Kids find new uses for FIJI bottles.

Summer is in full swing and my girls and I are loving the outdoors! I particularly love that my house stays cleaner. My kids are 2 and ready for my little art lessons I dreamed of when I was pregnant. I thought I”d teach them about recycling. What better way to practice than on FIJI Water bottles!

So far we”ve made:

• A flower vase
• Musical maracas (adding popcorn seeds to the empty bottles!)
• Bowling set (We bowl using a soccer ball and eight empty FIJI bottles)
• Airplanes (ok, the hole in the neck was where the “pilot” sits)
• Cardboard cars (We used the FIJI cardboard box to make cars that we”re painting)

We”ve got some fun stuff going on. Cheers to your summer and reducing your carbon footprint by recycling your plastic bottles!

And if you’re feeling really adventurous and crafty, why not try to recycle a few cases worth of bottles into a chandelier or haute couture dress?

Nothing I do is extraordinary or time consuming, but I feel good about my little part. Here’s a list of what I do:

• I have two garbage cans in my kitchen, one for soiled stuff, the other for recycling.
• I recycle all my used coffee grains and filters and feed them to my yard as natural fertilizer.
• I replaced all my household cleaners with earth-friendly and non-chemical solutions. Vinegar and water on my hardwood floors make them shine better than any other product I”ve ever used!
• When running the water for my kids’ bath, I don”t let the water warm up before putting the drain plug in.
• I replaced every bulb in the house with those CFL light bulbs.
• We have large fish tanks and bought a pump to water the lawn when we clean the tanks. The water has great fertilizer in it!
• We use the door hanger advertisements as coloring books for my kids, and recycle the ones that don”t get put on the refrigerator for display!
• On the weekends, we try to walk more and drive less.
• I sign up for paperless statements when they’re offered.
• I re-use envelopes for shopping lists, etc… blank, white envelopes are perfect!
• I turn off the water when I”m brushing my teeth.
• We unplug electrics after using them.
• We purchase predominantly organic food.

I”d love to hear little steps you take that help you live a healthy, greener life!

“With data compiled during an extensive bale composition study in 15 locations in 14 states, the 2008 NAPCOR PET analysis states: ‘Water bottles are now the most recycled container in curbside programs by weight, and overwhelmingly by number.’ PET water bottles now account for 50% of all the PET bottles and containers collected by curbside recycling. This trend was consistent in all curbside bales sampled nationally, with no major shifts observed in any other plastic container category. The biggest jump in water bottle collection for recycling was in California, where a state-funded consumer education campaign, emphasizing that water bottles are recyclable, seems to be having the desired effect.”

There’s still a lot more we can do, though. Check out FIJIGreen.com to learn more about recycling’s environmental benefits, play a recycling game, and find out how you can help improve recycling rates across the board!

FIJI Water and its hundreds of employees in Fiji were proud to join Fiji”s Earth Hour celebrations this year. On March 28th from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, the factory in Yaqara shut down bottled water operations and used critical lighting only, as did the logistics, finance, and foundation offices in Lautoka and Suva. We encouraged our employees, friends, and neighbors in the communities around our factory to do the same, supplied water to Earth Hour volunteers in the West, and also assisted in the collection and recycling of those donated bottles.

Elsewhere in Fiji, landmark buildings turned off their lights, restaurants held candlelit dinners with live guitar serenades, and at resorts guests were guided to their rooms by tiki torch.

Participating in this year”s Earth Hour is a part of our ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and the environment. As we work on big projects – cutting emissions across our products’ entire life cycle, promoting local recycling, investing in forest carbon and renewable energy projects- we also remember that there are small things we can all do every day to make a difference on our planet.

For more information about Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org and see how you and your community can be a part of next year”s celebration.

Celebrities like Hayden Panettiere and Nicole Richie have been spotted at Ecco, and Discovery Channel’s Planet Green – recognizing the eco-friendly milestone Ecco will establish in the nightlife industry – will feature the venue on its show “Alter Eco,” hosted by “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier.

Ecco serves FIJI Water as its exclusive bottled water and also offers two cocktails made with FIJI Water:

• Absinthe-Minded (Enjoy with Caution!): Organic Lucid Absinthe, Sugar, FIJI Water, Wormwood
• Alter Eco: Juniper Green Organic London Dry Gin, Fresh Lemon Juice, a Few Drops of Rose Infused FIJI Water

So the venue is a place to see and be seen, the water tastes great, and the cocktails are yummy. But what makes Ecco eco-friendly? Well, it features (among other things):

• Multi-colored, energy-efficient, state-of-the-art LED lighting system, exclusively designed and installed by Disco Designer and Cosmos Lighting
• Power supplied by LA Department of Water & Power”s Green Power resources
• Superior Organic cuisine and liquors
• Cold & Heat Insulation, saving 20% of standard energy use through high quality insulation
• Energy efficient recycled steel air pressure toilets and waterless urinals
• State of the art “Dyson Airblades” hand dryers
• Free valet for hybrid vehicles
• Paperless Solution for ticketing and reservations – Provided by UpCode Solutions USA and its Mobile Access & Interaction technology (MAI)ô
• Audio provided by Turbosound, winners of the Best Club Awards 2008 “Best Sound System & Best Sound Product”

It’s amazing to see how many details the club owners, designers, and operators thought about as part of their effort to minimize Ecco’s environmental impact. Click here to learn more!

I figure there’s no time better than the food-filled holiday season to update you on my progress. Some great ideas that readers shared with me included preparing food that tastes good as cold leftovers, going for raw foods, incorporating ingredients from the local farmers’ market, and just eating cereal sometimes (thanks to dropofkim, CatieB, and Betty!). (You know, I love eating cereal with fruit for dinner. It’s yummy and nutritious, and it reminds me of college! Can’t believe I’d forgotten that was an option, so thank you for the reminder.)

Especially during summertime, it was lovely to pull together simple but delicious salads, use the abundance of gorgeous produce to make vegetarian entrees that taste good without reheating the next day, and have more light and refreshing options in the warm weather. And of course, with my eating less meat and using less gas and electricity to heat food, my carbon footprint dropped too. One of my favorite dishes is a simple cannellini dip that takes five minutes to prepare, tastes amazing and flavorful, and is even better after a day in the refrigerator. With some pita bread for dipping and salad and fruit on the side, it makes at least a couple of easy and satisfying meals.

But with the colder weather settling in, I’m eager for warmer dinner options. Apart from substituting oatmeal for cereal, I now know how to reheat food properly on the stove, thanks to dropofkim: Add a little water and heat on low. And I’ve found doing this means the food heats up evenly and stays hot much longer than when warmed in a microwave. I’ll also visit favorite restaurants from time to time to enjoy a good meal. Especially with the economic downturn, I’m feeling keen to support neighborhood businesses where I can.

I haven’t given up entirely on getting a microwave. There’s still a lot to be said for the convenience! But I’m going to keep in mind jcwindsor’s suggestion to find an EnergyStar appliance and CatieB’s suggestion to find a kitchen cart made of recycled and/or repurposed materials. In the past, I’ve found some gorgeous furniture for great prices at consignment shops, garage sales, and the like – I love finding antiques and artisan pieces at bargain prices! Now, I suspect “antique microwave cart” is an oxymoron, but I still like the idea of finding a way to repurpose materials and keep them out of landfill. Another option could be to find a cart made of rapidly renewable resources like bamboo, which also looks beautiful.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions – I love the creativity, the variety, and most of all the delicious results!

The winners were selected by a panel of seven judges, including three sustainability experts: Cody Sisco, manager of Advisory Services at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR); Daniel Esty, green thought leader and co-author of Green to Gold; and Mike Sweeney, executive director of The Nature Conservancy’s California chapter.

FIJI’s IT team has been hard at work finding ways to make our software and hardware systems greener. In May 2008, the team reconfigured our enterprise software systems – using a tool called Oracle VM – so that we could put them all on one physical machine. This achievement reduced the need for extra hardware and cabling, physical space, and electricity, and we now use 8 CPU boxes where we once used 32. This work, along with replacement of old servers with energy-efficient ones, resulted in data center energy savings of 20% for production servers and 59% for test servers. There are also financial benefits; the energy bill for our hosted servers has dropped by about two-thirds.

In addition, the IT team has used Oracle’s auto-notification features to eliminate paper usage for invoices and purchase orders in our Fiji offices. This will help us avoid printing about 12,000 pages per year. While the direct impact of this change is relatively small – equivalent to saving one tree – we believe every bit makes a difference.

“Global businesses recognize that environmental responsibility is good business,” said Oracle Chairman, Jeff Henley. “Whether green projects are driven by an organization’s desire to protect the environment, reduce costs, produce eco-friendly goods to meet growing consumer demand, or comply with increasing levels of government regulation, the results can be both good for the environment and good for business. Oracle’s ‘Empower the Green Enterprise’ awards showcase the success of environmental IT initiatives and the tangible business benefits our customers across the world are realizing by pursuing green practices.”

Other award recipients included: Alcoa, Australian Vintage Limited, BT, Dell, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Ingersoll-Rand, Intercall, Interface, Motorola, National Ignition Facility & Photon Service, Novartis International AG, PG&E, Standard Parking, Sun and Supervalu.

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” has emerged as a mantra of modern conservation, and we at FIJI Water wholeheartedly support this. Recycling allows a container to live a second life as another good, minimizes landfill use, and lowers the carbon footprint of our product by at least 25%! These are some of the reasons why we insist on having recycling bins at our many events across the country. By promoting recycling, we hope to remind everyone that like blue jeans, recycling is still very much in vogue.

Beyond raising awareness, our support for recycling is about results. In the first half of 2008 we supplied 331,000 bottles of the world”s best water to a variety of events and venues. If every one of those bottles goes into a recycling bin, that represents a reduction of 33 metric tonnes of CO2. To achieve the same reduction, you”d have to pledge to walk to work for the next year – and to convince eight of your friends to do the same!

Because our product is carbon negative, each bottle results in a net reduction of carbon from the atmosphere. Add this into the equation, and by drinking & recycling 331,000 bottles of FIJI Water, we avoid or remove 53 metric tonnes of CO2. This has the same impact as planting over 1,200 trees!

Below are some photos of our stylish recycling bins at various events. I think you”ll agree they not only raise awareness and reduce emissions, but add a touch of class. Stay hip and recycle!

Hard Rock Hotel’s Save the Planet Golf Tournament in Las Vegas

De La Mar Hotel’s Yacht Showcase held in Greenwich, CT

Aspen Food & Wine Classic

What made Australia an appropriate venue for sharing the story of FIJI Water’s path to sustainable growth?

• FIJI Water and Australia are in the same boatÖoften literally when it comes to their products.
• The effects of climate change are already apparent in both Fiji and Australia, with rising sea levels in Fiji, and heat waves, less rain, and increased drought in Australia.
• The food & beverage category represents a vital export contributor and economic growth opportunity for both countries. FIJI Water comprised almost 20% of Fiji”s exports in 2007, while food exports comprised almost 20% of Australian merchandise exports in 2005, with beef, dairy, fish, grain, and wine as the leading contributors.
• Because of their distance from their major export markets, both FIJI Water and Australia are sometimes challenged by “food miles” misconceptions.

As Barbara explained in her introduction, “What I want to do today is share what we’ve been doing at FIJI Water, of course, but more importantly share with you the lessons we’ve learned on our path to sustainability in the hope that it would be helpful to you as well.” At FIJI Water, we think of sustainability as a journey, not a destination, since there is always room for improvement in how a company does business and how we as individuals live our lives. And it’s much easier (and more fun!) to travel this road when we can all help each other do so.