Hey Guess what? We accomplished something really cool!
In 2013 Eco Nuts products replaced over 250,000 plastic detergent bottles. Our company was founded with the idea that we could offer eco-friendly cleaning products packaged with little to no plastic. We knew it would not be easy, but this year we proved our concept. 250,000 plastic bottles is enough to completely cover 2 1/2 footballs fields and has the combined weight of 6 1/4 school buses (or about 1 large male sperm whale). That’s over 50 tons of plastic NOT going to landfills.
If you think all plastic gets recycled, think again! Just because a plastic product has a recycling symbol on the bottom, DOES NOT mean the container is recyclable. And just because you put the plastic into the recycling bin does not mean it gets recycled. According to the EPA, only 8 percent of the total plastic waste generated in 2011 was recovered for recycling.
It really stunned us that most eco-friendly cleaners – while great for the planet – are packaged in a plastic that usually winds up in a landfill or the ocean. That’s not great for the planet in the long term.
When Eco Nuts President Scott Shields was filming Pirates of the Caribbean, he recalls how the crew had to move further and further out into the ocean for filming because of all kinds of plastic bottles floating in the ocean. Seeing a plastic bottle belonging to an eco-friendly cleaning company struck a chord with him because of the irony, and it was that image that served as inspiration with Eco Nuts.
Enough energy was saved by not using plastic to package our products to power 88.65 homes for an entire year. We are so excited to be making a difference and very thrilled that we have so many customers who have embraced plastic-free cleaning to make such a big difference with us.
EPA website for more plastic recycling info: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm