2. The impacts of over-consumption and over-waste
Earth Saver Inc., North Miami Beach, Fl
3. Some history...
• It becomes normal, that as countries become
wealthier, their level of consumption grows at
fast rates. People want to have more material
goods and feel that they will be happier owning
more. More land, more cars, more clothing,
more toys equal more happiness.
• After World War II, President Eisenhower’s
Council of Economic Advisors concentrated
their efforts of saving the economy on
consumption. As Victor LeBow, a retail analyst
pointed out in the 1950’s:
4. Some history...
"Our enormously productive economy ... demands that we
make consumption our way of life, that we convert the
buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our
spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in
consumption.... we need things consumed, burned up,
replaced, and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate."
President Eisenhower's council of economic advisors
chairman stated: "The American economy's ultimate
purpose is to produce more consumer goods." Not better
health care, education, housing, transportation, or
recreation or less poverty and hunger, but providing more
stuff to consumers.
All it takes is for us to ask our
grandmothers if back in the days they used to use each
and every item they owned, and discarded it six months
later…
7. Deforestation is one of the biggest
problems generated
by over-consumption
In the Amazon alone, we are losing 2000 trees per minute !
Source: www.rainforestlive.org.uk
8. Consumption
The United States has a population of nearly 290 Million
people. This is nearly 5% of the total world population. At the
same time $1 of every $5 consumed in the world is consumed
right here. This is a considerable disproportion, and more so
when we take the consumption of world resources where
United States “eats up” 30%. Something needs to be done
immediately because 30% of the world’s waste is produced
right here, according to the EPA(Environment Protection
Agency). Can someone imagine what would happen if every
nation had a consumption the size of what we have here?
We would need nearly 5 planets to live in !
9. Oil over-dependence and its consequences
The most important factor with regards to the
world dependence on oil is the amount of
CO2 being generated after the burning of
such fuels.
This burning, generates contamination and
greenhouse gases which in turn create acid
rain and melting of the ice caps. These last
two phenomenae kill animals and plants on
one hand and change the weather
dramatically on the other hand. If all cars and
trucks were electric for example, the problem
would be reduced drastically.
11. Economically, it hurts the
country as well…
The United States is the largest oil importer in the world, bringing in 13.5
million barrels per day (mbd)which cost nearly $1.3 Billion. This accounts for
63.5 percent of total U.S. daily consumption (20.6 mbd) Oil from the Middle
East--specifically, the Persian Gulf--accounts for 20 percent of U.S. oil
imports, and this dependence is growing. By 2017, the U.S. will be importing
approximately 68 percent of its oil needs. The only way to beat this trend is
to recur to alternate energy sources and to use less oil from different
sources such as oil sands, oil shale, deep water oil, coal to liquid and gas to
liquid and to go back to natural non-contaminating materials, eliminating the
use of plastics and other bi-products of petroleum.
Source: The Heritage foundation
12. Most fish and even coral reefs may start to
disappear in 40 years
“The world’s coral reefs are in danger of being killed off by rising levels
in greenhouse gases, according to a new study. Researchers from
Britain, the US and Australia, working with the UN and World Bank,
reported that 98% of the world’s reef habitats are likely to become too
acidic for corals to grow by 2050.
Dr James Hansen, Director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space
Studies in New York. Dr Hansen, one of the first people to warn of
climate change two decades ago, argued that building new coal-
burning power stations without the capacity to capture waste CO2 will
tip the planet towards irreversible warming. “
Source: The weekly planet Dec.27th, 2007
13. Here’s HOW CONSUMERS do their part
- don’t use paper or plastic unless it is
absolutely necessary
- change my light bulbs for energy
savers
- unplug my gadget chargers while
they're not in use
- switch my electricity supplier to a
renewable provider
- take more showers than baths
- curb my love of flying in big airplanes
- overcome my fear of public transport
- drive less, if at all
- drive more efficiently
- make more of my bicycle and legs…
14. Our Strategy
We target the food retail market, selling
printed earth-friendly bags in natural
materials for all their eco conscious
clientele.
Our price point is highly competitive:
Approximately $1.00 per bag is our
wholesale price. The suggested retail price
of the item ranges between $2.00 and 3.00.
Our source is the most important supplier of
these items in India, who makes branded
and non-branded items for us and has
experience and high quality items for the US
and European markets.
Earth-saver is a registered trademark which
we own, and our company has been part of
Green America with all its products being
certified green in North America. We
advertise this advantage in all our products.
15. Our online strategy permits us to sell to
consumers and retailers through our
website, www.earth-saver.com
Earth-saver has participated in several
tradeshows both green and food related
such as the FMI Chicago, which now moved
to Las Vegas. These key shows have
helped us engage with the most important
food marketers in the nation, as well as
some food retailers in Latin America.
We use both organic and non organic 100%
cotton and Jute for manufacturing the bags.
The eco friendly public appreciates natural
products and each day this group becomes
larger and larger. The future client will be
completely aware of the necessity of
reducing the use of plastic bags to a
minimum.
16. The Earth-saver branded bag
Taking advantage of
the acceptance we
had with our earth-
saver bag, we
decided to launch it
both at the retail
and online
business to
consumer level.
