We want to show you the big picture and tell you how we plan to change it. The EPA is great at collecting tons of data on materials generation and waste tracking. We digest all of this data when determining which materials to use and which products to produce.
First, let's look at a timeline of the types of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation being produced within the United States.
We design our products to have a positive effect on this chart in a few different ways.
Utilizing organics rather than processed materials. Materials like plastic and metal use up a lot of energy to create. They also end up polluting our planet since they don't break down very easily. We will always choose organic sustainable materials wherever possible in our products. Sustainable organics don't require nearly as much energy to create compared to these other materials. Our target is to lower our countries' production of these materials by organic materials replacement of plastic and metal parts.
Another way we can lower the creation of these materials is to simply use what's already been made. Every year tons of materials are land filled rather than recycled and reused. Not only does reusing these materials lower our landfill numbers, it lowers our toxic materials generated.
When designing green products it's important to keep the whole product life cycle in mind, and that includes disposal. Let's look at waste treatment by category in the United States.
Here's how the EPA defines the waste in this chart.
"Municipal solid waste (MSW) (also called trash) consists of everyday items such as product packaging, yard trimmings, furniture, clothing, bottles and cans, food, newspapers, appliances, electronics and batteries. Sources of MSW include residential waste (including waste from multi-family housing) and waste from commercial and institutional locations, such as businesses, schools and hospitals." -EPA.govThe good news, we're getting better. Our goal on this chart is to help grow the green categories while shrinking the others. We can achieve this a few different ways.
We identify products that are made using materials that get land filled, then produce alternatives made with sustainable organics that are 100% compostable. Every time we replace one of these products in the marketplace we instantly shrink landfill numbers while increasing composting. In addition, as these toxic products lose market share, they will generate less toxic materials linking in the materials generation chart from above.
We also identify materials entering waste treatment that could instead be recycled and reused. With your help we hope to have a positive impact on these charts for years to come.
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