New Climate Change Study Shows Planet Impact of Small Business Dedicated To Reducing Plastic Use

LAFAYETTE, Calif. - April 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Going waste free at lunchtime can measurably help with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new collaborative study released by a social venture specializing in plastic-free, reusable lunchware.

The carbon footprint analysis of ECOlunchbox was conducted by a team of graduate students. The study shows that through the sale of more than 225,000 lunchboxes, tens of millions of pieces of trash have been diverted.

The impact of this trash aversion resulting from the use of the company’s waste-free lunchware products was analyzed by the students and converted to a carbon dioxide equivalent in the company’s new study released in celebration of Earth Day 2015.

“It’s great to know how the planet impact we’re making adds up significantly,” said ECOlunchbox Founder Sandra Ann Harris, a Lafayette, Calif. mother of two who started the company in 2009. “We’ve known we’re making change lunch by lunch, but the scope of our positive impact even amazed me!”

As a socially responsible company, ECOlunchbox’s mission is to help people reduce their use of plastic food containers by providing non-toxic, stainless steel lunchboxes that are healthy for people and the planet.

The company was invited to Washington D.C. in March 2015 to share its impact at an event hosted by Reps. Mike Honda (D) of San Jose and Sam Farr (D) of Carmel. The congressmen are sponsoring legislation to reduce marine debris and exploring opportunities to support companies, like ECOlunchbox, that are working on reducing the plastic pollution problem.

“I think measuring the environmental impact of small companies like ECOlunchbox can be inspiring for other social entrepreneurs,” Harris said. “Little by little, independent business owners can use the capitalist engine to be part of solving social and environmental problems.”

ECOlunchbox collaborated with a team of students from the Presidio Graduate School’s sustainable management program to use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) in their analysis. The weight of the lunchtime trash averted through the use of the company’s stainless steel lunchboxes converted into a greenhouse gas equivalent using the U.S. EPA’s online tool.

The resulting calculation of the company’s annual greenhouse gas aversion in terms of metric tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) was then input into an equivalencies calculator. In everyday terms, the company’s positive impact on global warming is estimated to be equivalent to offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 5,469,048 miles driven by passenger vehicles in one year.

In other equivalencies, ECOlunchbox’s planet impact (http://ecolunchboxes.com/planet-impact/) can be described as equivalent to offsetting the CO2 emissions from 2.5 million pounds of coal burned, the carbon sequestered by 58,897 tree seedlings grown for 10 years, 316 homes’ electricity use for one year, or 5,342 barrels of oil consumed.

“When we look at our impact as a little company, I can’t help but think about how much more we could do with the support of an impact investor or partner company,” Harris said. “The opportunity to make change around plastics in our category is immense and we’re ready to take on this challenge.”

CONTACT INFO AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION

For more information about the study and methodology used to quantify ECOlunchbox’s impact, please go to: http://ecolunchboxes.com/planet-impact/

To reach ECOlunchbox, email info@ecolunchboxes.com or call 925-298-9220 ext. 1. Photos are available for download: https://plus.google.com/+ECOlunchboxes/photos

A video, which tells the story of our social enterprise’s mission, is available here: https://vimeo.com/124901932