Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day: A Good Time to Dispel Environmental Myths

(Washington, DC (April 21, 2010) What better time to dispel environmental myths than Earth Day. Take aerosol products for instance. Data show that consumers still believe aerosols harm upper ozone despite CFCs being removed more than 30 years ago.

Here are a few more myths and facts about aerosol products and the environment:

Myth: Aerosol containers cannot be recycled.

Fact: Empty steel and aluminum cans are recyclable and are accepted by more than 5,300 municipal recycling programs in the United States. Aerosol cans are made of 25% recycled material and are recyclable. If the 3.5 billion+ aerosol products sold annually were recycled, enough steel would be produced for 160,000 automobiles.

Myth: Aerosol products are bad for the environment.

Fact: Aerosol products do not harm the Earth's ozone layer or contribute significantly to air pollution or global warming. Aerosol product manufacturers removed CFCs in the 1970s.

Myth: Use of aerosol products makes a significant contribution to the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to ground level ozone formation, or "smog".

Fact: While aerosols and other consumer products often contain VOCs, they contribute very little to ozone formation due to their small quantity and low reactivity.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Atlanta Embraces Aerosol Recycling

The city of Atlanta recently joined virtually every other major municipality in the United States in accepting empty aerosol cans in its recycling program. More than 5,300 municipalities now include aerosol cans in their collection program. Earth 911, the popular web site dedicated to recycling information, now lists three recyclers in the city of Atlanta and seven in surrounding suburbs that accept aerosol cans.

Most aerosol cans are made of steel and contain 25% recycled material. Aluminum aerosol cans have seen an increase in popularity and are also totally recyclable. Learn more about the recycling aspects of aerosol cans and other interesting information about aerosols, visit www.AerosolProducts.org.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

CAPCO Has a Booth at Science Teachers Conference

More than 1,000 teachers stopped by the CAPCO booth at the National Science Teachers Association's National Conference in Philadelphia to learn about aerosol products. The booth's theme invited teachers to "Use Aerosol Technology to Teach Scientific Principles," and CAPCO representatives explained how they could download a teacher's kit with 16 classroom activities and the popular educational video Another Awesome Aerosol Adventure from the CAPCO web site www.AerosolProducts.org.

Many of the teachers asked questions about the environmental and recycling aspects of aerosol products and were pleased with CAPCO's answers. The teachers also took advantage of fact sheets and pamphlets providing information about aerosol products, and more than 1,600 samples of travel sizes of Sprayway Glass Cleaner, WD40 Pens, and Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover were given away.

The booth's graphics and handouts promoted CAPCO web sites www.AerosolProducts.org and www.EcoAerosols.com as sources of information about aerosol products that could be used to teach scientific principles. In addition to the teacher's kit and free video, www.AerosolProducts.org has numerous fact sheets about aerosol products and the environment. EcoAerosols.com is an interactive educational site that makes for entertaining homework assignments that help students learn environmental facts.

If you haven't already done so, check out the CAPCO web sites. You'll learn a lot and have fun doing it.

Monday, April 5, 2010

It's Not Too Late to Enter CAPCO Video Contest

It's not too late to show your creative side and help CAPCO tell the world about today's aerosol products, and you may collect a nice prize in doing so. Deadline for the CAPCO video contest is April 30th, and all you have to do to enter is visit www.AerosolProducts.org and follow the directions.

CAPCO is looking for 90 second videos to tell about aerosol products and the environmental and unique benefits of aerosol products. Prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250 will go to the winners, and all quality videos will be posted on You Tube and AerosolProducts.org with credit to the creators. You must be 18 or older to enter. Entries will be judged on creativity, humor, motivational effective and content accuracy and production quality.

So, what are you waiting for? Get those creative juices flowing, and prepare your wallet for a new arrival.

The Consumer Aerosol Products Council (CAPCO) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational foundation dedicated to providing information about aerosol products.