When Creativity Meets Sustainability: Lessons from a Fairlife Immersion

Innovation often happens when teams step out of their usual routines and try something different—especially when that something involves hands-on creativity. Recently, we had the opportunity to bring Fairlife's R&D and Technical Sustainability teams together for an Insight Immersion in Chicago designed to do just that.

This wasn’t your typical off-site meeting. Instead, the team dove into creative workshops like LEGO Serious Play and Collaborative Improv, pushing their thinking in unexpected directions. One standout moment was a pottery session where they literally crafted their own milk jugs, turning an everyday product into a hands-on challenge that sparked new perspectives on sustainability.

But the immersion went far beyond workshops. Visits to innovative spaces like the Green Era Chicago Campus showcased cutting-edge waste-to-energy solutions, while The Hatchery Chicago revealed how food entrepreneurship is fueling industry-wide innovation. The Loyola Chicago School of Environmental Sustainability offered fresh academic insights, and a stop at Rebuilding Exchange demonstrated how upcycling transforms waste into valuable resources. Additional visits to Humanscale and The Unwaste Shop reinforced how design and mindful consumption can drive sustainability forward.

What stood out most was how these varied experiences helped the team break free from conventional thinking and find new angles to tackle environmental challenges. It was a vivid reminder that innovation isn’t just about ideas, it’s about transformation through experience.