A NOT So Funny Home Video

A recent episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos showed a man striking a can of spray paint with an axe.  The can burst leaving blue paint all over the man’s face.  The video was presented in kind of a slap-stick clowning around tone, but puncturing any aerosol can is nothing to clown around about and presents serious safety risks.  The Consumer Aerosol Products Council (CAPCO) wrote a letter to the producer of the show addressing our concerns about the video making light of a very dangerous act that is clearly against the instructions for safe usage of the product, as well as our concerns that children or others might also try to imitate the act. 

We received a prompt response from Vin Di Bona Productions addressing our concerns and agreeing to avoid using the clip again in future episodes.  CAPCO and the aerosol products industry are dedicated to providing consumers with accurate information about aerosol products, including proper use and disposal, to learn more please visit www.aerosolproducts.org.  

Recycling…Just One More Way We All Can Help Keep America Beautiful!

One of the easiest ways to contribute to a more beautiful America is by recycling. Many empty and discarded items can be recycled and aerosol product cans are included among them. Recently, CAPCO partnered with one of the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organizations – Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB).

Through our partnership, CAPCO is supporting KAB’s new initiative “Recycle-Bowl” – a recycling competition for K-12 classrooms with the ultimate goal of increasing recycling rates and furthering education about recycling within U.S. schools. As a co-sponsor of the Recycle-Bowl Toolkit, CAPCO provided an aerosol can recycling fact sheet and classroom activity that is included in the kit. Other materials within the toolkit include Recycle-Bowl competition posters, environmentally friendly lesson plans for teachers, a complimentary book for students to read, and more.

Participation in Recycle-Bowl is easy and registration is open now. So visit the KAB website today and register your classroom for Recycle-Bowl. Only the first 1000 schools to register will receive a Recycle-Bowl toolkit. Registration closes on Tuesday, October 9, 2012, and the competition gets underway from October 15 through November 9, 2012. Winning schools will receive a monetary award ranging between $500 and $2,500.

Just remember…there are many ways we can keep America beautiful through recycling, but there is only one KAB Recycle-Bowl. Will you join CAPCO in support and spread the word about participating in this great initiative?

CAPCO Celebrates 20 Years of Exhibiting at NSTA!

In late March, the 2012 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference took place in Indianapolis, where an estimated 8,500 science teachers gathered to explore fresh ideas, learn about advances in their profession and get introduced to new education strategies. For the 20th straight year, CAPCO participated in the conference, engaging with more than 1,000 science teachers. Our volunteers informed attendees that aerosol technology is an inexpensive and practical way to teach several basic scientific principles. They also reminded them that aerosol products haven’t had CFCs for more than 30 years. Finally, they encouraged the teachers about the benefits of recycling empty aerosol cans.

    

Charlie Ortmann (Diversified CPC) and Dick Reed (KIK Corp.) at the booth

CAPCO also unveiled its "Aerosol Products Recycling Challenge" for students.   The
contest aims to get students engaged in efforts to increase the recycling of empty aerosol products in their local communities by tasking them with the following:

Research - Learn the facts about aerosol products, and their
ability to be recycled.

Reach Out - Find out the status of aerosol can recycling in your
community and make a plan to improve it.

Results - How did you make a difference? Did local officials agree
to (or consider) adding empty aerosols to the curbside recycling
program? If they are already accepted; did you find a way to let more
people know?

Record It - Prepare a 30-90 second video that "makes the case" for
recycling aerosol products - The video should demonstrate your
knowledge of aerosol products (their attributes, safety guidelines)
with a focus on why they should be recycled.

You can learn more about the contest Entry Requirements by visiting the “Aerosol Products Recycling Challenge” website.

In addition, CAPCO highlighted all of the resources that it has available for teachers including; a newly enhanced website, an updated Teacher’s Kit with 10 lessons and 5 experiments, an interactive learning website www.ecoaerosols.com, and its educational videos.  

It also should be noted that the allure of some 3500+ products, donated by industry supporters, played a key role in the extra foot traffic CAPCO enjoyed at its booth. The product giveaways included: WD-40 (3oz travel size and No-Mess Pen); Sprayway (4oz Glass Cleaner); KIK Corporation’s assorted travel sized personal care products; Faultless Starch’s Magic Wrinkle Remover and assorted colors of spray paint and cleaning products from Chase. In addition to the product donations, several industry professionals also donated their time by volunteering at the CAPCO booth. Special thanks to Dick Reed (KIK Corporation), Charlie Ortmann and Bill
Frauenheim (Diversified CPC).

Bill Frauenheim (Diversified CPC)

Overall, it was a successful conference, and many teachers were pleased to learn that empty aerosols could be recycled. Several were familiar with CAPCO and already use the teacher's kit as a resource for classroom experiments.  However, a few still believed that some or all of aerosol products contained CFCs, demonstrating that it is important for CAPCO to continue on its mission to educate teachers, consumers and the media on the facts and benefits of aerosol products.