Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Company Creates Inexpensive Greener Men's Grooming Products

6/23 UPDATE: Click the Image Below to See our Interview with the founder Every Man Jack

Original story:

San Francisco start up company Every Man Jack has developed a full line of men's grooming products that are cheap, not tested on animals, have no parabens and have interesting graphic & industrial design.

Every Man Jack products recently launched at Target stores and are available nationwide.  The launch further signifies Target's continued efforts to offer innovative trendy products at affordable prices. 

All of the Every Man Jack products sell for $4.99 or less.  Compared to other competing products in this price class they are far superior in terms of ingredients and lack of preservatives.

Products like Every Man Jack interest me because they not only focus on providing a better product in terms of ingredients but they also place a premium on their industrial & graphic design.  Making appealing minimal packaging with an original design and coming in at a comparable price point to other mainstream products is fascinating to me.  This company clearly gets it.

The products do not come in any unnecessary packaging like many personal care products these days that are sold in boxes or wrapped in plastic etc. 

The line offers consumers a choice of scented and fragrance-free products.   They make shave cream and gel, body wash, body bars, face lotion & wash, shampoo & conditioner and styling products.

Following sales trends on this new line will be quite interesting.  Having tested the shave gel & cream myself I'm impressed.

Growing Number of Restaurants Offering Tap Water Only

Forget imported water from Fiji or Norway, more and more restaurants across the country are offering only tap water to customers.  The move comes as consumers and restaurateurs alike are realizing the tremendously negative effects of shipping bottled water to the US.

The growing shift in the restaurant community isn't just happening at traditionally green establishments.  Joseph Bastianich, who co-owns a number of high end New York restaurants along with Mario Batali is soon offering only filtered still and carbonated tap water at the elegant Del Posto restaurant.  According to today's NY Times the tap water will be served in containers with an explanation of why bottled water is no longer available.

''Filling cargo ships with water and sending it hundreds and thousands of miles to get it around the world seems ridiculous,'' Mr. Bastianich said. ''With all the other things we do for sustainability, it makes sense.''

For many dining establishments the decision to offer bottled or imported water is driven by profits more than anything else.  Many restaurants are hesitant to make a change to tap water because there are large profits in offering bottled/imported waters.  Restaurants buy it for $1 or $2 and sell it for as much as $8, or even more, giving it the highest markup of any item on the menu.

Increasing Numbers of Americans Buying Manual Reel Lawn Mowers

American Lawn Mower Co. is noticing increasing sales of its manual reel lawn mowers.  The Indiana-based company is the only US manufacturer of the manual lawn mowers (they produce mowers for several other brands and their own label).

According the the AP roughly 350,000 manual reel mowers are sold annually in the US, compared to 6 million gas powered.

Buyers and sellers alike say the resurgence of these mowers is due most notably to growing environmental concerns and an increasing number of women who do the mowing.

"We noticed very quickly that two out of three people buying manual mowers were female," said Terry Jarvis, president of Sunlawn Inc., a Fort Collins, Colo.-based company that's been selling the mowers for 10 years and making its own for two.

Another interesting sales trend related to manual lawn mowers is many consumers are buying them online because they aren't often easy to find.  Retailers are catching on to this growing trend as  the mowers are now starting to appear again in hardware stores across the country. 

Buying a manual lawn mower online is easy.  A quick search on Amazon.com yields a number of models available for around $100 including several American Lawn Mower company products like the American Lawn Mower Company 18-Inch Reel Mower. Several customers mentioned Amazon has the best selection.  "You can't buy directly from Great States/American Lawn Mower and Amazon has the best selection," said J.M. Cranford.

One Red Tail Chick Safe Two Killed at Rhode Island Country Club

LONE SURVIVING RED TAIL CHICK DOING WELL AT REHAB FACILITY.  SEE THE PIECE NBC 10 RAN ON THE STORY.

Update on the story we reported on Wednesday regarding the cutting down of a dying pine tree near the 15th tee at the Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, RI - that had a Red Tail Hawk nest in it with three chicks.

As a result of the club cutting down the tree two of the three chicks were killed.  One was rescued and is doing well at a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Westerly, RI.  The chick somehow survived the fall of the tree and was left under a nearby cedar tree for nearly a day before it was rescued.  The rescue was facilitated by a local birder and not the golf club.

Today in a statement to Providence NBC affiliate WJAR, Rhode Island Country Club president Gary McClane called the incident a "tragic accident."  He told NBC 10 that the club was taking down some dying trees. He said the groundskeeper knew that there was a nest there but did not think it was active and that he hadn't seen any hawks in a while.

McLane said it was unintentional and that, "a terrible mistake was made…the last thing we would do is callously take down a nest like that."

The rescued bird is doing well at a RI rehab facility.  "It’s not an injury, it's just that he's too young to be on his own," said Vivian Maxon, of the Born to Be Wild Nature Center. "So, I don't know how he ended up with no injuries.

"Our goal, as far as wildlife rehabilitation, is to just raise him to an age where he can fly and get back up into the tree, and then the parents will take over the feedings and will raise them."

Maxon said they plan on releasing the hawk in about three weeks.

The Rhode Island Country Club is the host of the upcoming CVS Caremark Charity Classic golf tournament.  I attempted to contact tournament director Greg Costello for comment and have not heard back from him.

Immediately upon learning about the incident Tuesday evening and seeing the down tree firsthand, I contacted the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. 

Red Tail Hawks are protected by the Migratory Bird Act .

Target Focuses on Organics in Weekly Ad; Shareholders Urge Eco Progress

Target Stores has devoted an entire page in their current national print ad campaign to "natural home choices," featuring organic home textiles and recycled and/or natural home products.  This national print ad comes the same week as shareholders gathered at Target's annual shareholder meeting held yesterday in Cleveland, Ohio.

Eco issues were a focal point at this years meeting.  HTT reported five shareholders each representing larger groups of shareholders raised concerns over the use of PVC in products and packaging.

Target executives reiterated their intention to assess and pursue alternatives to the pollutant. 

The company offered examples of progress by saying they were looking into offering shower curtains made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as well as cloth curtains.  They also said they were looking at moving from plastic to corrugated packaging for some of their Target brand dinner ware products.

Target said they have requested vendors reduce the amount of packaging and use materials that are easily recyclable.

The focus on eco progress at the shareholders meeting is interesting especially in light of the increased presence of more eco-friendly products on store shelves.  This fact appears not to have been a focal point of the meeting.

Target has increased its eco-friendly home textiles carrying full lines of organic kitchen and bath towels, two different eco bedding lines one fully organic cotton and one a 60/40 cotton/bamboo split.  The company also has a highly successful relationship with household cleaning company Method and has introduced a new line of men's personal care products that are eco-friendly called Every Man Jack.  In addition Target has established relationships with other well-known brands such as Burt's Bees.

Wal-Mart to Push Sustainable Shrimp

Wal-Mart sells more than 50 million pounds of shrimp a year most of it from Thailand.  The company announced last week at the Monterey Aquarium's Cooking for Solutions confab that they plan on making major changes in terms of their seafood.

The SF Chronicle reports, Wal-Mart is now requiring shrimp farms it does business with to change their aquaculture practices or lose the retailer's business.  Under new Wal-Mart rules, shrimp farms must be certified by Global Aquaculture Alliance or Aquaculture Certification Council as being farmed in environmentally sounds ways.   

Peter Redmond, Wal-Mart's vice president in charge of seafood also announced the company is shifting towards buying more wild, domestic shrimp despite the fact it is more expensive.

The 50 million pounds of shrimp Wal-Mart sells account for 40 percent of their total seafood sales. The other 10 percent comes from other species which Wal-Mart says they are addressing as well.

Redmond said Wal-Mart has stopped selling some overfished species entirely and has reintroduced Chilean sea bass bought from a certified sustainable fishery just like Whole Foods does.   

Exclusive Rhode Island Golf Club Cuts Down Tree with Red Tail Hawk Nest Clearly Visible in it

Hawk nest housing two adult Red Tails and three young chicks was in a tree cut down yesterday on the grounds of the Rhode Island Country Club.  Two chicks were killed - one is alive and being tended to by the female adult under a nearby cedar tree.

RED TAIL HAWK NEST CLEARLY VISIBLE IN TREE ON GROUNDS OF
RHODE ISLAND COUNTRY CLUB.  PHOTO: MAY 15TH 2007

A White Pine tree home to a nest of five Red Tail hawks on the grounds of the Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, RI host of the upcoming CVS Caremark Charity Classic golf tournament was cut down yesterday, May 22 killing two of the chicks. 

I don't often cover news in my local community but there was a troubling event at a local golf club.  The Rhode Island Country Club is situated on Narragansett Bay and I pass it nearly every day.  Over the past several months myself and other bird-watchers enjoyed a rare close look at a Red Tail Hawk nest in a tree about 100 feet from a nearby road.   

PHOTO MAY 22, 2007 OF TREE THAT HOUSED NEST TAKEN @ 5:30PM

Being an avid bird-watcher, I stopped yesterday morning as I often do around 7 a.m. and observed the nest from the road with my binoculars.  I was quite surprised to find the tree housing the nest had been cut down when I drove by later that evening.

The nest was home to three Red Tail chicks and two adults.  It was near the top of an ailing White Pine tree adjacent to the 15th tee.  The nest was clearly visible from the road not 100 feet away and was alive with activity yesterday morning. 

THE MATURE HAWKS COULD BE SEEN OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS ON NEARBY TELEPHONE POLES WITH FOOD FOR THE CHICKS.  THIS PHOTO TAKEN LAST WEEK SHOWS ONE WITH A SQUIRREL.

The tree the nest was in did appear to be struggling after the winter.  The needles on the tree were brown instead of green.  Growing in between two other White Pines it was now an eyesore on the otherwise immaculate grounds of the Rhode Island Country Club. 

Obviously a decision was made to cut the tree down, however the chicks in the nest were not mature enough to fly.  See photo below taken yesterday morning May 22.

PHOTO OF ONE OF THE RED TAIL CHICKS TAKEN 7AM MONDAY THE DAY BEFORE THE TREE WAS CUT DOWN.  THE CHICK IS CLEARLY NOT OLD ENOUGH TO FLY.

The golf course superintendent said he was unaware the nest was in the tree.  He said two of the Red Tail chicks were killed when the tree was cut down and the third survived and was being tended to by its mother underneath a nearby cedar tree. 

Personally, I find it hard to believe golf course staff were unaware of the nest being in the tree.  The nest was in a dying pine tree and there was constant hawk activity in and out of the tree over the past two months.  In addition the nest was in a tree right next to the 15th tee and clearly visible from Nayatt Road as evidenced by the photos taken.  Furthermore the adult hawks were commonly seen in other trees and telephone poles etc right in the area.

I understand the White Pine tree the nest was in had become an eyesore.  I question why it was necessary to cut it down yesterday - with an active nest of hawks in it?  If the tree needed to be cut down wouldn't it make sense to wait until the hawks were mature enough and left the nest? 

Or is there pressure to make the course and grounds look flawless for the upcoming CVS Charity Golf Classic and in light of the club's recent multi-million dollar renovation project?  The answers to these questions are unknown at this point. 

Focusing on PR and marketing issues as I do on the blog, I am amazed at how even today companies and organizations have so little regard for these essential skills.

This is just another example of a poor decision and of an outcome that didn't need to occur.  At what expense, if any, these actions taken yesterday by the golf club have remains to be seen.

(ed.) 5/30

See updates on the story from the Providence Journal from 5/30 - reporting the surviving chick was returned to a platform made by the golf club in a nearby tree in hope the mother would find it again.  Golf course superintendent Peter Lund placed the hawk on the platform with rescuers and DEM on hand as well as WJAR NBC 10 and the Providence Journal.

5/25

I reported on a story WJAR NBC 10 in Providence ran on the hawks.  NBC 10 got the first comment from the golf club and showed pictures of the surviving hawk at a rehab facility in Westerly, RI

Japanese Company Produces Wide Range of Recycled High Performance Fabrics

Teijin Fibers Limited of Japan has developed a new polyester fabric called Eco Storm that is waterproof and moisture permeable.  The fabric is made from recycled fibers and is part of Tejin's innovative Eco Circle closed-loop recycling process.

Made entirely from polyester, it can be recycled into new fibers with the Eco Circle recycling system after used products are collected. Eco Storm is a revolutionary material featuring a sophisticated combination of unprecedented comfort and environmental friendliness.

The company expects Eco Storm to find growing demand, chiefly from eco-conscious sporting apparel manufacturers based in Japan and abroad, government offices that are required to make green purchases and other companies oriented to environmental considerations for uniform and rain gear applications.

A number of clothing companies participate in Tejin's Eco Circle including MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op), a Canadian company I am a big fan of.  MEC takes back used products from their customers through garment recycling bins in their stores.  Garments with that still show signs of life are donated.  The remaining products are sent to Teijin, where they are reprocessed into new fibers through Eco Circle™. In this process, garments are crushed, turned into granules, then run through a chemical reaction process that removes dyes and other chemicals before turning it back into raw polyester (polyester polymer), then new Eco Circle fibers like Eco Storm.

Several companies including MEC, Patagonia and NAU are using Eco Cicle fabrics in their current product lines.  Tejin is currently working with some 70 participating apparel manufacturers and sporting gear manufacturers as part of Eco Circle.

Recycled Soda Bottle Board Shorts from Patagonia

See our story on Billabong's ECO Supreme Boardshorts made from recycled bottles

As summer is quickly approaching here is an interesting green product from Patagonia.  Board shorts made out of 100% polyester fiber recycled from soda bottles.  Patagonia's Minimalist II board shorts are available in a variety of colors for both men and women. 

As far as green/sustainable goes we like like them, they are a neat way to make use of the endless supply of plastic bottles we have in this country.   The board shorts have a DWR finish which isn't the greenest  of things - honestly the thing we like least is the price @ $55 for mens and even more for the women's.  We are getting closer to the day where we can buy products made from recycled fibers at affordable prices but we aren't there yet.

All in all a cool green product from Patagonia.

Toronto Working to Expand Green Bin Recycling Program to Apartments and Condos

The City of Toronto continues to innovate in terms of recycling and waste reduction by developing plans to expand its successful "green bin" system to apartment and condo dwellers.  The green bin proposal is part of a larger plan to help Toronto divert 70 percent of garbage from landfills by 2010.

"It's the environmentalist's holy grail," works committee chair Glenn De Baeremaeker said yesterday of the report, to be presented to council's executive committee May 28 and to city council June 20 for final approval.

"How do you actually get apartments to use the green bin? How to you get them to divert more than 13 per cent of their waste? It's all in that document: costs, numbers, programs, everything ... it's complete," he added.

De Baeremaeker said the plan, a major policy document by city staff in the solid-waste management and finance sections, will put Toronto on the map as "the North American leader in terms of waste diversion. And we'll have nothing left to burn."

Last year, 42 per cent of garbage from single-family homes and multi-unit buildings was diverted from landfill.

Read more about Tornoto's waste reduction/recycling plan here