New Bottles

New Environmental Impact Analysis for New Bottles

This section explains the thinking that answers some of the questions I have been getting since changing to the bottles. It should save us a lot of email time. It is part philosophy and part engineering. (Zen and the Art of Laundry Washer Mantenance ...)

Some of the original environmental impact assumptions of the first years turned out not to be valid.

The impossible to open bucket, was not really all that re-useable.
Due to popular demand it has been replaced with a Nalgene screw top jar w/scoop for easier dispensing

The original cardboard box was intended to be re-useable, but most of them arrived beat up and were not re-used.
The box has been replaced with a USPS envelope or box that can be recycled.

1lb, 2lb, and 5lb extremely re-useable, heavy duty Nalgene camping bottle sizes are now available.

The bottle cap of the 1 and 2 lb sizes will hold approximately 1 oz.so you don't absolutely need the scoop. Besides you end up using the correct amount for you no matter how you measure it out.

The heavy duty, wide mouth, Nalgene Easy Grip, HDPE bottles and jars are BPA free. Guaranteeing many years of continued re-use. And then, since they are made of easily melted HDPE, they will be recycled at their ultimate end of life.

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Comment: Yes, we know that the labels tend to pucker up and look bad when they get damp. This is mainly an issue for people that use small amounts of Nu Fresh and the container hangs around the laundry area for a year or more. We accept the blemishes (that you have to look at...) to allow us to use paper label stock (a renewable resource) -- not plastic. The glue could be stronger. But, that would make it very difficult to remove the labels. The intention is the long term continued re-use of the containers to reduce the pressure on landfills from disposable containers. For that reason we don't get the containers pre-printed. We want to use the funky labels. We are just kinda quirky like that. Besides, were are a small company serving a small community and can afford to be quirky. It turns out Nu Fresh works, so wrinkled labels don't seem important to most customers.
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Anyway, you end up with a blank, really good container at well below market price because of the quantity we buy. In addition, the bottle is sturdy and seals well for shipping. BTW we have found that Goo-Gone works extremely well removing the adhesive. It is a thick form of the orange peel solvent that has been around for a long time. Since it comes from orange peel squeezins' it is a renewable resource. Spray it on the entire label and let it sit overnight. The label will come off easily the next morning. Rinse with soap and water to remove the remaining Goo-Gone on the bottle.(Nerds: Google: L-Limonene)

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Personal Comment: As an industrial water specialist and cleaning engineer, I have worked at a lot of companies. At all of them, the driving force was always short term profits. So, we were compelled to do things cheaply that did not always comply with long term sustainability concepts. (Seven Generations and all that...)

Now that I have my own company I can put my ideas into action. Like the extremely re-useable bottles. I believe that if the item is of high enough quality, the appropriate sustainable actions are driven from inherent self interest of the customer.

Well, that was the basis of an economics paper I wrote while pursuing a master of environmental management degree a long time ago. Specifically: The marginal increase in cost is more than offset by the increase in marginal utility.

Yeah...right...hmmm....OK..... So, the bottle costs a little more -- but they are worth a lot more than the alternatives because of the multiplier effect of re-using it. For those of you with an economics background, we are pulling the external environmental costs of using the container up to the beginning of the sales process. The customer pays a little more now instead of society paying larger disposal costs (taxes) in the future (somebody's gotta pay the garbage man...) The small increase in upfront cost that is paid by the person benefiting from the item is part of the philosophy of Sustainable Green Business in the modern world.

It looked good on paper back then, so I am trying it in real life now.

This is fun.

BTW sending the bottles back for refill does not work for a number of different reasons:

The actual cost to use USPS or UPS is much more than the bottle cost in the first place...no savings in money.

'Nuff said right there...

So, piling on...

Every bottle that comes back to Nu Fresh for refill would have a certain carbon footprint from all the trains, planes and, automobiles used to get it back to us. Mulitply that by all the bottles coming back one at a time and we get a really big carbon footprint that is not needed. Net negative impact to the environment.

Every time a bottle is re-used for a new purpose it has offset the need to purchase some other container. OK not every time, but it would happen quite a bit over time reducing net need for bottles. Net positive benefit to the environment.

Now that you have purchased Nu Fresh a number of times you are accumulating really good plastic bottles. Give some to your friends. Once again, the marginal increase in benefit is much greater than the marginal increase in cost. Errr....your friends will be really happy to get really good "expensive" bottles for which you paid around half price. These will then proceed to eliminate the need for your friends to purchase other containers in the future. ...and so on..... and so on...

a little here .... a little there, that's what it's all about

...unless it really is the Hokey-Pokey...

OK, enough enviro-rant...

Buy my product...