t think that’s enough. Her company is a on a mission to become the world’s most sustainable oral care company by completely revolutionizing the industry.
Unable to find travel-friendly, plastic-free alternatives to the toothpaste she was using, McCormick enrolled in self-taught online chemistry courses and talked with every dentist and dental hygienist she could find to come up with an idea. She made her first Bite tablets in her living room on a hand-press tableting machine as a way to reduce her personal environmental footprint. Her early customers consisted mostly of family and friends who shared her passion for sustainability.
McCormick says she has been obsessed with sustainability and conservation since she was a little kid. Instead of asking for toys or clothes on her birthday, she would ask her parents to"adopt" animals in her name through organizations like World Wildlife Fund and the Oceanic Society. She wrote her senior thesis in college on tropical rainforest deforestation. As a TV producer, she travelled all over the US and the world.
Because Bite was bootstrapped and committed to sustainability from the outset, and hasn’t taken money from any VCs, the company can be uncompromising in their choice to always put the planet first. “As a result, we have been able to attract and work with incredibly talented people who are as bold and as committed to sustainability as we are,” says McCormick. “The path isn’t easy but it is definitely fun.” ...
“Every person on this planet has something they would move mountains for,” McCormick says to people looking to align their career with their life purpose. “Leaning into that and creating from that place is where your superpower lies. Being able to solve a problem in a space you care deeply about is the magic sauce that will keep you going through the never-ending obstacles that pop up. Because my love is for the planet and conservation, when things feel too heavy, I re-watch.