Posted by Jessica, BiOH Polyols Marketing Manager on February 26, 2009
According to a recent report from Boston Consulting Group, the answer is no. BCG surveyed 9,000 adults in 9 countries to assess consumer attitudes towards green products. BCG noted the following conclusions that I found interesting…
1) More consumers intentionally purchased green products in 2008 than 2007
2) There is confusion around what “green” really means, and consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical about green products
3) Consumers want advice on how to evaluate product claims
4) Consumers were willing to pay a little more for some green products – if they believe they are healthier, safer, or better for the environment
5) Consumers remain unaware of green option in many categories and believe that choices are limited
6) BCG recommends companies think beyond just product but consider green in 4 P’s – planning, processes, products, & promotion
From my standpoint of promoting products that contain BiOH polyols, I see a lot of opportunities around education and awareness – providing data on soy content in foams, educating about cushioning choices and options, sharing retail locations and manufacturers that carry BiOH products, etc. After you read the study, what opportunities do you see? Do you agree with their findings?
Posted by Jessica, BiOH Polyols Marketing Manager on February 18, 2009
Although I would always support purchasing new furniture from any of the furniture manufacturers using BiOH® polyols (and then reselling or recycling your old furniture of course!), there are ways to make your existing furniture a bit more eco-friendly if it needs updating. Consider reupholstering your furniture with soy foam or selecting more environmentally-friendly fabrics.
I spent the extended President’s Day weekend on a long anticipated project… reupholstering my dining room chairs with Preserve™ foam made with BiOH® polyols. This was not as simple as the DIY websites made it seem! It gave me an even greater respect for the fine craftsmanship that happens daily in furniture manufacturing plants. If you are looking for soy foam for your reupholstering project, I recommend that you reach out to a local upholstering shop to see if you can purchase soy foam from them or you can order the 1835 or 1850 foam from Creative Thread Arts that is made in part with soy-based BiOH ingredients.
Cutting fabric for the seat
An up close look at one of the finished chairs
The project is complete, and I love the new look and feel. Now I just need to organize a dinner party to truly test the results!
Are you planning an eco-friendly project of your own around the house? We’d love to hear about it – leave us a comment!
Posted by Jessica, BiOH Polyols Marketing Manager on February 13, 2009
Here’s your chance! As part of the BiOH Experience, we hope to make a difference with you by setting a goal around a specific project every few months and challenging our community to get involved. Imagine the possibilities! We felt our first project was quite timely given challenging economic times –reducing hunger in our communities.
1 in 8
Did you know 1 in 8 Americans struggles with hunger according to Feeding America? We have partnered with them to try to fill 10,000 bowls of food. Every dollar donated to Feeding America provides 16 bowls of food to those in need! (I don’t know about you, but I can’t make a dollar stretch that far on my own!) You can donate through Feeding America’s site easily… with as little or as much as you feel compelled to do.
We’ll provide updates on our progress in our Helping Out section every couple of weeks. Stay tuned for how many bowls we’ll fill in February…and a BIG thank you to those who help out!
Posted by Jessica, BiOH Polyols Marketing Manager on February 6, 2009
I readily admit that just a few years ago I didn’t spend a lot of time (or any time actually) thinking about what was inside my sofa cushions. It’s amazing what a few years in the BiOH® polyol business has done to me! Given how much I’ve learned over the past few years, I thought it might be helpful to address a few misconceptions around soy foam in our blog over the next few weeks.
Misconception #1 – Soy foam is made from 100% soy ingredients.
It’s not possible today. Soy-based BiOH® polyols are used to replace a portion of the petrochemical ingredients used to make flexible polyurethane foam (the cushioning that’s probably in your sofa). Typical soy content levels in commercial foam products range from 5 to 20% of the total foam. Given that 100% petro was the standard just a few years ago, I think our foam customers, furniture, bedding, carpet and car manufacturers are making great progress!
PS – I’d love to hear your questions, concerns, or thoughts on soy-based foams so that I can address them in future posts. Thanks!
Posted by Jessica, BiOH Polyols Marketing Manager on February 5, 2009
As 2009 kicked off a few weeks ago, I surveyed BiOH team members to find out what steps they took in 2008 to lessen their environmental footprint. The responses were quite interesting… from increased use of reusable shopping bags to composting, they did some cool stuff! Here are just a few replies –
“Purchased a rotary mower instead of a gas powered mower”
“Bought more digital music instead of physical copies of records”
“Purchased an energy efficient dish water that uses less energy and less water”
“Pressurized car tires to higher levels for better gas mileage.”
“Switched to eco-friendly cleaning products”
“Signed up for pilot compost collection program”
Plus LOTS of recycling, use of cloth shopping bags, adjusting thermostats, and switching light bulbs. It all adds up! We’re curious…. What did you do?
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