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Starting a small business has presented many new experiences as well as frequent moments when my partners and I look at each other and say – “Wow, did you ever think you’d be doing this?” Dragging all our props into the convention center last Tuesday was definitely one of those moments. We had no idea what to expect or how Back2Tap would compare to the other exhibitors. Our booth turned out to be much better than some minimally adorned booths and pleasantly less commercial and cluttered than some big-time commercial fundraising company booths. We offered free tap water, a much less exciting option than the free pizza, cheesecake, chocolate and candies offered at other booths, but those who partook were quite grateful to quench their thirst with a healthy alternative.
One of the best parts of the day turned out to be watching people’s expressions as they first looked at our booth – they seemed puzzled but curious. Why was there a giant tower made of plastic bottles? What exactly was Back2Tap selling? Tap water? It took about 2-3 minutes to explain why bottled water is so wasteful and how selling Back2Tap stainless steel bottles as a green fundraiser could help the planet and help a school community. Only one person had heard of us, and only two people had considered this type of fundraising campaign. No other exhibitors offered a customized green fundraising item. Most of the other fundraising companies were offering the same old items- knickknacks, clothes, and unhealthy foods. Clearly, we were offering something new and different to the PTO Today audience.
For most of the day, all four of us were busy giving our elevator pitches to groups PTO parents as they wandered by our booth. I couldn’t help but notice that the booth across the aisle that had attracted lots of attention in the morning with its screen show and four active salespeople had quieted down by mid-day whereas we were still going strong. I think we were able to maintain our enthusiasm because we really believe that our cause, reducing plastic waste, is good beyond profits, and we get genuinely excited by convincing other people of that.
We noticed that some exhibitors had signs boasting of 55% profit margins for their customers. Is this number the best measure of a fundraising option? High profit margins usually mean the items are overpriced to the customer or are very cheaply made. We know from firsthand experience as parents and PTO volunteers that parents resent being asked to pay too much for fundraising items and lose enthusiasm when they are offered the same items they really don’t want year after year. This is why we chose to offer high quality reusable bottles priced close to retail with a 20-30% payback.
Tim Sullivan of PTO Today concurs in his March 2009 PTO Today article entitled: “More to Fundraising Than Profit”. Sullivan writes: “The best PTOs and PTAs aim to create a great community at their school, to grow parent involvement, to serve parents, and to help provide valuable resources for the school and the students.” This is exactly what Back2Tap is trying to do – spread a green movement through the school communities that will bring people together around a shared sense of concern and desire to do something good for the planet, for themselves and for their school.
I’m not sure how this happened, but twice this week I found myself sitting around a table with fellow “green teamers” discussing solar trees as a way to reduce our carbon footprint. First, I heard from Bob Ferguson about Envision Solar’s ground-breaking Solar Tree for parking lots. How brilliant is that? Parking lots are generally pretty hot, desolate places to begin with – putting up towers with photovoltaic cells couldn’t really “spoil” the ambiance there. In fact, the solar trees look pretty cool, and they provide some shade to cars and reduce the heat island effect caused by development. They even have outlets for charging electric cars. And of course, when they put a whole bunch of these trees together, they call them Solar Groves. Each tree in the grove produces 17,000 kWh per year, enough to power three typical San Diego homes for a year. Also fascinating, is their LifeVillage - an entire modular solar-powered village that can be constructed in developing nations to provide self-powered community infrastructure for people in need.
My second solar tree encounter this week was at a WeAreBOOST Contest to Camp CURE kickoff dinner in Trenton. WeAreBoost is running a Back2Tap reusable bottle fundraiser to raise money for the contest prizes. One of my fellow speakers was Rein Triefeldt, a solar kinetic sculptor from Trenton. He told us about his collaboration with an elementary school environmental club in Hillsborough, California. Together via iChat technology, he and the students designed a 25-foot grid-connected, energy-producing solar tree for the school yard. Then during the week of Earth Day 2008, they built a maquette (model) of their beautiful California Oak solar tree. They calculate that their solar tree will generate 7,300 kWh – enough power to re-charge 2.500 iPhones and iPod’s every day for a year. That’s something students were especially thrilled to learn! I think the students summed it up best: “Solar trees saving real trees – that’s just too cool!”
It’s almost springtime! Festivals and all sorts of events in their planning stages will soon be blooming like spring flowers all over the land. For the many Earth Day celebrations, “Green” fests and other events trying to operate more sustainably, there are ways to quench people’s thirst without resorting to cases or truckloads of bottled water.
For small events, like school field days and picnics, there are large “Gatorade” style containers that can be filled with tap water and ice. Everyone can bring their own reusable bottles to fill at the coolers as necessary. Just make sure the bottles are labeled with names before the fun begins! If it’s unlikely that most people attending your event will bring reusable bottles, you could offer disposable cups made out of PLA (corn plastic) or Bagasse (sugarcane fiber) that is biodegradable or cups made with some recycled material content. You will probably need to order these cups online and factor in time for shipping.
With a little upfront planning, it is even possible to free larger events like outdoor festivals from bottled water. For a helpful ten step program, I highly recommend the Food and Water Watch guide: “Free Your Event from Bottled Water, A Practical Guide to Take Back the Tap at Your Next Event and Avoid the Waste, Expense, and Environmental Problems with Bottled Water. Once you confirm that your caterer and vendors are on board, you need to identify the best tap water source, decide if you want to filter it, and calculate how much water you’ll need (1.5 liter/person). Next, plan self-serve water stations and choose serving containers. The final steps involve identifying partners to defray costs (e.g. municipalities, utilities, and water filtration companies), publicizing your event as bottled-water-free, and lining up volunteers to make it run smoothly.
An easy way to raise money to fund events large and small, while spreading the Back2Tap movement, is to sell custom logoed reusable stainless steel bottles. Please visit http://www.back2tap.com/ to learn more about how Back2Tap can help you “green” your event and raise money!
One day last week I picked my son up early from school for his annual physical. While at school, I checked out the brand new high-demand water cooler in the school cafeteria. The PTO purchased it with money raised during a Back2Tap reusable stainless steel bottle fundraiser. The installation of this cooler represents an exciting synergy between environmental protection, student health, and learning. The cooler is intended to encourage students to refill their reusable bottles so that they will drink more water (tap water rather than bottled), thereby reducing waste, improving health, and fostering learning.
As a Back2Tap fundraising coordinator last year, I had done some research on water coolers for schools and learned that Great Britain is a leader in this area. There is even a “Water Cooler ‘Point of Use’ Guidance for Schools” by Joe Harvey, Director of the Health Education Trust, an independent British charity. This 18-page document argues for installation of coolers in all schools (1 for every 200 people) and explains how to manage them efficiently. The guide quotes Ann Keen (Department of Health Under-Secretary) saying: “good hydration helps to reduce tiredness, irritability, and increases concentation. It contributes to a more settled and productive learning environment.” I was already aware that a healthy breakfast improved learning, but the importance of good hydration in education was new to me.
Later, at the doctor’s office, I was surprised and dismayed to find out that my son’s urine test indicated deydration. What? How could that be? He carries a big water bottle to school with him every day! The pediatrician told us how important it is to drink more water and stay hydrated. Yes, I know, I thought. How ironic to celebrate the arrival of the new cooler and find out my son is dehydrated on the same afternoon.
This coincidence made me appreciate the foresight of the PTO leaders for investing in the water cooler and of the principal for allowing students to have water bottles on their desks that they can refill during the day. If my son is getting dehydrated at school, I think that a very large percentage of students may also be dehydrated without realizing it. Once the students “discover” the great tasting filtered water from their new cooler and get into a habit of bringing in and refilling their reusable bottles, I am hopeful that they will all be better hydrated and better able to learn.
Last Saturday I participated in a forum called “Inventing the Future – Rebuilding Communities from the Inside Out” organized by We Are BOOST (Building Open Opportunity Structures Together) in Trenton, NJ. As I navigated my way to the event using the GPS system in my new Toyota Camry hybrid, I found a neighborhood ”in transition” – some of the old houses and buildings were boarded up, but many were cared for and charming. There was a feeling of hope here.
Once inside Planet Havana, the bar/nightclub hosting the all day event, I found the people who embodied that hope. Many of them had known each other for decades. All of them were committed to collaborating to find new solutions to old problems in their under-served Trenton neighborhood. In addition to hope, there was passion – the meeting began with local children aged 5 through 17 years reading their prize-winning poems on peace. Then each forum participant shared what they were doing and fielded questions.
After listening to the stories, I have to admit that the challenges faced in this community and others like it were not at all familiar to me – prolonged unemployment, crime, violence, prejudice, poor self-image, school water with high lead levels, industrial contamination of residential neighborhoods, and the difficulties of re-entering society after prison. All mind-boggling problems, and yet, my message about the wastefulness of bottled water and the importance of drinking tap water from reusable bottles was recieved with great interest and enthusiasm.
Maybe it was because getting Back2Tap is a simple concrete step that anyone can take toward a more sustainable lifestyle. Maybe it was because people who have been exposed to environmental contamination have a greater appreciation for the limitations of our planet and its vulnerability. Maybe it was because having less discretionary income motivates people to be less wasteful. Maybe it was because there is a mindfulness here that is far too uncommon. Maybe it was because of their unflagging hope for better days ahead.
At the end of the forum, over half of the crowd came up to take a brochure and express an interest in running a Back2Tap fundraising campaign with their particular organization or group. As I left, two of my beautiful new-found sisters Amini and Sa Mut gave me warm hugs that I won’t soon forget. As soon as I got back into my car and started for home, I discovered that Planet Havana is less than two blocks from a penitentiary surrounded by towering stone walls topped with huge bales of barbed wire that must serve as a constant reminder of how wrong things can go.
My new hope is that Back2Tap will be able to help these dynamic community organizers raise money, save money, and spread sustainability in their under-served community.
The trustees of the London School Board are considering banning bottled water from vending machines in their school district. During their deliberations, they raised valid points about the importance of offering and implementing solutions before “banning” bottled water. First, they need to ensure that there are enough working water fountains or water coolers. In the wake of the bottled water epidemic, many fountains have not been properly maintained. The students need to be educated so they understand that switching to another drink in a single serving disposable plastic bottle is not a suitable alternative for the planet or for their health. Lastly, reusable bottles should be made available to the students to make it easy for them to bring tap water or other drinks from home and to refill their bottles with tap water at school.
This Back2Tap movement is a win-win for the planet and for people’s wallets. To read more about how one company is encouraging schools across the United States to get Back2Tap and to raise money in the process, visit http://www.back2tap.com/.
