Archive for October, 2009
In honor of Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, I wanted to post some really scary and alarming facts that you probably aren’t aware of. I know I wasn’t! And hopefully, these spooky tidbits of information will get you thinking…about using reusable grocery bags, about recycling cans, bottles and all papers, about using reusable water bottles, about turning off those lights when you leave the room!
Scary Fact #1
Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times a yearScary Fact #2Every year enough paper is thrown away to make a 12′ wall from New York to CaliforniaScary Fact #3Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the world, even plastic.Scary Fact #4The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources and creates 30% of the world’s waste.Scary Fact #5Glass takes more than one million years to decompose in our landfills.Scary Fact #6About 1% of U.S. landfill space is full of disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose.Scary Fact #7Each American throws away an average of 100 polystyrene cups each year, which will take over 500 years to decompose.Scary Fact #8It takes about 4,776 gallons of water to raise a Christmas tree.Scary Fact #9Only about 12% of plastic water bottles are recycled, which equates to about 25 billion accumulating in landfills. The oil required to produce these bottles is enough oil to power 250,000 homes and fuel 100,000 cars. Research from Doug James, Cornell U professor.And Scary Fact #10Cairo may kill you. Breathing the daily air in Cairo, Egypt is like smoking 20 cigarettes a day.I just wanted to throw in that last point because it is fascinating…and begs the question, what’s it like if you live in Cairo AND smoke a pack a day? I guess that may explain their life expectancy of 60-65 years, compared to the rate in the U.S. that just recently reached 78 years.So, Happy Halloween. Don’t eat too much candy. And for goodness sakes, recycle all that wasteful plastic packaging!Thanks to the following sites for enlightening me.http://www.ecocycle.org/pdfs/Eco-facts_2004.pdfhttp://conserveplasticbags.blogspot.com/2007/03/some-interesting-and-alarming-facts.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/facts.htm
–Ken Kreafle, CEO Base Brands
October 29th, 2009
The one-of-a-kind Reduce Compactor Can is now available in Container Stores nationwide and online. This eco-friendly, stainless steel trash can has a built-in compactor within the lid, allowing you to compact your trash easily and safely, without any plugs or batteries! You no longer need to put your hand into the trash to get a little more space. Fit two times more trash into a bag, saving both time and money—and sending less trash to the landfills! Learn more…
October 23rd, 2009
BPA has reared its ugly head again with news that a popular water bottle company didn’t exactly “not” use it in its aluminum bottle liners. Oops. But why should you care?
BPA (bisphenol-a) is a mouthful for sure. And, it should stay away from your mouth too, because studies have shown it is linked to some pretty bad diseases and conditions. Although widely used for over 50 years until recently, BPA has been found to cause developmental problems, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption and carcinogenic effects, even at low doses, during laboratory tests on rats. There are even thoughts that BPA could be linked as a precursor to breast cancer and obesity.
So we don’t want our friends, family, loved ones or ourselves drinking from bottles or cups made with BPA. Period. All Base Brands products, including Reduce WaterWeek bottles, are BPA-free and they’ve never had it; never will.
Look for products that are BPA-free. It is a minimum standard you should expect from any product you spend your hard-earned money on.
–Ken Kreafle, CEO Base Brands
October 22nd, 2009
A recent article from the New York Times* about the cost of bottled water versus tap water really hit home for me. It is something we’ve been talking about for a while. The savings are dramatic, almost unbelievable! In NYC, the cost of drinking tap water for a whole year is only $.49. (No, that’s not a typo). The cost of buying bottled water for a year averaged out to $1400! A savings of $1351, which if invested wisely, could put your kids through college. This was based on 8 glasses a day. NYC, like most municipalities, has spent tons of money upgrading their water facilities. Their drinking water is top-notch and tasty.
Sometimes, we get used to doing things a certain way and forget about the waste (of money, to the environment). But it makes so much sense right now, during our economic downturn, to cut out simple waste, and not buying disposable water bottles is a real simple solution. And it makes economic sense not just for our pockets, but for our environment too. It takes oil (which costs money) to produce plastic, to ship, to refrigerate and to recycle… you get the picture. Did you know only about 20% of disposable water bottles end up recycled? Topic for another time…
If you are of a certain age, you remember life without bottled water. Somehow, we were able to get by. We weren’t dehydrated. We weren’t always thirsty. We grabbed a cup or water bottle, filled it up, and took a sip. Ahhhh, simple times. That’s the main reason we created the Reduce WaterWeek bottle system—always have a filled bottle of water ready to go which makes it easier to ditch the disposables. Think about those simpler times the next time you reach for that bulky, all-to-heavy 36-pack of bottled water.
–Ken Kreafle, CEO Base Brands
*http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/water/bottled_water/index.html?emc=eta2
October 14th, 2009
