Intro to Environmentally Friendly Practices: Sustainability, Education, and Reducing Plastic Waste.
With so many changes going around the world we decided to partake in these adjustments but in a positive manner that not only would benefit our company but the environment. We’re a family owned company that has been making sustainable products for 85 plus years without emphasizing the importance it does to the earth. Our mission moving forward is to move away from harmful materials and eliminate plastic from our whole product line, educate our consumers on the sustainability of our products and finally the importance of recycling materials.
In 2018 the amount of plastic generated was 35.7 million tons in the United States in which only 11.5% of it was recycled according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Four years later you can only imagine the amount of plastic waste being produced not only in America but in the world. We will be committing significant resources to be part of the solution and not the problem by eliminating plastic in our packaging in our first phase of changes. In 2021, we used 644,300 pieces of plastic in our packaging and to eliminate all that plastic waste we are redesigning our packaging to a recyclable paper material.
With the redesign in our packaging the results would be doubling our product per box and per container meaning we can fit double the amount in the same box thus increasing quantity minimizing our carbon footprint. Surprisingly or not, most of our products are sustainable and eco-friendly without customers realizing the benefits it provides to the environment. For example, our window cleaning tools help wash glass by using a small amount of soap that is biodegradable into a bucket of water, then scrub with a window washer which helps remove dirt, lastly clean with a couple of swipes with a squeegee. Now, compare our tools with paper towels, for example seeing someone clean a window with harmful liquids and a large amount of disposable paper towels. Which way to clean is more sustainable?
Some of the materials we use in our products are Aluminum, Brass, and Stainless Steel, and a variety of plastics like ABS, Nylon, Polypropylene (PP), and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) all which are recyclable. At the moment we do not use recyclable materials due to the fact our mods have to be strong for the products to have support for our customer’s needs. However, one of the many changes moving forward is the switch from PVC bottle to PET bottle on our Squeegee-Off soap. Our soap is already ammonia free and biodegradable. According to Printex Transparent Packaging, PET is 100% recyclable and one of the most recycled plastics globally. This makes PET environmentally friendly and a sustainable product for packaging.
As a window cleaning company our motto has been “Enjoy the View” as it portrays our tools helping scrub and clean the windows both interior and exterior to look out at the scenery. With the goals mentioned above we hope to generate change among the industry and the only way to do it is by leading by example.
