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.

Let’s Be Clear about Today’s Aerosol Products and the Ozone

A recent study has been causing some more confusion about aerosol products. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-led study published on October 2nd reported higher than normal levels of ozone depletion in the Arctic. Traditionally, most of the ozone depletion to date has been tracked in the colder Antarctic.

The primary driver of the ozone loss was colder than average temperatures. The very low temperatures allow chemical reactions with man-made chlorine-based chemicals to take place in the stratosphere that deplete the ozone. However, many of the articles that reference the study, incorrectly blame the use of aerosol products without clarifying that that today’s aerosol products no longer contain the chlorine-based chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and have not in the U.S. since 1978!

While it is true that the chlorine-based chemicals have a long atmospheric lifetime, most of that used 30-50 years ago is no longer in the atmosphere... Today’s aerosol products in the U.S., European Union, and most countries in the developed world no longer have any CFCs, so consumers can continue to use them without concern of adverse effects on the ozone.

CAPCO had Successful NSTA Conference!

The 2011 National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA) Conference just took place in San Francisco where CAPCO volunteers successfully communicated three key messages to an estimated 1,400 people.

In preparation for the conference, CAPCO produced a full-color handout that stressed 3 messages:

1. Technology: Aerosol technology is a great way to teach several basic scientific principles.
2. Environment: Aerosol products haven’t had CFCs for over 30 years.
3. Recycling: Empty Aerosol cans are recyclable.

It also highlighted all of the resources that we have available for teachers including; a newly updated website, an updated Teacher’s Kit with 10 lessons and 5 experiments, an interactive learning website www.ecoaerosols.org and our educational videos. In addition, CAPCO collaborated with the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) to develop a handout with information and facts on recycling empty consumer aerosol cans.

CAPCO’s presence at the conference was met with either:

• Confusion: “Why are you here?” or “So…these are bad aerosols, right?”
• Intrigue: “Wow, I recycle and I didn’t know that aerosol cans could be recycled.”
• Gratitude: “Thanks for being here, I try to communicate that aerosols no longer harm the ozone in my classroom year after year and students still come in believing that they do!”

Of course, we would not have received the booth traffic that we did without the 3000+ products that were donated from industry supporters. The product giveaways included WD-40 (3oz travel size and No-Mess Pen), Sprayway (4oz Glass Cleaner), Energizer (Skintimate shave gel), BP Blaster (Garage Door Lubricant and multi-purpose lubricant), United Industries (Cutter Insect Repellant) and assorted aerosol products from Chase. In addition to the product donations, several people also donated their time by volunteering at the CAPCO booth: John Blum (Ball Corporation), Casper Chiang (Clorox Company), and Don and Sharon Rowen from Industrial Hydrocarbons.

After engaging with several teachers and educators we were able to gather some valuable feedback and come up with some great ideas for how we may improve the resources that CAPCO currently offers to teachers and students. In addition, many teachers are in the process of “greening” their classrooms and schools, so there are also opportunities to help teachers to develop a lesson plan that encouraged their students to reach out to their local municipalities and trash haulers to urge them to accept aerosol cans for recycling in their communities. This would be a helpful tool and a great Earth Day activity.

Overall, it was a successful conference, but there is still much work to be done! Many of the teachers we spoke to 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.

Some Consumers are Really Getting It!

Although there is still widespread confusion about aerosol spray products’ impact on the environment, some consumers have the facts straight and are sharing their knowledge. In a recent article on www.everydayhealth.com there is a section that points out that aerosol hairsprays haven’t contained CFCs since 1978 and they also have very low VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Anne Fritz in Every Day Health writes:

Many people still believe that the use of aerosol hair spray puts holes in the ozone layer. In reality, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which do destroy the ozone layer, were banned from hair sprays and other aerosols by the United States in 1978. In addition, since 1999, most major hair spray brands have been reformulated so that they contain a smaller percentage of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which increase smog, to meet tighter standards introduced by the California Air and Resource Board. Although these tougher standards are currently enforced only in California, most national brands offer the same product across the country — so even if you live in Nebraska, your hair spray is probably less harmful today than it was ten years ago.

In a blog posting on a site called www.tinychoices.com a mother talks about how the benefits of sunscreen outweigh the ‘costs.’ She finds that sunscreen in an aerosol spray container is much more convenient and effective to prevent sunburns on her kids than the more traditional lotion, and she researches to learn that consumer aerosol products don’t have CFCs (and haven’t for several decades) and are also recyclable! Karina of Tiny Choices writes:

These days, though, if something is related closely to food or body care the propellants are more inert – usually propane or butane (though flammable) or CO2 or nitrous oxide. Interestingly, the aerosol products industry group reports that in recent studies 7 out of 10 American’s think that CFCs are still present in aerosol cans! Even though this has been outlawed for several decades in the US.

So if the problem isn’t the ozone then it stands to reason that the aerosol can may be the more appropriate choice over a plastic bottle, right? But how to take care of end-of-life issues?

Earth911 points out that I should be able to recycle at the local level, as long as the can is actually empty… My research turned up another resource, though, which is interesting and hugely useful for people with limited municipal recycling options: 1800recycling.com has a very useful search feature on their website that looks up where you can recycle hard to recycle materials.

It looks like we’re off to a good start in 2011 with 2 great examples of consumers and the media getting the facts about aerosol products and sharing those facts with their readers.

Dancing Can and Cool Frog Featured In Video Winners

What can you learn from a dancing can or an environmentally sensitive frog? Well ... lots if you watch the winning entries of the CAPCO video contest.

Tyler Short, a University of Oregon student submitted the winning 90 second video which features an animated aerosol can that prances and dances while providing interesting facts about aerosols. The dancing can describes the many uses of aerosol products, tells you how an aerosol can works, and provides environmental facts about aerosols.

Chris Wetzel of Cleveland, Ohio won second place with a 25 second video that uses a multiple choice quiz to deliver a single message about CFCs in aerosol. Here's a hint: there aren't any. Third place winner David Molina debunks an environmental myth about aerosols in his 40 second video in which a frog gives you the facts and proclaiming that today's aerosol products are toad...ily cool.

CAPCO sponsored the contest to tap into the creative talent of today's video-savvy young people to inform people about today's aerosol product. Entries were judged on creativity, humor, motivational effectiveness and production quality. The winners receive prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250. To learn more about aerosols visit www.AerosolProducts.org or www.EcoAerosols.com.