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.
–Ken Kreafle, CEO of Base Brands
November 30th, 2009
Check out the following blog for a recent review on WaterWeek.
http://www.greenmamaspad.com/2009/11/reduce-waterweek-review-giveaway.html
November 20th, 2009
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 Fly Bottle Top Creature Soda Can Wreath w/Golf Balls
Rani Quirk, Marketing Manager
November 17th, 2009
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.
Rani Quirk, Marketing Manager
November 9th, 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
Base Brands is excited to announce its selection to the Top 20 of FORBES.com “Boost Your Business” $100,000 Entrepreneurial Contest. Vote Base Brands into the Top 5! Online voting begins August 17, 2009 and ends September 30th. Click here to visit and vote! More News…
August 1st, 2009
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