Unique Endcap at Tashman's!

As consumers are venturing into green they are looking for what is green and what works. Nowadays you are beginning to see a growing number of stores highlighting Green products to the customers with prime retail space such as endcaps and at eye level. It shows the growing value of green products to the consumer marketplace! Check out this link to Tashman’s blog, a store located in West Hollywood, CA.  Next time you are in a local pet shop, hardware store, or vac shop look around and see how much retail space the green marketplace has influenced, and if you don’t see Unique’s products, grab the manager and tell them how great they are!

A whole new level of savings.

Whirlpool announced their new energy and water efficient washer and dryer.  If the numbers they are claiming are correct this could be an amazing jump towards a more “green” and “cost effective” washer and dryer pair.  This new combo is called the Whirlpool Cabrio, and surprisingly this new innovative set costs less than $1,100, keeping it competitive with other sets that are far less efficient.  Take a look at this:  the new set uses 74% less water and also uses 76% less energy per load.  Estimates say with these energy and water savings the consumer could save more than $2,100 in the lifetime of the dryer.  How about they give me the washer and dryer free and just have the savings directly deposited to them?  That’s pretty sweet though!  Nice job Whirlpool on taking us to a whole new savings level when it comes to washing our dirty, stinky clothes!  Check out the press release with more info here

If you haven’t been reading or keeping up with popular news, you probably haven’t heard of the now 19 year old Washington native who had been evading police over the past 3 years while pulling off robbery after robbery and escape after escape. Must be one really smart kid, he stole a $450,000 yacht, three airplanes, and committed hundreds of other burglaries in Canada, the Caribbean, and all over the US. Are you kidding me?

Finally the kid was caught in the Bahamas, after stealing another boat. Heck if I was making it in the Bahamas I’d just lay low a while and enjoy the location, but apparently his addiction to stealing was too much. Apparently though, it now looks that people want to either make him rich, or his family rich with book offers, and maybe even movie offers . . . the same family that includes a mother who said that she thinks it’s neat what he’s doing (see comment here).  I’m glad that in this time that many are struggling to make ends meet in a honest way, that these people may get some big bucks.  It’s sad, but I’m glad he’s caught and now all of his fan clubs can get on with their lives too! I guess I’m not helping the hype by writing about him either though . . .

This is an excellent article that offers a realistic viewpoint to the “Green” conversation. I love thinking through why we, at Unique, and why we, as a society do the things we do. The realistic side of “going green” is that its a great ideal but it must work and be economical in real life. Read the article and let it make you think. I’ll offer some of my thoughts on this article as well:

Many feel that it is now every person’s responsibility to become more green.  I don’t buy that, rather I feel it is the responsibility of every green minded student, entrepreneur, scientist, etc.  to find ways to make it inevitable for people to become more green.  We do this by thinking up new products and services that are better and more cost-effective in the long run for the consumer.  I can’t tell people that they are better off using say, Unique’s Carpet Shampoo unless I am confident that it is competitively priced with less green competitor’s and that it works as good if not better.

If someone has a huge amount of disposable income its one story, but for most of us who live within budgets and tight finances (especially with how difficult things are right now) it is asinine to think that socially we are expected to purchase products that are more expensive and work less effectively, but that are environmentally friendly.  Some have done this, rather its on us to create products that are effective, cost-efficient, and “green”.  It will take work, but its worth it!  What’s your take on this article?

Hmmm Cardboard Coffins? Thanks, but I'll pass.

Many people live their lives trying to make leave an impact on this world, but apparently some are now wanting to leave this world without leaving anything behind.

A coffin maker in Arizona is making coffins that are “green” and to go along with that you can also be buried in a location similar to a nature observatory where pretty much only your body is allowed to go into the ground.

Apparently the Green bandwagon doesn’t have any bounds!

Check out this article about this new green burying trend.

Green? or Greenwashed?

(Before reading this article take a look at the previous article, it leads into this one!)

Unique has been around since the early 90’s, back then the term “green” was just putting on training wheels and took an occasional ride around the neighborhood.  Now it’s one of the hottest topics in America nonetheless the world!

Unique’s early roots were founded in the necessity of a product that could effectively and completely remove the stains and odors from pet urine in apartments.  Back then there was no product that could do it, and apartments would have to replace the carpets if an animal ever peed.  Our owner Don saw this need, and with some basic chemistry knowledge and the help of some chemist friends, he developed a product that really did eliminate pet urine stains and odors.  They formulated a bacteria based mixture that employed nature’s process of waste elimination using naturally occurring bacteria.  This mixture concentrated the bacteria in a way that would eliminate waste in minutes and hours rather than weeks and months.  From this basic concept we now have safe, green bacterial products that will remove oil from driveways, open clogged drains, liquefy and deodorize rv holding tanks, clean bbq grills, and so much more!

It just so happened that when the “green” craze hit we had a product that fit the parameters!  Yet when we originally formulated our products they were not designed with the “green” marketplace in mind.

Yet now we have a product that fits a label it was not initially built for, so for the past 2 years we have been working doing a lot of research and testing to make sure that our products can be called “green” with integrity!  Yet the issue many companies have had to wrestle with is a product that is far from “green” but it works to solve whatever issue it confronts.  So they mess with the formulation which may now meet specifications but it’s not as effective as the original product.  This is where many green products get the reputation of being watered down.

So at Unique we work hard, and think hard about how we can provide our customers with a product that is truly green and that truly works!  This process is constantly being refined as technologies and science are growing in the green arena, so while our products are green and safe now we know that with time we can make them greener and safer.

Unique prides itself in a truly green product that we believe far exceeds the efficiency of most products we compete against, but we think that this “green” title that we hold goes beyond the liquids that we put in our packaging, and that we need to continue to “grow green” in our practices and packaging.  We are far from where we are heading in this arena, but we are journeying down that road.

So that is what Unique means when we call ourselves “GREEN”!

In the aftermath of the “going green” barrage, we have a new issue facing consumers and businesses. Because “green” is so undefined most companies have attached their marketing to this concept whether they are truly green or not. Is a company green because they “greened up” 5 % of a 100% toxic product, because as far as I’m concerned it is still far from “green.”

So what makes a product green then? Is it that a product is more environmentally friendly than it was the previous year? Is it that it leaves no carbon footprint (almost impossible)? Or is it that it is more environmentally friendly than the other options in the marketplace? I have a hunch that these questions will need to be answered in the coming years, now that the marketplace has been “greenflooded” and the consumer can’t tell green from smoggy!

My thoughts were spurred on by a fascinating article by Julie Deardorff in the Chicago Tribune, check it out.

I’d love your thoughts, and in the next blog I will take a look at Unique’s efforts to answer these questions for ourselves as we carry the burden of a “green” brand.

Socially Conscious Investing

My local state newspaper, the Denver Post, featured an article on its website called “Going Green because it feels good” by Ben McKee, and in this article he talks about how investment trends are beginning to take on a green tint as socially conscious investing is beginning to grow. The article cites that $2 trillion are currently being invested in companies that are responsible for socially and environmentally conscious products and services. Essentially its investing with a conscience!

Denver is hosting a traveling seminar called BaseCamp SRI 2010, focusing on equipping investors to invest in socially conscious companies. It is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12th from 9am to 4:30pm at Hotel Monaco, located at 1717 Champa Street. Cost is $20.

For those of you who are sports fans, this day is a holiday of sorts.  It is the kickoff of the March Madness NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament!  I’ve heard different statistics on the number of man hours lost at work every year during these first days of the tournament, and they are pretty large.  This year I’m in a couple different tourney pools, so I definitely have a vested interest in the games.  It has been quite the eventful start to the tournament with 11th seeded Old Dominion beating 6th seeded Notre Dame, an upset that I had picked!  As I’m sitting here in the office typing this I’ve got my CBS Sports Update app up on my IPod Touch keeping me updated on all the scores!  The introduction of the smartphones and iPod Touch now allow me to simple glance down and see all the updated scores around the country rather than having to keep up multiple windows to follow the action!  I love technology!

My bracket took a small hit with Vandy losing and Florida dropping the ball in double overtime, but I’ll get a boost with the Old Dominion upset and the looming Saint Mary’s upset.  With 2:30 left SMC is up by 9, come on boys hang on!!!  I’m also watching the (5)Butler-(12)UTEP game  closer, hoping for the upset, currently UTEP is up by 2 with 3:30 left in the 1st half.  I love this time of year, and this level of competitive basketball can’t even be seen in the NBA!  I can’t wait to see what the rest of this month holds, hopefully it pays out!