With the news breaking over the last week regarding BPA and the dangers it potentially poses stores quickly began pulling items off their shelves. That was followed by a parade of online outlets following suit. BPA, or BISPHENOL-A is a compontent of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins used in made consumer products. In response and after careful consideration we will no longer be offering promotional water bottles beginning this Thursday.
Concerns over the safety of BPA have existed for years but were dramatically increased when a draft report by the National Toxicology Program was released. The reporters state they have “some concern” that BPA may affect neural and behavioral development “in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures.” The report also reiterated earlier concerns which include early puberty in girls and hyperactivity. At the same time Health Canada, the main government health department for that country, designated BPA as a “dangerous substance,” moving Canada closer to banning BPA entirely. Without debating the science there is enough legitimate concern at this stage that we removed all of our water bottles on Monday and will begin replacing them with certified BPA alternatives Thursday. We will no longer sell the bottles - even in the case of reorders that contain the substance. In addition we plan on requiring a letter from each vendor indicating their water bottles are clear of the chemical where it touches the liquid.
We continue to expand our line of products releasing the Gemline Luna Reversible Tote which carries the unique ability of being totally reversible presenting dual branding opportunities. Likewise the Leeds Observer Utility Tote has some of the strongest handles of any tote we have seen and is perfect for spring and summer needs. In addition we have changed some of the available options on the Leeds Alpine Lunch Cooler and lowered the price considerably.
By Monday we expect to have close to 200 new products geared towards existing industry trends available for sale. This will continue our focus on recycled and organic product development and in kind we expect to offer some first to market products. With that in mind we wanted to better explain our position on what "recycled" and eco-friendly really mean. We do not believe an eco-friendly product is simply a product that is reusable. In fact we believe this can be unintentionally deceptive. Practically any product can be reused, the fact that a water bottle made of new plastic is reusable does not make it eco friendly in our book. Apparently though we are in the minority as we see vendors and resellers listing products as green or sustainable simply because it can be used more than once. You will not see a product listed on our site in the recycled or organic categories unless it is actually a product made from those materials. A flashlight that works on being shaken isn't really any more eco friendly than a traditional flashlight with rechargeable batteries. In some cases it may actually have more of a footprint. A motion flashlight made from recycled materials - that is the type of product we believe benefits the environment.
