Eco Blog

Oregon Manufacturing Goes Green and Stays Local

EcNow Tech announces the start of local manufacturing of environmentally friendly compostable products in Corvallis, Oregon. Plant based polymers sourced in the U.S. are formed by EcNow Tech into useful products (food service and other) and provided to area restaurants and businesses. Local manufacturing is a key component to EcNow Tech’s vision for creating environmentally friendly closed loop systems for consumable products and improving local economies.
EcNow Tech believes local manufacturing is more conducive to sustainable and healthy communities. Trends in the United States have been to outsource US based manufacturing jobs to lower cost labor regions of the world. This has led to loss of vital skills, jobs and income needed to sustain healthy communities and economies.
A local Corvallis company, EcNow Tech has a vision for changing the outsourcing trend and improving their community’s carbon footprint. EcNow Tech believes local manufacturing makes good business sense and is better for the environment and the community.
When a product is manufactured, transported, consumed and composted locally it creates less waste and has a smaller carbon footprint. In sharp contrast, large distribution networks operate out of large hubs, use lots of energy and have significantly larger carbon footprints. Petroleum based plastic products have an inefficient life cycle as shown in the graphic below. The life cycle consists of sourcing crude oil, refining the oil, polymerizing the refined oil and creating pellets, manufacturing plastic products then disposing of them in the landfill where they sit for thousands of years. EcNow Tech’s goal is to break the cycle and create a locally sourced, closed loop, life cycle.

April 30, 2010

Lowering our dependence on petroleum based products makes good business sense and improves our community by reducing our carbon footprint and eliminating waste. Less than two years ago a barrel of crude oil approached $150 per barrel. As the world economy and standard of living continues to improve the price of oil will continue to rise. Oil is not a renewable resource and the basic principles of supply and demand will make petroleum based products very expensive in the future. Plant based products which are based on renewable resources are less likely to fluctuate over time.
When global warming and the environment are considered it is clearly better to manufacture, use a product and compost it locally versus expending energy and outputting carbon into the atmosphere when products are shipped long distances. Consumers and business owners have the power to make a sustainable choice and choose an alternative which supports their local community and reduces their carbon footprint.
EcNow Tech was started in 2008 and has a mission to eliminate our dependence on petroleum based products. The company’s goal is to steadily increase its ratio of locally manufactured products to those purchased overseas. To learn more about EcNow Tech visit our website at www.econwtech.com or stop by the Earth Smart Store located at 160 NW Jackson Ave, Corvalllis, Oregon.
Contact: chris.vitello@ecnowtech.com