September 11, 2010, Corvallis, Oregon. Corvallis Farmers’ Market, Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Waste Prevention Action Team, Allied Waste of Corvallis, and the Earth Smart Store of Corvallis are partnering in a five-week Mixed Organics Cart Pilot Program at the Saturday site of the Corvallis Farmers ’ Market. The goal of the project is to promote composting of organic material that would otherwise be sent to the landfill. The Mixed Organics Cart made its first appearance at the Sept. 11 market and was hosted by the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Waste Prevention Action Team. On Sept. 18 and 25 and Oct. 2 and 9, the cart will be located in the food court area of the market and staffed by community volunteers.
This is the first time that there has been a Mixed Organics Cart available for patrons of the Farmers’ Market to use. The idea sprouted when Rebecca Landis, farmers’ market director, visited the Earth Smart Store to learn more about locally manufactured and compostable food service products, such as plates and utensils. “Now that Allied Waste Commercial/Event Mixed Organics Carts accept meat and dairy, as well as approved compostable food service products that the Earth Smart Store offers, it is a great time to test it out in the community,” said Holli Ogle, Earth Smart Store co-owner.
The Farmers’ Market Mixed Organics Cart pilot partners hope to compost a significant amount of waste and set the stage for more waste reduction at next season’s markets. Many of the same community leaders who helped the 2010 da Vinci Days Festival Composting Program divert a ton of trash from the landfill are helping to drive this pilot and continue to look for ways to make Corvallis more sustainable.
Learn how to be more sustainable at your home or workplace and get involved by contacting one of the pilot sponsors. For more information about local manufacturing of compostable products, e-mail Sales@EcNowTech.com or stop by the Earth Smart Store at 160 NW Jackson Avenue. Information about the commercial and residential Mixed Organics Cart offerings from Allied Waste Services of Corvallis is available at www.corvallis.disposal.com. To volunteer with the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Waste Prevention Action Team, email info@sustainablecorvallis.org. The Corvallis Farmers’ Market can be found on 1st and Jackson, Saturdays through November 20, 9 am to 1 pm and at http://locallygrown.org.
Category - Company News
Community Organizations and Businesses Run Pilot Program to Reduce Landfill Waste
September 16, 2010
2010 Product Catalog Now Available!
February 15, 2010
Our product catalog is now available. It contains information on our company commitment along with the many other eco-friendly products that we carry. The catalog is focused around our wholesale, restaurant, and catering customers, so make sure to stop by the store to see our retail offerings.
EcNow Tech Receives Entreprenuer of the Year Award
February 11, 2010
On January 20, 2010, Paul and Chris received a tremendous surprise at Celebrate Corvallis 2010. The night is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and numerous awards are given out for First Citizen, Business of the Year, Young First Citizen and Entrepreneur of the Year among many other community awards.
The EcNow Tech team was nominated and received the award at this gala event. We are very thankful to those who nominated us and for the committee for selecting us for the award. Our goal is to be a key part of the community for many years to come by providing innovative environmentally friendly products, an outstanding workplace and a center of knowledge for our customers.
A reporter made the following comment on the night. “– One of the nicer lines of the evening came from Chris Vitello, who won Entrepreneur of the Year with his partner, Paul Nash, for their EcNow Tech business, which makes plates and utensils that can be composted. “People ask us, what’s our exit strategy? Our answer is, ‘what’s our staying strategy?’ ” Vitello said he and Nash are committed to keeping the growing business here in the mid-valley.
http://mikemcinally.mvourtown.com/2010/01/21/notes-from-celebrate-corvallis/
From the Celebrate Corvallis Slide Show:
Entrepreneur of the Year
Chris Vitello and Paul Nash - Nominated by Anne Schuster
Chris Vitello and Paul Nash, whose careers were shaped by the do-right philosophies of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, are themselves doing well by doing right. In 2008, they founded EcNow Tech to reduce trash be making plates, cups, forks and spoons out of materials that could be composted, instead of thrown into the garbage. After less than two years, they have customers from Alaska to California to New Jersey. In Corvallis, you can see their ever expanding product line at the Earth Smart Store, which opened in July on Jackson Street in the former Avalon Cinema building. With EcNow Tech products, you can throw a party without throwing anything away.
Saving an old barn
July 9, 2009
The Earth Smart Store is connected with a local craftsman who saves old barns which are going to be demolished or destroyed and turns the wood into useful products. We embraced the idea and are working with him to develop innovative products from the old barn wood materials.
We are pleased to offer products made from the wood from a barn built in 1910 at the Earth Smart Store. Below is a picture of an Adirondack Chair and table made from the old growth timbers used to build the barn. Each item comes with a placque which details the history of the family and barn.
Products made from the old barn wood:
- Kitchen utensil holders
- Adirondack Chairs
- Custom frames with custom framing available
- Party plates (flat plates which hold a glass of wine and appetizers at parties)
- Business card holders
- More products on the way!
Bricks and Mortar
As EcNow Tech has expanded we recently found an ideal location with a larger warehouse which also happens to have a storefront right next to the Corvallis Farmers Market. We made the decision in June of 2009 to open our doors to the general public to enable them to purchase compostable products for the home. The Earth Smart Store grand opening occurred on June 27th and offers a wide array of green products to our customers including:
- Compostable food service items such as cups, plates, utensils, bags
- Environmentally friendly products for the home such as G-Diapers (flushable non-oil based diapers), green cleaners, organic cotton products, recycled glass products, countertop composters, non-tree papers and cards (with wildflower seeds embedded so that you can plant the card after it is read).
- Green building products. Cork, Corkoleum and Hardwood flooring. Osmo wood finish products.
- Green gifts made from compostable, natural and recycled materials
Please stop by for a visit and turn your summer barbecues, weddings, events green !!! This year we will compost 20 tons of waste which would have ended up in the landfill ! 
The Earth Smart Store
160 NW Jackson Ave
Corvallis Oregon 97333
541-207-3480
Green Events are Great Events
May 26, 2009
Memorial Day was really special this year for several reasons. We spent a beautfil, blue sky, eighty degree day at Tyee Vineyards in Corvallis Oregon. Great food, wine and music were provided by the Vineyard and Nearly Normals restaurant. Both Tyee and Nearly Normals partnered with EcNow Tech to make the event green by using compostable products.
Tyee is a century farm with several generations of the family growing and producing outstanding wines. They recently purchased a solar grid and will power all of the winery operations with the solar cells. Not only is the wine outstanding but they are tremendous community supporters.
EcNow Tech helped with the event by providing the compostable wine tasting cups and food service products like plates, utensils, hot and cold cups. At the event we provided signage for the garbage cans for compostable products and assisted attendees with finding the right cans for regular versus compostable garbage. Education and proper signage are the keys to a successful event.
I am proud to say that the event went very well and it is very satisfying to say that at the end of the 200 person event there were two fifty five gallon trash bags of compostable and food waste versus a small handful of regular trash. Before sending the waste to the commercial compost facility sorting was done to determine how well the signage and assistance worked at the event.
The pictures below show the quantity of disposable products ready for composting and the water bottles which were mixed in the compostable waste bags. There were a few, small plastic bags also mixed in with the compostable materials. Not too bad for an event this size. Most people read the signage and made the right decisions with little or no assistance.
Great food, great wine, great people, great music and two fifty five gallon bags of waste to be turned into useable compost in 60-90 days. It doesn’t get any better than that ! Congratulations to Tyee Vineyards and Nearly Normals for going GREEN.
EcNow Tech Introduction
April 9, 2009
EcNow Tech develops, manufactures and distributes environmentally friendly products. We offer unique capabilities to our customers and ensure our products meet and exceed our customers performance and price criteria.
EcNow Tech is a customer focused company and we pride ourselves on solving problems. In the upcoming blog posts we will entertain technical discussions on materials, products and topics on sustainability.
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