A New World Cup Hero Emerges

No, we’re not referring to Messe or Ozil, but a new product that utilizes the aerosol product form to help referees move games along faster.  The product is a water-based foam that is sprayed on the field by referees to make a temporary line for penalty kicks, etc, and it has become referred to as “felony foam” among fans and via Twitter.

 

Photographer: Michael Steele/Getty Images

The product was invented by an Argentine company called 915 Fair Play.  It has been widely adopted in Latin America and made its debut with the rest of the professional soccer world at this year’s World Cup Tournament in Brazil.   

This innovation is a great example of utilizing the technology of the aerosol product form to develop a product that met a consumer need.  This disappearing foam quickly and accurately marks the field and then dissolves on its own in less than two minutes!

The Consumer Aerosol Products Council reminds consumers that aerosol products are recyclable when empty and they no longer include CFCs.  To learn more about the aerosol product form, please visit: www.AerosolProducts.org.

2013 Recycle-Bowl Winners Announced!

Recycle-Bowl® is a nationwide classroom recycling competition that CAPCO has supported for the past two  years with  nearly 700,000 students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia competing.

The 2013 national Recycle-Bowl champion was Foothill Elementary School in Pittsburg, CA where students recycled 157 pounds of materials per child. If all students in America recycled at the rate of this year’s Recycle-Bowl competitors, approximately 3.2 million tons of material would be diverted annually from landfills. That is the equivalent weight of 302,033 school buses.

“Inspiring young people to recycle at school reinforces the importance of recycling everywhere, whether at home or on the go,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “We are also pleased that so many schools use the competition to improve existing recycling programs or develop new ones that didn’t exist prior to their participation.”

From Oct. 15 through Nov. 15, 2013, participating schools recycled as much as possible. The total amount of recyclables recovered during the 2013 competition added up to 6.4 million pounds, which in turn prevented the release of nearly 8,913 metric tons of carbon equivalent.  In real-world terms, this reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to the annual emissions from 473 passenger cars.

The competition offered a $1,000 prize to the school in each state that collected the most recyclable material per capita. A national champion was then chosen from among the statewide winners to receive an additional grand prize of another $1,000 and a $2,500 store credit from Busch Systems to purchase recycling bins, earning a total of $4,500 in prize money for the California school.

“The Recycle-Bowl competition offers a chance to strengthen the current recycling efforts in our school and activate students to recycle. The raised awareness and excitement around recycling reaches each grade level in the school and brings a sense of ownership to each student, “said Sara Fuentes, recycling coordinator for Foothills Elementary School. “Our students worked hard—they’re proud of the impact they had on recycling in the school.” 

CAPCO has supported the Recycle-Bowl as a toolkit sponsor and has included a classroom activity and an information sheet about recycling empty aerosol products which is sent to the first 1,000 schools that register for the competition each year.

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.  

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.

Disney Makes Good

Sometimes in the world of entertainment mistakes happen. And it should not be a surprise that one might find good intentions behind some of those mistakes. Such was the case involving a children’s program from Disney’s Television Animation division.

CAPCO reached out to Disney regarding the negative slant and inaccuracies geared towards aerosol products in its popular cartoon series “Phineas and Ferb.” While the aerosol industry applauds the effort of using art and entertainment to educate our youth about the importance of protecting the environment, there is reason for alarm when that education is based on bad information.

Recently, CAPCO received a letter back from Disney acknowledging the aerosol industry’s concerns and recognizing the potential reputational harm that the misinformation in the cartoon could cause.

At the center of CAPCO’s concern was the plot of the episode, in which the villain attempted to destroy the ozone using aerosol sprays (today’s aerosol products don’t contain ozone-depleting chemicals, in fact, they have not contained CFCs for more than 30 years). To correct the misinformation and avoid other misunderstandings, Disney indicated that it would modify the episode for future airings by incorporating new dialogue and changing the overall direction to reflect a more positive tone regarding aerosol products.

We are pleased to have received such a positive response from Disney as their programming reaches millions of viewers each year. Bringing this to the attention of Disney helps to ensure that similar misinformation regarding modern day aerosol products is not presented in future episodes of “Phineas and Ferb” and, hopefully, other cartoons on the network. Clearly, Disney values the presentation of accurate information in its programming.

And for that we applaud them.

Upcoming NSTA Science Fair

CAPCO is preparing to attend the annual National Science Teacher’s Association conference in San Francisco from March 10-13th. Last year’s conference had over 15,000 registrants and representatives for the CAPCO booth spoke with over 1000 attendees.

The theme of this year’s conference is: “Celebrating the Joy of Science: Imagine and Create.” CAPCO will be communicating three key messages to teachers at the conference:

-Aerosol Product Technology

-Aerosols and the Environment

-Aerosol Cans are Recyclable

CAPCO has refreshed the look and feel of its teacher’s kit and will be promoting it at this year’s conference. The kit can now be downloaded in sections and its contents are clearly listed on our website.

In addition, CAPCO is partnering with its long-time supporter the Steel Recycling Institute to communicate aerosol product benefits and to remind teachers and consumers that empty consumer aerosol cans are recyclable! We have created a co-sponsored flyer about recycling facts and tips, which we’ll distribute at the booth.

We have a great group of industry experts who have volunteered to work at the booth and share their knowledge about aerosol technology and this unique packaging form. We are looking forward to a successful conference and one more opportunity to communicate the benefits and facts about aerosol products.