Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/246775
38 Saturday, March 02, 2013 BAMBOOEE: VERSATILE, DURABLE, SUSTAINABLE Americans use more than 580 pounds of paper per person every year— enough to build a 12-foot-high wall from San Francisco to New York. Every day, 3,000 tons of paper towels are sent to American landfills. The folks who created Bambooee hope to help change our paper addiction. Bambooee is a reusable cloth made from sustainably grown bamboo. One roll of Bambooee is equal to up to 286 rolls of regular paper towels. Depending on how much a family uses, that can replace up to 5.5 years of paper towel use. Introduced in March at the 2012 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Bambooee won the "Best of the West" award. Made from a certified organic bamboo source, Bambooee was conceived during a kitchen conversation between Noam Krasniansky, Bambooee's Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and his wife. THE ORIGINAL ENERGY SAVING DOOR-MAT FROM GRASSWORX Carey Wider, President of GrassWorx, LLC., discusses how its Clean Machine® Scraper Mats are reducing the carbon footprint. KNSD: Carey, we understand the power of an energy-saving light bulb; but what do you mean about an energysaving doormat? CW: I like the way you phrased your question, using the light bulb for comparison. Let's take that direction and run with it. Conservation and going green are not new concepts, but have really become mainstream actions over the last decade. Our own EPA encourages us to make a few small changes in our homes to reduce greenhouse gases and save money. One easy step they recommend is to change just five lights. They say if you replace your five most frequently used light fixtures or the light-bulbs in them with Energy Star® qualified products, it will help the environment while saving $70 a year on energy bills... that's $700 over a decade via small steps. KNSD: We understand the bulb concept, so what does this have to do with doormats? CW: Conservation: that's what we are talking about. Using less energy reduces our carbon footprint. Almost all retailers are acutely aware of the power of promoting green products. There's no doubt that doing things in a truly sustainable way is good. But we also feel sustainability deserves not to be diluted into a meaningless buzzword. Many of our competitive mats use the green label, meaning they are made with recycled materials... that's fine. We too make our doormats from recycled materials. That is truly a win/win. That also means that when the mats leave their factories, their life cycle for saving the planet ended. KNSD: Go on, we're still not quite tracking with you. CW: Another good choice of word tracking. Our Clean Machine doormats made from our Genuine AstroTurf® scraper DRIPZN TO CATCH ATTENTION IN EARLY 2013 It's hard to say which is more annoying during a gathering of friends and family: a dripping spigot splatter that becomes a puddle on the floor or a tacky do-it-yourself contraption to avoid said mess. DripzN™, the molded plastic drip catcher by Connexion Inc., handily takes care of both annoyances. Attractive and durable, DripzN is designed to easily hang from portable beverage dispensers to catch those inevitable drips between servings. "This product grew from necessity," said Teresa Cameron Bovee, inventor of the DripzN. "Anyone hosting an event knows how annoying it is to have a damp napkin on the floor to catch coffee, lemonade or punch that drips from urns. And it just doesn't look very nice to have a cut up plastic bottle hanging from the spigot." Gretchen Clarke uses DripzN at her Coleman, Mich, church. "They're so much nicer than a paper plate on the TRUE FABRICATIONS: BRINGING INNOVATION TO THE WINE, BARWARE, BEVERAGE ACCESSORY INDUSTRY True Fabrications has quickly evolved into one of the leading wine, beer and beverage lifestyle brands, distributing to thousands of retailers worldwide. They provide the company industry with the most unique and comprehensive selection of products, varying from corkscrews and flasks to wine bags. Their practice of sourcing the highest quality, design-focused items is unparalleled among their competitors. At True Fabrications, it's believe you should relish the little things in life, so that its mission is to offer consumers the tools to interact with wine, beer or beverages in new Kitchenware News & Housewares Review Show Daily Krasniansky said his wife insisted he come up with a product that took paper out of her kitchen. She didn't want to use paper napkins or paper towels any more. The issue, he said, was to not use cellulose, which is commonly used for cleaning products like paper towels and sponges. The challenge was to find something more sustainable. Bamboo produces more biomass than any other plant in the world. Krasniansky said, "It's the ultimate sustainable material." It can be strong as steel, yet made into soft material via bamboo fiber. And it can be used for a myriad of things— building materials, burned for charcoal, and, in Eastern cultures, it's used as a blades, keeps dirt from tacking into the house. I guess you could say we're the difference between green constructions versus conservation. That is the paradox that we realized when thinking about a lifetime carbon footprint approach. Clean Machine products start saving energy when they leave the store. By placing this "miracle mat" in front of doors, we help consumers conserv, just like the energy savings light bulb, for years to come. KNSD: How exactly does this work? CW: Most doormats are designed for their appearance. Ours was designed to scrape, hold and hide the dirt in the mat, keeping it out of the home. A standard 18-inch by 30-inch, AstroTurf mat will trap up to 1.5 pounds of dirt per week. This saves energy because there is less vacuuming; and it reduces the use of all the other cleaning supplies, chemicals and, most importantly, personal energy expended by the homeowner. This is not to mention preserving the floors, which in itself is a reduction in waste. detoxifier. "With more than 2,000 varieties of bamboo, bamboo doesn't have to be replanted. Its rizhone root system easily helps the bamboo to regenerate itself. That way, the forest can keep growing each year," Krasniansky said. Bamboo is grown without pesticides, insecticides or fertilizer. And it sequesters more carbon dioxide than other standing trees—taking in 400 percent more greenhouse gases and producing 35 percent more oxygen. For more information about Bambooee, visit booth N6655 at the International Home+ Housewares show. Also visit environment. CW: Yes, do the math. Take an average sub-division of 100 homes, averaging a little more than four doors each. Imagine if they use our mats at every door (my dream) to protect against very dirty feet. The Clean Machine action could trap, hold and hide enough dirt to fill a garbage truck in a little more than 1½ years. That's more than 24 tons of dirt collected! KNSD: Clean Machine Scraper mats help reduce the carbon footprint one step at a time. CW: Exactly. We are the best cleaning mat ever made; selling almost 100 million mats since 1965. Imagine the dirt... imagine the energy savings! Drop by our booth No. N6515 to see our 2013 WholeHouse Collection, or scan to see a live demonstration. For more information, please call 800-8135221 or email info@grassworxllc.com. KNSD: Wow, this is pretty compelling; a simple action with major benefit to our floor. And they beat having a pop bottle or milk jug that someone has tried to create to hang from the spout—you could cut your finger with one of those things! Plus, now that we don't have to worry about stains, we can use red punch." Reta David, a Bath, Mich. prison ministries volunteer, said she likes the convenience of DripzN. "Before, we used aluminum cans on the floor to catch drips. It was a mess because people bumped into them. Everybody who sees them wants to know where they can get them." Simple and safe, DripzN will retail (MSRP) for $2.99, wherever big drink coolers and urns are sold."We're offering volume customers the opportunity to purchase DripzN in custom colors and logos," said Connexion product marketing manager Scott Mahrle. "Portable beverage dispensers are almost always associated with fun—this is a wonderful way for a store or product marketer to facilitate its brand with its customers." Made in America, DripzN is dishwasher safe, BPA free and comes in two introductory colors: smoke (black) and ice (white). and meaningful ways. These fresh and modern perspective on the wine industry and eye for design allows the company to source new and exciting products. True Fabrications' latest and most exciting endeavor includes a joint partnership with a local design and engineering company, HOST Studios. This unique partnership will resonate throughout the industry, once again setting the precedent for high quality, innovative and highly functional tools for the wine connoisseur. The number one focus at True Fabrications is customer satisfaction. The company provides it's customers with exceptional service, high quality products and attractive retail packaging at the most competitive prices. True Fabrications' excellent relationship with its customers is upheld by its 100-percent satisfaction guarantee on all of their products and services. For more information, please visit booth S1266 at the IH+HS, check out www.dripzn.com, email ideas@connexion-inc.com or call 248-453-5177. True Fabrications is based out of Seattle, Wash. For more information, please visit www.truefabrications.com or call 800-7508783.