Directly from Rainbow Light's December Press Release.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – (Dec. 29, 2009) – Rainbow Light® Nutritional Systems, a leader in natural nutrition for over 25 years, is converting its entire bottled supplement line to sustainable Eco•Guard™ bottles in 2010. Eco•Guard bottles are made of 100 percent PCR, reusing plastics previously processed from fossil fuel. These bottles are FDA-approved for safety and are 100 percent recyclable, with labels made from renewable plant resources and no adhesives, which can disrupt the recycling process. With annual sales of more than $60 million, Rainbow Light’s conversion to Eco•Guard packaging will keep more than 6 million plastic bottles from ending up in our oceans, natural habitats and landfills each year. To visualize the vast savings to the environment, six million bottles placed end to end would reach from San Francisco, through Santa Cruz all the way to Los Angeles. The company is the first in the supplement industry to make the transition to 100 percent PCR, 100 percent recyclable bottles.
“Rainbow Light has been a long-standing partner in delivering best-selling nutritional supplements that have a positive impact on health without detrimental effects on the environment,” said Jeremiah McElwee, Senior Whole Body Coordinator for Whole Foods Market®. “With its new Eco•Guard packaging, Rainbow Light has taken a strong leadership position towards reducing our industry’s footprint.”
Nearly 30 million tons of virgin (non-recycled) plastic are generated annually, requiring more than 1.5 million barrels of oil for production. Of this vast amount, less than 2 million tons of plastic are recovered for recycling. Furthermore, only a small amount of the plastic that is recovered for recycling is actually reused due to low demand for it. Factor in that every hour, Americans throw away 2.7 million plastic bottles, and the case for reusing plastics is clear. Recycling one ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. Reusing plastics that have already been manufactured is one very important way of decreasing plastic debris found in landfills, and worse, our oceans and natural habitats. Ninety percent of ocean debris is plastic.
“There is a huge proliferation of plastic debris in our oceans,” said Mary Crowley, co-founder of Project Kaisei, a global non-profit committed to education and prevention of marine debris. “The majority of the marine debris is discarded household trash, and the volume of marine debris is growing at an alarming daily rate. The plastics over time break down into confetti-like particles which are ingested by sea life thus causing damage and making their way into our food web. I congratulate Rainbow Light for taking the lead in their industry to address this very important issue.”
By reusing post-consumer plastics, Eco•Guard bottles not only reduce the amount of virgin plastic that is generated, they also keep plastic bottles out of landfills, do not deplete fossil fuels, and make good use of the plastics that have been collected for recycling. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, producing new plastic from recycled materials uses only two-thirds of the energy required to manufacture it from virgin raw materials.
Bottles made with PCR are a better environmental choice than other bottling options. For instance, biodegradable plastic bottles do not provide sufficient protection for product stability, an important factor when packaging vitamins and supplements. Additionally, they can decrease the food supply because they are made from corn, and they require industrial composting not commonly available.
Glass bottles, whether made from virgin or recycled materials, require far greater energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to produce, generating an estimated two metric tons of carbon dioxide per one metric ton of glass. Glass bottles often require additional packaging to protect against breakage, and their heavier weight increases transportation costs and carbon footprint. And while plastic recycling rates have increased annually, glass recycling rates have actually decreased by 10 percent since 1996, according to the Container Recycling Institute.
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About Rainbow Light® Nutritional Systems, Inc.:
Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, a leader and innovator in natural nutrition since 1981, is best known as the manufacturer of the No. 1 selling natural Just Once® multivitamin line, featuring Women’s One™, Men’s One™ and Prenatal One™. The $60 million Santa Cruz-based company is dedicated to delivering bio-balanced,™ all-natural, food-based formulas that are potent and digestion-enhanced. In February 2009, Rainbow Light expanded into the pet nutrition category with its new line of all-natural pet supplements, GreenDog Naturals™.
In every product, Rainbow Light combines research-based optimal potencies and highly bioavailable complementary nutrient forms with energizing whole foods, botanicals and digestive support for increased energy and utilization with no stomach upset. These proven potencies, produced to the highest quality standards of purity and safety and delivered in a gentle, natural food base, offer consumers superior value and a difference they can feel and, in the case of canines, see. Rainbow Light formulas target both general and specific health concerns for women, men, seniors, children and their canine companions while building a foundation for overall wellness. Rainbow Light – better for people, pets and planet.
For more information on Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, call 1-800-571-4701 or visit www.rainbowlight.com or www.greendognaturals.com.
About Project Kaisei:
Project Kaisei is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco and Hong Kong, established to increase the understanding and the scale of marine debris, its impact on our ocean environment, and how we can introduce solutions for both prevention and clean-up. Kaisei means “Ocean Planet” in Japanese.
The project’s main focus is on the North Pacific Gyre, which constitutes a large accumulation of debris in one of the largest and most remote ecosystems on the planet. Project Kaisei collaborated with Scripps Oceanography in August 2009 to research the impacts of debris in the gyre. In the summer of 2010, Project Kaisei will launch its second Expedition to the North Pacific Gyre, where it will send multiple vessels to continue marine debris research. For more information, visit www.projectkaisei.org
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