Marathons Going Green

Yesterday was the annual L.A. Marathon, which was perfectly timed on festive St. Patrick’s day and the weather was perfect. Approximately 24,000 runners went the 26.2 miles from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. It’s one of the largest marathons in the country and brings in runners from all parts of the world. So, on a day synonymous with green, I was surprised to see one of the biggest marathons in the country didn’t seem to be going green.

6,000 volunteers hand out oranges, bananas, and over 70,000 gallons of water to runners as they pass by. Then they kept the streets clean by raking the trash continuously. 1, 220,000 paper cups. I could help but think at least some of that waste could be kept to a minimum if they’d only used swiggies, wrist water bottles, instead. At least a little of the marathon could be greener with eco-friendly wrist water bottles. I would think you could save on time by not having to slow down at the water stations so often. You could just fill them up quickly on the go. And they can also be frozen to lower your body temperature in the heat.

With all the talk of going green, you would think marathons would be more conscious of the enormous amount of paper cups that are being used and find an alternative.

So, race directors, give me a call. swiggies are a great solution to that problem. And they’re BPA-free. Put your logo on them and participants will keep them for a long time, showing off your logo over and over again. And showing that you care about the planet at the same time by going green. It’s the best advertising money can buy.

 

 

 

Earth Day and Bottled Water

In one year Americans spend over $11 billion dollars on bottled water alone. That’s 650 plastic bottles per second that are thrown in the trash. 60 million water bottles a day that end up in a landfill. That’s pretty mind boggling when you think about it. Enough to wrap around the earth three times.

Though many people have increased their recycling of those bottles, a big amount of them aren’t recycled at all. Plastic water bottles are made from a material called PET, which is a recyclable plastic. 90% of the actual cost of the product is in the bottle itself.

As a manufacturer of a water bottle I’m very aware of the costs that go into it. You also have to account for the shipping of those bottles, which when full is quite heavy. That means you have to include the cost of oil into that price.

I took a good look into all of this when I started manufacturing swiggies, wrist water bottles. They are made from a highly recyclable plastic that is also BPA-free. They are very durable, so you probably won’t have to recycle them for quite a long time. I have swiggies in my gym bag that are still going strong after a couple of years. I fill them up from the tap and keep them in the refrigerator to stay cold. They can also be frozen to lower body temperature on hot days.

swiggies have been approved by Child Safe International as a safe, green, eco-friendly product.