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Erika
Reyes Bolanos
Erika turns problems into solutions, vision into action. Her background is as a creative marketing professional with over 7 years’ experience increasing annual sales for companies in Mexico, UAE and the UK.
In 2018 the picture of a seabird full of plastic showed her the impact of her industry. She realized that as a Marketer, her job was to take a "product" and influence someone to purchase it with little to no thought given to the environmental or social impact of the product.
In 2019, she decided to leave the Marketing industry to found Wisebird where she dedicated her passion and skills to the research and implementation of solutions to single-use plastics, such as Wisebox, Toronto's first reusable take out container program by deposit. She was nominated for YWiB's Favourite Women Entrepreneurs in 2020.
Today, she and her passionate team are working on a single dream—a world where a vibrant and conscious humanity is living and working in harmony with nature.
PROJECT
Do you love takeout and want to make the world a better place?
Currently, in Canada, the takeout industry is generating over 1 billion single-use takeout containers annually. Single-use takeout containers waste finite resources, pollute our lakes & oceans, contaminates our blue bins, and endangers vital ecosystems. But this problem is not only about our ecosystems; it is also about our health.
So, what if Toronto had only two bins for waste, organic and recycling, and we simply didn’t send anything to the landfill? What if we made single-use plastic nothing but a bad memory from times gone by? What if we could live without compromising the environment, AND we were rewarded for it? Yes, we know it’s a pie in the sky, but we don’t have to do it all in one go. We can get there, one takeout at a time.
Inwit is an online platform that will help you to skip waste while enjoying your favourite takeout warm and free of nasty chemicals; inwit app will provide a space to:
1. IDENTIFY waste-free restaurants and cafes across the city
2. TAKEOUT with a dine-in experience, without waste and in style!
3. LEARN tips to reduce your carbon emissions
4. EARN irresistible rewards
Since I became aware of my impact, I changed my lifestyle. Still, I was frustrated by the lack of alternatives to live sustainably, especially with food — a basic need.
I thought that providing an option to avoid single-use plastic, the problem could be solved. But after implementing Wisebox and engaging with users, I quickly realized that we were facing a bigger issue: self-interest and misinformation.
What if we live without compromising our ecosystems, and we were rewarded by it? Inwit is a mindful option to single-use packaging and to take action. At Inwit we are working to make sustainability more understandable and exciting.
MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET
I was born in Mexico City, a regular person living in an ideology of money linked with happiness and success. I was looking to spend my weekends inside shopping malls with limited contact with nature.
Lead by a curiosity for other cultures, six years ago, I decided to go to India. On that travel, impacted by the Himalayas' beauty, I discovered how much I love nature and the mountains, and later in my trip, a bird showed me my life cause.
We are more connected with nature than we believe, and I want to protect it and protect us.
