The Pink Dot™ turns packaging and pink bags into a global carbon removal channel.
Instead of sending food scraps, paper, and wood to landfill or low-impact compost, the Pink Dot™ routes them into containers and retrofits that create verified, measurable carbon removal — with a mark consumers actually see.
Designed as part of a broader SmartSort™ + civic carbon removal architecture by Arns Innovations.
A simple mark that unlocks a new class of climate infrastructure.
The Pink Dot™ is a universal visual signal for “carbon removal-ready” organics and fibrous materials. Anywhere you see the mark — on packaging, menus, bin labels, or a campus app — it means that item belongs in Pink bags destined for verified carbon removal instead of landfill or low-value compost.
One dot. One bag color. A new waste stream.
Rather than asking consumers to learn complex recycling rules, the Pink Dot standardizes everything: a single color on packaging and a single bag for the matching stream. Downstream, Pink bags unlock premium routing to modular containers on-site or centralized retrofits that can turn waste into durable carbon.
From shelf to Pink bag to container to carbon removal.
Pink Dot is deliberately simple at the surface and sophisticated underneath. Consumers and staff only need to match the mark to the bag. Behind the scenes, SmartSort™ logic and infrastructure partners route Pink bags into carbon-removing systems instead of landfill trucks.
What’s wrong with “good enough” composting?
Composting has a role, but it was never designed as a carbon removal solution. The Pink Dot stream is explicitly built to minimize methane and maximize durable carbon storage, while also simplifying logistics and economics for operators.
- Confusing rules for consumers; contamination is common and costly.
- Material is often over-handled: collected, hauled, re-sorted, and sometimes landfilled anyway.
- Compost returns carbon to the atmosphere relatively quickly; it’s climate-beneficial but not durable CDR.
- Landfill leakage still drives methane — one of the most potent greenhouse gases.
- Economic value is limited to tipping fee avoidance and modest compost markets.
- Single, brandable mark and bag color for organics + paper + wood destined for CDR.
- Direct routing into modular containers or existing plants retrofitted for carbon removal.
- Pathways like AD + biochar, pyrolysis, and mineralization store carbon for decades to centuries.
- MRV-ready data stream for carbon credits, ESG reporting, and climate-aligned procurement.
- Reduced landfill tipping fees and potentially lower hauling frequency through optimized routing.
One Pink Dot stream, one campus or city, compounding impact.
The numbers below are illustrative. Actual performance depends on local waste composition, technology mix, energy systems, and credit methodologies — but even simple routing changes can unlock meaningful climate and cost outcomes at scale.
Example: mid-size campus routing 2,500 tons/year via Pink Dot
Assume 2,500 tons of organic, paper, and wood waste currently heading to landfill or low-impact compost are moved into Pink Dot CDR pathways.
These ranges are meant to show the directional opportunity. The Arns Innovations stack is designed to model site-specific performance before pilots and to update MRV data continuously once live.
Quick Pink Dot impact sketch
Adjust the annual waste tonnage to see a rough estimate of climate and cost impact from routing that material into Pink Dot CDR pathways instead of landfill.
Assumptions (for directional illustration only): 1.6 tCO₂e impact per ton routed (avoided methane + additional removal), $70/ton average avoided tipping fees, and up to 25% of net tCO₂e qualifying for high-integrity crediting at $250/t. All figures must be refined per site.
Pink Dot is a bridge between consumer brands, infrastructure, and climate finance.
The system is intentionally brand-forward and infrastructure-agnostic. It helps each stakeholder do what they already do — manufacture, operate, haul, permit — but connected to a shared, visible carbon removal stream.
Adopt the Pink Dot mark on eligible products, co-brand on Pink bags, and include climate impact stories in marketing — backed by actual MRV data instead of vague offsets.
Universities, stadiums, airports, and corporate campuses can deploy Pink bags and containers to turn everyday food and paper waste into a visible carbon removal asset class.
Municipalities and waste haulers gain a CDR-ready stream that can generate new revenue, reduce landfill burden, and align with climate plans — without confusing residents.
Operators of AD plants, pyrolysis units, HTCs, and mineralization systems gain a branded, measured feedstock stream that plugs directly into Frontier-style buyers and protocols.
How to join the Pink Dot™ ecosystem.
Pink Dot is part of a broader Arns Innovations architecture for SmartSort™, civic carbon utilities, and university- and city-based carbon removal coalitions. We’re looking for aligned partners who want to help define and deploy the standard.
For brands, campuses, cities, and operators
- Brands & packaging teams: Identify products and formats suitable for Pink Dot (food, paper, wood-based) and explore co-branded packaging and Pink bag programs.
- Campuses & venues: Start with a pilot zone (dining hall, stadium section, office tower) and integrate Pink Dot bins, bags, and routing with existing haulers.
- Cities & haulers: Map current organics and paper flows and evaluate which routes can be converted to Pink Dot streams feeding modular containers or central retrofits.
- Infrastructure partners: Work with Arns Innovations to connect your AD, pyrolysis, or mineralization capacity into the Pink Dot MRV and crediting layer.
Connect with Arns Innovations
If you want your brand, campus, or city to be visibly associated with real, measurable carbon removal — not just offsets — we’d love to design a Pink Dot pilot with you.
Email: brandon@grasshopperventures.org
Subject line suggestion: “Pink Dot pilot — [Brand/Campus/City Name]”
In your first note, it helps to share:
- What type of site(s) you’re thinking about (campus, city, chain, facility).
- Rough annual tonnage of food, paper, and wood you control or influence.
- Existing composting, AD, or waste contracts we should respect and enhance.
- Any climate, ESG, or community goals you care about hitting over the next 3–5 years.
From there, we can generate a site-specific Pink Dot blueprint, partner stack, and projected climate + economic outcomes — ready to share with internal stakeholders, funders, and buyers.