With all the awards shows on TV this time of year, I thought it would be interesting to post the top green corporate “winners” according to Newsweek Magazine. They call this their “exclusive environmental ranking of America’s 500 largest corporations”. I’ve listed the top 10 (500 is overkill) but you can see the rest at http://greenrankings.newsweek.com/top500.
What makes a company green? It might seem difficult to determine, depending on the industry, such as paper making vs. banking, but Newsweek takes that into consideration when they calculate the greenest of the green. Each company gets a Green Score, based on their environmental impact, their green policies and reputation. For instance, H-P is number one because it has strong programs in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dell uses all renewable energy at its headquarters. And #10 Starbucks encourages suppliers to protect water supplies, and it uses recycled paper products and organic and shade-grown coffee.
At ReduceTM, we develop products that help you become more environmentally friendly in your own home. And we also create products, like our MelabooTM and Wild BambooTM, made of extremely sustainable materials; that go easy on the environment. We are trying to do our small part to help us all live a little more “green”.
What’s great about this list is that it covers so many different industries and does the homework for you. If you’re like me, you might find this list very helpful-especially if you need to replace a laptop, buy a running shoe or choose a morning latte´.
Check out HGTV.com today (quickly) to see the nice write-up on our eco-friendly WaterWeek bottles. You get a chance to win the aluminum water week set! It’s posted under a fun section called Freebie Fridays and each Friday they feature a cool product with a chance to win! But hurry, you have to enter by THIS MONDAY, 2/8, at noon ET, so visit http://blog.hgtv.com/design/category/freebies/ as soon as you’re done reading this post!
Here’s what they have to say: “This week we’re bringing a little green to your weekend with some help from our friends at REDUCE. Their WaterWeek system brings an end to the wasteful and expensive habit of purchasing bottled water.” And we all know that not only does this save our landfills from unnecessary waste, but saves your pocketbook a lot too, about $500 a year! Not bad. Being green really can save you green!
HGTV.com also wants to know what other ways you are going green this year. So let them know (before Monday as well). Some of the things I’m doing are: buying energy efficient light bulbs instead of the cheaper ones, printing on the blank side of used paper (be careful, it can get confusing) and reusing foil (it washes up well!).
It’s a pretty fun blog. Check back each Friday to see what the next Freebie Friday will be. I know I will.
Bamboo is really amazing. It has been around forever, yet, we have just begun to tap into its amazing abilities. Companies are incorporating bamboo into housewares, flooring, furniture and even clothing! Our Reduce™ Melaboo™ line of kitchenware is a mixture of bamboo and melamine, making it highly biodegradable and eco-friendly. And we just launched another bamboo product called Wild Bamboo™, a natural crushed-bamboo line of plates, bowls and serving ware. This relatively new process gives the pieces a raw and natural look, with light and dark shades of bamboo—no two pieces are alike!
Wild Bamboo Melaboo
Bamboo is so much more than just Panda fare. It is a tree-like grass, actually a woody perennial evergreen plant. There are over 1000 species of bamboo, with many in the U.S. Because it is the fastest growing woody plant in the world, it is extremely renewable and when treated, it becomes a durable and lightweight wood.
Here is a lowdown on why we should support bamboo-based products:
Bamboo is VERY eco-friendly. It is highly sustainable, which means it grows quickly, takes less energy to grow than similar plants, and the grass can be harvested over and over from the same plant.
Bamboo is durable and lightweight, making it ideal for housewares, home furnishings and flooring.
Bamboo is versatile—some uses include clothing, building products, home furnishings, kitchenware, food, medicine, carpeting and the list goes on.
Bamboo is inexpensive to use because it regenerates so often. Unlike other types of wood, bamboo can even grow from cut stems.
Bamboo, because it is so fast growing, generates a lot of oxygen, which positively impacts other crops around it.
Bamboo is allergy-free, which is a great benefit when used in products that come in direct contact with people like clothing, building products, housewares and carpeting.
So it is easy to see that it makes sense to buy bamboo-based products. It’s good for our environment, our checkbook and our quality of life. Check out http://www.americanbamboo.org/ for more info on bamboo.
Have you heard of 1% for the Planet℠? It is a bit different from your typical charity. It is a not-for-profit organization whose members pledge to donate 1 percent of sales to environmental causes. As a member, you can choose some well-known causes, and/or smaller local ones that may often get ignored.
We became a member in 2010 and will donate a portion of all Reduce brand products to support green causes. Of all the many cool things we have planned for 2010 (new products, international trade shows, etc.), this is the coolest in my opinion.
We chose this organization after looking at a wide variety of options. And what convinced us was the opportunity to make a difference not just on a broader scale, but also at a very local level—to impact the community outside our back door, so-so-speak.
Begun in 2002 by the founder of Patagonia, 1% for the Planet (1% FTP) is made up of over 1,000 businesses that donate over $12 million annually to environmental groups worldwide. Since it began, the group has raised over $42 million–not shabby! As our sales grow, we’ll help that total grow as well. And another benefit or joining 1% FTP is the opportunity to get to know other like-minded companies and share information on how we can all be better environmental stewards.
We developed the Reduce line of products because we wanted to make it a little easier for people to reduce their carbon footprint and live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Take Reduce™ WaterWeek™—it is a very simple solution to a nasty problem. Keep the set of five water bottles chilling in your fridge ready to grab when you need it and you are no longer likely to buy the disposable water bottles (of which only about 25% end up recycled, the rest are washing up on shores across the world). It’s not rocket science, but it is a small step that if taken by many, results in significant change for the environment.
All of us here at Base Brands would like to wish you and yours a very happy holiday season. It is coming down to the final stretch, and by the looks of traffic around here, people are busy with last minute shopping. Hopefully, you’ve been able to use some of our previous green shopping tips as you head out to the mall!
So, in the spirit of the holidays, we’d like to share some simple ideas to be a bit greener this holiday season, and start the New Year off right.
Buy in bulk or large packages: ‘Tis the season to cook and bake. Try to plan out your recipes so you can buy bigger containers/boxes and make lots of batches of your favorite recipe. Buying lots of little containers of ingredients creates a ton of extra waste.
Be stingy with the gas logs: Running a gas fireplace really eats up gas and costs a small fortune! Try to run it just for special occasions, not all day long, like the kids want. This makes it more special anyway.
Time those lights: Plug in a light timer for your outside and tree lights. It’s silly to waste electricity when no one is around to enjoy the pretty tree.
Recycle paper and ribbons: It’s amazing how much you can save and reuse if you’re careful.Especially gift bags; they’re expensive and a huge shame to throw out. And don’t put labels on the outside of the bag! Then they’re ruined for sure.
Say no to paper plates: Invest in cheap but attractive buffet plates and cups and ditch the paper plates and cups at your next holiday open house.Plus it looks so much nicer anyway.
Here’s hoping your time with friends and family is joyous and safe this year. We’re going to spend some quality time with our loved ones so we’ll see you back in 2010!
The holiday shopping season is officially upon us and if you haven’t crossed everyone off your list yet, we thought it would be helpful to share some tips on how to be a bit more eco-friendly during this yearly ritual of mass purchasing and consumption. And the good part, not only will these tips help you be more green, they may just save you some green too.
Get organized: Write down all your gifts and consolidate your shopping trips. Don’t drive to far away stores to pick up one or two things. That’s a big waste of emissions. Plan to hit a few stores on one big trip.
Bring reusable shopping bags. These bags are not just for the grocery store; why not bring them to the mall as well? Makes good sense.
Shop online. This is a bit obvious, but it’s worth repeating. Because you are not driving anywhere, you’re saving on fossil fuels and emissions.
Buy locally. Look for vendors who are local—farmers, craftspeople, etc.—and support them. You know their products didn’t travel across an ocean to get to you. Energy is saved and pollution is reduced.
Green gift wrapping: Use recycled papers, newspapers or fabric to wrap and decorate packages. Make bows out of fabric ribbon instead of the plastic kind; these take a long time to decompose and can give off toxic fumes when burned.
Rechargeable batteries: Consider buying rechargeable batteries and include a charger as part of the gift. This will cut down dramatically on the amount of discarded batteries that end up polluting the earth.
Make it with love: Make homemade gifts, and if they’re edible, even better. This way, you are showing great affection (it takes thought and effort to cook/bake/assemble something) and when the gift is consumed, all that is left over is a handy jar or container.
Save the paper: This is tough with kids, since they have very little patience opening gifts, but a lot of wrapping paper can be saved with a little careful ripping. Especially on big toy packages. There is easily enough usable paper to be saved for small packages next year.
Give green gifts: Help spread the word about the importance of saving our earth. Look for gifts with eco-labels, made out of recycled products or that help people become more green. Reduce WaterWeek bottles are attractive and giving them will encourage the recipient to stop buying wasteful disposable water bottles.
Gift Cards: There’s the constant debate whether gift cards are the lazy man’s way out, with that aside, it is a great green solution. Your loved one gets to pick out what they really want, reducing the amount of unwanted items ending up in the Goodwill bin.
That’s it. No doubt, there are many more ways to be green this season. Hopefully, we can all keep some of these tips in mind as we hit the stores, whether brick and mortar or online. Keep thinking green and you may save some green.
I recently attended a very fun and creative school event that was filled with trash. Garbage everywhere: used cans, boxes, plastic bottles, egg cartons…you name it.The event: a Trashy Art show! In honor of America Recycles day (November 15th), my son’s elementary school decided to show their green spirit by hosting an art contest for the eco-friendly. It’s part of our school’s ongoing and growing environmental efforts to help us all be more green. Just a couple of years ago, they “politely” suggested that we not send in those nasty disposable plastic water bottles for snack and lunch. It’s worked….most kids bring in their reusable bottles and fill it up from the fountain. Pretty simple, huh?
Back to Trashy Art. The kids were very creative and used a lot of things I would have never have thought of. My son created a cute, but simple creation called “When Pigs Fly” using an Ovaltine can, a used sponge brush, egg carton, warped playing cards and left over Erector Set pieces. I thought it was extremely inventive…until I saw the rest of the entries! Kids made creations with engine pieces, soda cans and bottles, golf clubs, old windows, the list goes on. Really cool stuff.
But even though this was a fun time for the kids, they really did get the message about the importance of recycling. We (adults) can print flyers and talk about being good environmental stewards until we’re blue in the face. Sometimes, to break through the clutter, you have to kick it up a notch and our little Trashy Art show did just that.
Take a look at some of the entries. You may just get inspired to create something interesting with your trash…..
When Pigs FlyBottle Top CreatureSoda Can Wreath w/Golf Balls
Being green is certainly in vogue these days. Unlike some fashion trends, being green needs to become a way of life, and not go out of style. But like many things, becoming more environmentally friendly is overwhelming if taken to an extreme. So start out small. Take baby steps, just like we teach our children. Come up with small, simple goals, and try to reach them. Here are some ideas that are simple and easy to do:
Print on both sides of the paper: It takes a little patience, but just print page one, then put it back in right side up and print page 2. Simple. I’ve been doing this for awhile and it is now second nature. Theoretically, this will cut my paper use in half, but I’m not totally diligent yet.
Rip paper towels in half: I admit it, I love using paper towels instead of sponges because of the germ factor. So, I just fold them and rip them in half for simple jobs. My kids are trained this way too.
Collect leftover drinking water: My kitchen is littered with cups filled with 1-2 inches of water. I pour them in an attractive pitcher by the sink and water potted plants with it.
Buy reusable water bottles and keep them accessible: That way, you are less likely to buy wasteful plastic disposable water bottles for convenience sake only. Reduce WaterWeek was designed exactly for this purpose and they work great for us.
Buy large boxes and bags of food: Instead of buying small packets of crackers and snacks, buy bigger containers and put in little baggies.
These are just five simple tips, but there are so many more simple and easy ideas out there. Do you have any eco-friendly tips you’d like to share? We’d love to hear.
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
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.
