Millennials often are a target of ire from the generation of business entrepreneurs who began companies in the 1970s and 1980s. It is misplaced, as far as I'm concerned. Just because the next generation consumes news in a different way or listens to music that's not to your taste or "spends too much time on their phones" (even as bosses demand they be available for emergencies), it's not a bad thing.
But millennials are also looking at the tasks ahead of them as they take on more and more responsibilities in business and the world. One of those big issues? Sustainability.
For her new blog Fake Plastic Trees (yes, the name was inspired by the band Radiohead), Plastics News reporter Sarah Kominek is looking at a generational attitude and approach to big issues in sustainability. She kicks things off this week by interviewing Patricia Miller, owner and CEO of Woodstock, Ill.-based injection molder M4 Factory, and Tim Ponrathnam, sustainability director at Evansville, Ind.-based Berry Global Group Inc.
"There's a generation wanting to create business in a different way," Miller said.
And yes, millennials know that there are costs to making the industry more sustainable. But there are also costs to ignoring sustainability. This generation is just looking for the opportunities to help make those decisions impacting their future.