Kenton Athletics Mens Body Care Products

Kenton Athletics is a new brand of natural men’s body care products created from scratch by founder Kenton Shirk.  The company is based in Providence, RI and currently features one main product, their 2 in 1 Body & Hair Wash product available in three different formulations (Surf, Mountain & Trail blends).

The Body & Hair Wash is plant based, biodegradable and derives its fragrance from essential oils.    Each blend has a unique clean fresh scent that is not over powering and follows the theme of the blend i.e. Trail Blend is a woody scent, while the Surf and Mountain blends are clean and fresh.

“The target market is active and health-conscious individuals.  The product is particularly popular with men and teenagers because there is not a lot of natural body care options available for them,” said Shirk.   

The Surf blend is the most popular scent so far with consumers according to Shirk

The body wash/hair care product is a 2 in 1 so customers only need to carry one bottle with them to the gym or on the trail.  The concept also reduces the need for multiple products and in turn reduces packaging and consumption. 

The packaging is simple using a stock #2 HDPE bottle which is almost universally recyclable.  Graphic design was done by Shirk himself and features a masculine outdoors/natural theme.

Kenton’s products have only been in stores for 3 months now and, “so far so good,” reports Shirk. 

Kenton Athletics is currently carried by Whole Foods and is available in 65 stores including all Whole Foods stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine. 

Shirk said his products will be available in the Denver region in October through United Natural Foods – the country’s largest natural products distributor.  Consumers can also buy the products directly through Kenton Athletics web site. 

Kenton Athletics is based in Providence, RI and his products are all made in the U.S.

Poland Spring, Other Nestle Water Brands Phasing in New Eco-shape Bottle

Nestle Pure Life will use new bottle this year

Nestle Waters is beginning to phase in a new plastic bottle dubbed Eco-shape.  The bottle took two years to develop. 

The new bottle uses less plastic and is ergonomically designed to be more easy to carry.  Nestle debuted the bottle with its Ozarka and Arrowhead brands already and is working to transition its other brands to the bottle this year. 

The half liter Eco-shape uses 30% less plastic than bottles currently available on the market.  The new bottle weighs 12.5 grams which is 15% less than other similar bottles.  Nestle estimates it may save 65 million pounds of plastic resin each year by using Eco-shape.

The new bottle also uses less paper because the label size was reduced.  The company has removed color from the cap making it more recyclable as well.

The Portland Press Herald reported Nestle's Poland Spring brand will manufacture the new bottles at their Hollis, ME plant this fall.  Poland Spring has not yet announced the Eco-shape bottle and does not have an image or information on its web site regarding the new bottle.   

Due to the tremendous volume of bottles, most bottled water companies manufacture their bottles themselves on location.  It will be interesting to see when Poland Spring announces the new bottle in their lineup.

Cargo Lipstick Packaging Biodegradable; Turns into Wildflowers

Innovative packaging from Cargo Cosmetics for its PlantLove line of lipstick actually turns into wildflowers when water is applied to it.

The outer packaging for the lipstick is made of a seed infused recycled paper embedded with real flower seeds.  Customers simply moisten, plant and wait for a bouquet of wild flowers to grow.

The lipstick containers themselves are made from NatureWorks PLA a corn-based plastic.  NatureWorks is owned by agricultural giant Cargill.  Cargo is the first lipstick manufacturer to use PLA for its lipstick cases.

Cargo's president Hana Zalzal worked for several years on developing the product and its packaging.  The cases are injection molded NatureWorks PLA and according to Zalzal ended up costing the same as a traditional petroleum-based lipstick case. 

Snickers, Mars Bars Suitable for Vegetarians

Masterfoods a division of Mars Incorporated announced a change to its candy bar packaging.  The company will add a new labeling scheme for its UK products that will feature the wording "Suitable for Vegetarians" on the back of the packaging for brands including Mars, Snickers, Galaxy and Malteser candy bars.   

The company says it is using the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidelines on vegetarian labeling as a benchmark for the process according to Food & Drink Europe.

The Vegetarian Society, one of two that helped form the FSA's guidelines is withholding use of its "seedling" logo recognized by vegetarian consumers as signifying suitable foods, since Mars bars are made with battery-farmed eggs.

Managing director of Masterfoods' UK snack foods business said: "As a company, we believe in clear, transparent labeling and we are introducing this initiative because we want to communicate the suitability of our products to vegetarians."

Brita Teams Up with Nalgene to Reduce Disposable Water Bottle Usage

UPDATE:  April 9, 2008 - see our story on the new NON-Leaching Nalgene Bottles on our companion site Sustainable is Good Products

Water filter maker Brita owned by Oakland-based Clorox has teamed up with Nalgene to launch a new campaign aimed at reducing the use of disposable water bottles.

The campaign, Filter For Good, is obviously mutually beneficial to both the water filter and reusable bottle makers.   It also may be in response to the growing sales of another popular reusable bottle Sigg.

The new campaign highlights the perfect marriage of the two products.  Use your Brita to purify tap water and then fill your Nalgene with the tap water.  Clearly this choice has tremendous environmental benefits when you look at disposable bottled water as the alternative. 

According to the LA Times, Sigg has worked a deal with Aveda placing their water bottles at this year's New York Fashion Week.  Sigg USA also reports a 200% increase in sales over the last three months. 

There certainly has been increased attention to the disposable water bottle issue over the last several months. 

More than anything from my discussions with consumers Nalgene has suffered more from the fact their bottles are mostly made from Lexan #7 plastic than anything else.   Increasing numbers of consumers are turning to reusable bottles made of metal like the Sigg or Klean Kanteens over their plastic bottles.

Nalgene has also launched Refill Not Landfill, a campaign aimed at encouraging more consumers to use their reusable bottles over disposable water bottles.  The company uses #7 Polycarbonate/LEXAN, #2 High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), #4 Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and # 5 Polypropylene (PP) plastics to make the various products in their line. 

Again the resistance I have seen from consumers related to reusable plastic water bottles has more to do with consumers being concerned over plastics as opposed to objecting to the idea of a reusable bottle itself.  Whether the concerns are unfounded is another issue but the feeling is certainly out there.  I believe this is why companies like Sigg and Klean Kanteen are seeing increases in sales.

Francis Ford Coppola Wine to be Sold in Single Serve Plastic Cups

Francis Ford Coppola Rosso and Bianco wines are being sold in single serve plastic cups.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in an interview with Coppola that he is already selling the wines in single serve packaging at "selected" locations including AT&T Park in San Francisco. 

According to the Napa Valley Register the Francis Ford Coppola winery will offer its Rosso cabernet sauvignon and Bianco pinot grigio wines in plastic cups with peel-off foil lids.

Look for single serve wine in reusable bistro style plastic cups to be available nationwide in 2008.  "We’re having some production issues with the seal and the packaging. I’m not sure when we’re going to sell them around the country. Probably not until next year...," Coppola told the AJC. 

At AT&T Park home of the San Francisco Giants, the wines are quite popular outselling similar products with screw-cap tops and wines poured by the glass.  The new offering is designed to attract more consumers and appeals especially to the younger generation

The single-serve wines are known as "187s" referring to their size 187 milliliters or 6.3 ounces. 

It is unknown what type of plastic the single serve wine cups are made out of and what the manufacturing process is blow or injection molding.  This is a key element in determining ease of recycling as many communities nationwide do not accept injection molded #1 or #2 plastics.

Of course the cups could be reused, however reuse is currently not a realistic option since they are sold in environments where disposable products are used (baseball stadium).  It is unknown if the Giants organization collects and recycles the wine cups.

Raid Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap

Flipping through the Sunday paper I came across an ad for the new Raid Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap.  I did a double take because the motto of the product is "Defend your family against aggressive yellow jackets."

I didn't know whether to laugh or what.  Where to begin on this one.  Well from a product stand point its a disposable plastic trap to protect against the "aggressive yellow jackets."  The item itself is plastic and is designed to be discarded after trapping the yellow jackets.    This is a landfill product.

If you check out Raid's (owned by S.C. Johnson) web site www.killsbugsdead.com you can watch an animated movie about the disposable trap and its "non-toxic attractant."

The marketing of this product is ridiculous.  Does the product also attract and trap bees?  If so it would be especially irresponsible considering the on going and not understood issue of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).   

Yet another "disposable" product.  Terrific.  Out of sight out of mind.  Right?  Not exactly. 

If S.C. Johnson was actually concerned they'd offer consumers information and spend a little time helping them learn about yellow jackets and how to remove them safely.  Then produce a safe trap that wasn't disposable for consumers to buy and reuse if necessary.

Instead we have yet another needless disposable product and consumers who just buy it not even thinking if they really need it.  Hey I can just throw it out right?

Wal-Mart Canada to host Green Product Fair

Wal-Mart Canada will host a Green Product Fair tailored to Canadian suppliers on August 29 in Montreal.

The event will give suppliers of environmentally-friendly products the chance to showcase their merchandise to a range of Wal-Mart Canada buyers.

The fair is designed to expand the scope of green products already available to Canadians at Wal-Mart stores across the country and is limited to producers and distributors of eco-friendly, organic or fair trade products.

The event is the latest initiative in Wal-Mart Canada's vast Greener Good program launched earlier this year to drive the company's long-range goals to generate zero waste, to be powered 100 percent by renewable energy, and to be a leader in providing products that are good for the environment.

Wal-Mart Canada's Green Fair is also part of the Purchased in Quebec program so Quebecers can get Quebec products that can significant help the environment.

The Fair will feature Mario Pilozzi, President and CEO of Wal-Mart Canada.  It will be held at the Centre Mont-Royal in Montreal on August 29 beginning at 7:30 a.m.

The Green Fair is another example of a forward thinking action by a major corporation's Canadian division.  Wonder if it is a sign of things to come for Wal-Mart in the US?

Green Toys Set to Launch Line of Bioplastic Toys

San Francisco-based Green Toys is launching a line of what it calls environmentally friendly toys.  The toys will be made from a bio-based plastic produced by Cereplast.

Green Toys’ product lineup is made from Cereplast bio-based plastic resin.  Cereplast resin is made from corn, wheat, potato and tapioca starches as opposed to petroleum.

Green Toys are produced using an injection molding process.  Because of this, the Cereplast resin is combined with polylactide (PLA) from NatureWorks LLC.  PLA is a versatile polymer that is made from a complex process beginning with corn.

In order to achieve some of the physical characteristics needed for Green Toys it was necessary to combine the Cereplast resin with PLA into one final product, explained Kevin Oates from Cereplast's PR firm Ketchum.

NatureWorks PLA is the world's first and only performance plastic made from 100 percent annually renewable resources.  NatureWorks LLC is a stand-alone company owned by agricultural giant Cargill.

Green Toys is using biodegradable colorants from PolyOne Corporation in order to give its toys their color.   PolyOne Senior Product Manager Carl Knight said, "the colorants enhance the esthetic without disturbing the compostability of the product."  The colorants used in the Green Toys application fall under PolyOne's OnColor(tm)BIO product line.  "We worked with Green Toys to design a custom solution for them - the colors are specific to Green Toys," Knight said.

In terms of packaging Green Toys is said to be still working on their final packaging design.  They had released an image of a tentative packaging design however that is changing.  The final design will use 100 percent paper board instead of plastic or clam shells.  The company says its packaging is made from recycled paper products. 

All aspects of production of Green Toys are done in the U.S., which Robert von Goeben, a partner at Green Toys told toy industry magazine Playthings was another example of an earth-friendly aspect of his company.

According to Kirk Green of Green Toy's PR firm, Gonzo Communications, Green Toys will be available to consumers after October 1 through the web and at specialty retailers.  The line made its debut at the San Francisco International Gift Fair during the last week of July.

Since the products are not yet available for sale it is too early to gauge their popularity with consumers. Reaction within the toy and plastics industries to the new bioplastic toys runs the gamut from excitement to concern.

Von Goeben says that the response from retailers has been thrilling, and has even caught some of Green Toy’s reps off guard. “Reps think they have their finger on the pulse of the industry, and said that we really came out of left field, so they’re excited about it because it was not on their radar."

Design News Contributing Materials Editor Doug Smock isn't convinced the use of biodegradable plastics is a positive move.  "There is no environmental advantage to biodegradable packaging unless you’re the type who throws wrappers out of your car window," he says. 

"Their (Green Toys) pitch is simple and fair: plastics made from corn or potatoes use less energy to produce than plastics made from oil. There is no documentation of that claim on their web site, however, and there should be because fuel made from corn (ethanol) may consume more petroleum than it saves."

It will be very interesting to see consumer reaction to Green Toys.  If nothing else the line is a significant innovation in the use of bioplastics.

GreenPan Eco-friendly Nonstick Cookware

GreenPan, a newcomer to the cookware marketplace made quite a splash in its US debut.  The cookware is marketed as an eco-friendly non-stick, the first such product since the invention of non-stick technology for cookware.

GreenPan completely sold out in its US premier on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) on July 26th.  The cookware was presented by Joy Mangano, President of HSN's subsidiary Ingenious Designs and chef Todd English.  It sold out of all four products presented, 24,000 pieces, in four hours.  The featured item was a six piece set that sold as the "today's special" for $89.90. 

GreenPan differs from other non-stick cookware on the market because it does not use Polytetrafluoroethylene (PFTE), the chemical name for Dupont's Teflon non-stick material.  The cookware is also not manufactured with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in the manufacturing of traditional Teflon-based non-stick coatings.

The non-stick surface used in the cookware is a ceramic-based nano non-stick coating named Thermolon.  The coating can tolerate up to 850 degrees F (traditional non-stick coatings top out at 500 F). It has the look and feel of enameled cast-iron pans.

GreenPan cookware with Thermolon non-stick coating was developed in a partnership between HSN and the manufacturer, Hong Kong-based GreenPan LTD. 

The manufacturer also notes production of GreenPan cookware releases 50% fewer greenhouse-gasses compared to similar PTFE-based (Teflon) non-stick technology.

HSN is currently sold out of all GreenPan cookware.