14th May, 2007: Environmentally Responsible Choices
What do these have in common?
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
- Drive smarter, drive less; plan car trips or car pool, walk, ride a bike, use public transportation
- Plant 1 tree; trees absorb CO2, create oxygen, provide shade and muffle sound
- Tighten up household energy leaks; caulk windows, wrap up hot water heater, turn down heat in winter, AC in summer
- Shop “green” in the grocery store; bring re-useable bags
- Recycle more; recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, paper, cardboard and newspapers
- Invest less in a grassy lawn’ plant low maintenance ground covers and reduce garden chemicals
- Cut back on unnecessary use of electricity
- Take 1-minute shorter shower
They are all things people are doing to make environmentally-responsible choices to help preserve, protect and promote a sustainable future. We are doing many things at Bigelow that are environmentally friendly and will be talking about them in the future. If you have ideas please share them on the blog site.
Dean
Posted by Dean at 6:00 am |
7 Comments »
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I don’t know if you know this but I learn lesson during in my state has those power blackouts back in da day around 2002
Do your laundry in early morning hours during heat wave or after 7pm it reduce I think your energy bill
Also keep AC maybe at 72 degree during the summer month if you have fans used them
Comment by Kelly — May 14, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
BTW I am California resident let me think of more stuff to be enviromentally conscious
Comment by Kelly — May 14, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
This is what I learn from my SO CAL electric company Southern California edison take luke warm shower or bath during summer months that reduce your energy cost
Comment by Kelly — May 14, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
In light of your post, I hope you will consider repackaging your boxed teas. I purchased a box of pomegranate pizzazz (I’m sure this is going to make a great sun tea, which I love!) only to find that you have three types of packing for this small product:
Outer cellophane wrap (I suppose this is to make it tamper proof and can’t be avoided)
Cardboard box
Foil sealed pack for each bag.
(Not sure this is really necessary…pretty, fancy but necessary?)
I will continue to purchase your tea if you can assure me that you will eliminate one layer of the packaging…
I realize you need something to keep the product fresh amd tamper proof. However, I”ve been purchasing other competitive brands for years and only have the outer wrap and box to feel bad about.
Hope you can consider this…you can spin this in to a positive ad!
Comment by Paula J. Gross — May 26, 2007 @ 3:44 pm
Paula,
Thanks for your comment. The foil sealed pack for each tea bag is a signature item for Bigelow and it is what keeps the tea fresh, but we are always looking into new ways to maintain our quality while keeping a green priority.
Thanks again for your comment.
Valorie for Bigelow Tea
Comment by Valorie — May 31, 2007 @ 8:58 am
I thoroughly enjoy your organic green tea which comes boxed in plasticized packets of four bags each. My difficulty is with recycling the packaging. The apparently placticized packets have no recycling number on them, and Chicago recycling centers will accept no plastic without a plastic recycling number (within the triangular recycling symbol) stamped on it.
I understand the value of packaging in protecting the delicate flavor and shelf life of your quality product. But I also place a very high value on sustainability in my consumer choices.
If your pouches are recyclable, would you add recycling number marking to the packaging specifications as soon as possible? If they are NOT recyclable, would you investigate another material (a different recyclable plastic or simple metal foil) that will do the job of protecting the lovely flavor and antioxidants of your tea and be 100% recyclable?
Like many folks interested in organic products, I have both personal and planetary health in mind in my purchasing decisions, and I will spend more for a healthy and sustainably packaged product. I am advocating for packaging change in products I like very much, but I will sadly forego future purchases from unresponsive companies. Please show me that Bigelow values sustainability!
-Curt Hicks
Comment by Curt Hicks — December 26, 2007 @ 9:56 am
Curt,
Thank you for sharing your concern about Bigelow’s packaging and your interest in protecting the environment and our planet.
To answer your specific question, the current flow pack is not biodegradable. However, at this time, over 76% of our entire packaging and raw materials are recyclable and biodegradable including our outer box, tea bag and tea string tag.
Please know that we share your concern and we’d like to assure you that we are constantly searching for materials that will have less impact on the environment yet still provide the protection that makes our product the finest quality and freshest available on the market today. We are pro-actively working very closely with our suppliers to reach the goal of 100% biodegradable as quickly as possible.
Sustainability is a major focus of purchasing, manufacturing and the entire company; an example of our efforts include the installation of a $1.5 million solar array on the roof top of our corporate headquarters.
Please also refer to our “SustainabiliTea” Statement on our website, bigelowtea.com.
Cindi Bigelow, President
Comment by Cindi — December 29, 2007 @ 11:38 am