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green•wash

(grēn’wŏsh’, -wôsh’)

Used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

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I want this blog to be more about the message than the products.  We have a responsiblity to our children and if you know CynerGreen, you know our mission is truly our message.  If you don’t know CynerGreen, welcome and please, read more about who we are and why we do what we do through this blog and our website.

What started out as an attempt to make a difference in one industry has turned into an opportunity to reach out to children and families.  Our own daughter Riley (www.cgkidz.com) has taught us most recently that kids listen to other kids.  They are empowered through their peers and experiences.  We have a responsibility to educate kids and their parents on the dangers of BPA and the use of plastics and are doing so through our involvement in school systems around the country including our own back yard.  A visit to the school’s principal brought a welcome and energetic response when we volunteered to start the school’s environmental club.  I will pass along information in the coming months on the progress of the club and how you can do more. 

Always remember that thinking green first fosters being green and living green in the future.  It’s a personal decision to figure out ways that you and your families can live a healthier, more natural and ecologically friendly lifstyle and there are ALOT of options.  Before you jump right in discarding all plastics, heavy recycling and composting, figure out what works best for your lifestyle.  For our family, it was first discarding all plastics, replacing lightbulbs, watching our energy and water usage, then recycling what we knew would actually BE recycled in our community and of course, always taking advantage of our reusable water bottles.  Next, it’s a heavier recycling effort for us and a new venture, composting!  Our family focus is Reduce and Reuse.  We have a new motto in our family that stands as a constant reminder “buy less stuff”.  It takes a commitment from everyone to do it though, I’ll be honest.  Fortunately for the three of us, we’re there.  If you were one of the many who took that oath to have a greener year – How’s your 2009 resolution working out so far?  We’d love to hear.

Write us anytime – danelle@cynergreen.com

The study appears on the website of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives and is freely available here.

In addition to polycarbonate bottles, which are refillable and a popular container among students, campers and others and are also used as baby bottles, BPA is also found in dentistry composites and sealants and in the lining of aluminum food and beverage cans. (In bottles, polycarbonate can be identified by the recycling number 7.) Numerous studies have shown that it acts as an endocrine-disruptor in animals, including early onset of sexual maturation, altered development and tissue organization of the mammary gland and decreased sperm production in offspring. It may be most harmful in the stages of early development.

“We found that drinking cold liquids from polycarbonate bottles for just one week increased urinary BPA levels by more than two-thirds. If you heat those bottles, as is the case with baby bottles, we would expect the levels to be considerably higher. This would be of concern since infants may be particularly susceptible to BPA’s endocrine-disrupting potential,” said Karin B. Michels, associate professor of epidemiology at HSPH and Harvard Medical School and senior author of the study.

The results showed that the participants’ urinary BPA concentrations increased 69% after drinking from the polycarbonate bottles. (The study authors noted that BPA concentrations in the college population were similar to those reported for the U.S. general population.) Previous studies had found that BPA could leach from polycarbonate bottles into their contents; this study is the first to show a corresponding increase in urinary BPA concentrations in humans.

One of the study’s strengths, the authors note, is that the students drank from the bottles in a normal use setting. Additionally, the students did not wash their bottles in dishwashers nor put hot liquids in them; heating has been shown to increase the leaching of BPA from polycarbonate, so BPA levels might have been higher had students drunk hot liquids from the bottles.

Canada banned the use of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles in 2008 and some polycarbonate bottle manufacturers have voluntarily eliminated BPA from their products. With increasing evidence of the potential harmful effects of BPA in humans, the authors believe further research is needed on the effect of BPA on infants and on reproductive disorders and on breast cancer in adults.

“This study is coming at an important time because many states are deciding whether to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. While previous studies have demonstrated that BPA is linked to adverse health effects, this study fills in a missing piece of the puzzle—whether or not polycarbonate plastic bottles are an important contributor to the amount of BPA in the body,” said Carwile.

There has been a lot of concern in recent months over products that are manufactured overseas, especially in countries like China. Many materials manufactured overseas have been found to contain lead which has put into affect new laws restricting the production of many handmade items.

To ensure consumer confidence, CynerGreen has focused its efforts on providing a safe, solid, sustainable product which is closely monitored throughout the production process. In other words, as a family run business, we wouldn’t think of subjecting your family to anything we wouldn’t use ourselves.  Here’s how we do it…

Our manufacturing practices consist of constant monitoring in not only how the bottles are produced but in packaging, transportation, the environment in which they are used and promoted, while making sure the companies we work with provide a quality product all while educating the consumer.

CynerGreen maintains full control over our shipments at all levels providing:
• Pre-Shipment Inspections (PSI)
• Factory Audits (FA)
• Social Audits (SA)
• Initial Production Check (IPC)
• During Production Check (DUPRO)
• Container Loading Inspection (CLC)
• Laboratory Testing (LT)
• Production Monitoring (PM)

Here are a few additional details:
1. We employ both Asian and American Inspection teams that monitor manufacturing at all levels including testing.

2. We have two factories that produce our bottles, both ISO 9001 certified.

3. We inspect the factories quarterly to insure labor standards, product standards and to make sure that inspection teams are working at above average levels.

4. We try to only ship when a container is full, minimizing the impact of transportation as well as the exposure to any type of contamination in any way, from other products.

5. We ship by methods that will have the least impact on the environment.

6. We provide product testing for every shipment.  T

Here are additional tests we conduct as well…

- Lead Content in parts other than coating
- Lead Content in Paint
- 6 Phthalates Content
- 3 Phthalates Content

7. Packaging: CynerGreen works with each client on packaging needs. For retail products, we provide recycled packaging. We also offer egg crating and various types of packing methods to insure the least amount of material is used. All materials are recycled and/or recyclable.

As a company, CynerGreen recycles, monitors energy usage at all levels and offers a community outreach program for children, run by the founder’s 12 year old daughter, Riley. The program provides education and donates water bottles to elementary and middle school age children. We also encourage all team members to do more than just be involved in their communities.  We make sure everyone is given the time they need to do their part or whatever it is that they are most passionate about.  Look for more on our team members further down in previous postings on our blog.

For more information about our CG Kidz school outreach program, visit (www.cgkidz.com).

CynerGreen lives by their motto as a family run business “Buy Less Stuff” encouraging their message of the three R’s, Recycle, Reduce and Reuse.

Still need more info?  Write to Danelle Hoffer with your questions – danelle@cynergreen.com or give us a call anytime 501.605.0197.