Social Impact Heroes Helping Our Planet: Why and How Amelia Trumble of Retold Recycling Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Involve them in the process — My daughter now jumps right in to help with filling Retold bags because she knows that’s what happens to clothes we no longer need.
As part of my series about what we must do to inspire the next generation about sustainability and the environment, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amelia Trumble.
Amelia Trumble is one of the 3 founders of Retold Recycling, a convenient and sustainable mail-in service for recycling any and all unwanted clothing and household textiles, responsibly diverting waste from landfill. Having built her career in extensive ecommerce and digital marketing roles, Amelia brings her expertise to the areas of revenue growth, operations and brand partnerships in particular at Retold. Amelia is an Aussie based in Los Angeles and a mother of a 2.5 year old toddler
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I grew up in Australia, mostly in the country! I split my time living with my mother, my dad and my grandparents. My little brothers and my step-siblings were my first best friends, followed by some amazing school friends that I am still very close to today. Despite living in country towns, I wasn’t very outdoorsy and spent a lot of time obsessing over fashion, beauty, film & TV — and in particular daydreaming about moving to the USA. Funny how so much of that resurfaces in my life even today!
Was there an “aha moment” or a specific trigger that made you decide you wanted to become a scientist or environmental leader? Can you share that story with us?
I worked with my Retold co-founders and business partners — Noelle Delory and Alan Yeoh — at MAC Cosmetics in New York and frequently talked about a long term pivot to invest our efforts into a business that would make a positive impact on the planet. Years later, I was renovating my closets in a small NYC apartment and was frustrated to find no solution to easily declutter unwanted clothes, particularly without adding to the global landfill issue. I wouldn’t say that any of us thought about becoming “environmental leaders” but that desire to move out of consumer goods marketing combined with an eco-consciousness lead us here today. And we couldn’t be more thrilled!
Is there a lesson you can take out of your own story that can exemplify what can inspire a young person to become an environmental leader?
Just start! If you have a desire to improve an environmental problem, commence researching, start talking to subject matter experts, write a blog or volunteer your time! There is so much that needs repairing or protecting, everyone can find a niche in the environmental movement.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
Retold Recycling aims to build a community of like-minded customers with a collective mantra and vision: #NoLandfill. We are a convenient and sustainable mail-in service for recycling any and all unwanted and pre-loved clothing and household textiles, responsibly diverting waste from landfill. To date, Retold has successfully diverted and recycled 20 tons of textile waste from landfill.
Together with our partners, items sent in each Retold bag are thoroughly sorted before going to charities, thrift stores, reuse partners, up-cyclers, rag companies, and soon, next generation fabric houses. We have created an easy and hassle-free service for consumers to clean-out unwanted textile items in the most sustainable and environmentally conscious way that puts recycling at the center of consumer shopping habits.
Customers can purchase our recycling bags solo or in bundles with no commitment, or choose to sign up to our subscription services to earn automatic rewards and cash back to use at one of our feel-good partner brands. Every Retold bag comes with a postage prepaid label and is made plastic-free from biodegradable and compostable cornstarch to ensure nothing ends up in landfill.
Can you share 3 lifestyle tweaks that the general public can do to be more sustainable or help address the climate change challenge?
- Well, obviously buy some Retold bags or subscribe! We have thankfully made Retold-ing super easy and convenient! www.retoldrecycling.com
- Composting! If you live near a Whole Foods (and a lot of people do now!) or a local community garden, gather your vegetable food scraps and drop them off. I like the cute compost bins at Goldune www.goldune.com/collections/kitchen/products/bamboozle-bamboo-compost-bin
- One of my personal changes this year has to be eliminating canned seltzer from my fridge and utilizing a SodaStream instead!
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview: The youth-led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion, what are 5 things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
- Start young — My daughter is almost 3 and we talk all the time about recycling, the drought in California, and I have her help me with composting too!
- Lead by example — Always be a good environmental citizen in front of your kids, explaining what you are doing as you go. “We separate these glass items because…”
- Involve them in the process — My daughter now jumps right in to help with filling Retold bags because she knows that’s what happens to clothes we no longer need.
- Volunteer — Join a beach cleanup or plant some trees. When you establish a behavior to help the Earth early, it becomes ingrained in their consciousness.
- Champion others — At Retold we love to support up-and-coming influencers or mentoring interns who are passionate about sustainability!
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
All of the data we see from our customers and the wider industry is that eco-conscious customers will pay more for sustainable solutions. Every day our Retolders are stepping up from trialing us with a Solo bag to purchasing a Threesome pack, and then onto our subscription services, because it feels good to be making a positive impact on the Earth.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Our company name is Family Wagon, because we specifically wanted to feel like working on Retold as being part of a family, all driving to one destination together. So I cannot shout out just one person, I am beyond grateful for all of our founding team — most of which still contribute to the business today — and are now our small but mighty operational team. Retold literally would not exist without their skillful efforts, going above and beyond, all with amazing energy, generosity and positivity!
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The movement Retold is championing — and the one that I personally live every day — is #NoLandfill. People, please don’t throw your unwanted clothes or household textiles into the trash! We are here to help, right from the comfort of your home / laundry room / closet.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
“When you know better, you do better.” — Maya Angelou (& Oprah). Personally I love being open to what the universe brings me, learning from it and evolving. But this quote also sums up the behavioral change we are championing with Retold — there are so many people out there mindlessly contributing to landfill and when they know better via Retold, they definitely do better!
What is the best way for people to follow you on social media?
https://www.instagram.com/retoldrecycling/
https://www.tiktok.com/@retoldrecycling
https://www.facebook.com/retoldrecycling
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
