A few weeks back I did a story about a company called Cereplast.  The company is publicly traded on the OTCBB. The symbol is CERP. Cereplast makes a water bottle that can fully decomposed in 180 days rather than the usual 1000 years. That was a revelation for me. 

The idea for the story came to me after I got a first hand look at a garbage dump and the millions of plastic bottles being pushed about by the plows trying to manicure its pungent landscape.  In looking for what was being done about this huge problem I came across Cereplast. 

Since that article ran, I have received tons of emails pointing me to even more major environmental issues that we are currently facing.  A majority of these talked about large scrap tire stockpiles that exist which present some real human health risks right now, forget about the long term environmental impact.

These hazardous waste piles provide a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes and rats. They can catch on fire as a result of lightning strikes, equipment malfunctions or arson. These tire fires can smolder for weeks and months, releasing extremely toxic pollutants into the air, creating serious respiratory and other health problems for people in the vicinity and many miles away. Runoff water from such fires is also laden with toxins, which can contaminate water supplies.

According to an EPA Scrap Tire Cleanup Guidebook, 290 million automobile and truck used tires are discarded by Americans every year.  We recycle about 80 percent of those tires which leaves 55 million tires (19 percent) not reclaimed that are being thrown into landfills or, even worse, disposed of illegally on roadsides and properties around the country.

Ok, I got the picture. This is a huge problem which means huge opportunity. So, there is obviously a huge opportunity for companies that find solutions to get those tires out of land fills and do something positive with them.  You could do what my Dad did and tie a rope to a tire and hang it from a tree. There... we recycled one tire into a swing.  But, trees bearing tire-swing fruit is not the answer. 

As I was digging, I came across a company with an interesting solution.  Its clear to me that no one company can offer “Thee” solution to fix this entire problem, but I think innovative companies can do things that open our minds to what is possible. When that happens we can chip away at these piles of tires, one solution at a time.

I found a company that has found a couple of solution to the problem. Not only have they found solutions, but they are offing them in the market place as we speak.  The company is B Green Innovations, Inc. They trade on the OTCBB: ticker symbol BGNN.

B Green Innovations currently offer two really good products that are very impressive in both the simplicity of what they do and the impact to our environment on several levels.

The first product line has two innovations... EcoPad and VibeAway.

Here's the idea. What would happen to your car if it had no shock absorbers?  Shock absorbers take on all the potential damage of the road instead of transferring it to the vehicle itself.  Think about the effect of those direct pothole shots right to your engine.  Your car would be mush after driving for just a year. Take that idea and transfer it to heavy equipment or even something as small as a washing machine.  In both cases the vibration of these machines bounces back from the hard surfaces and create long term damage. 

B Green Innovations EcoPad and VibeAway are made from recycled tire rubber. They are shock absorption pads that are used to reduce sound, vibrations, and pulsating of heavy equipment in the case of EcoPads or Washing Machines with VibeAway. 

Both these products extend the life of the machines, which lesses more waste for needless repair and maintenance and EcoPads and VideAway  are made from those piles of hazardous tires. 

This is a huge win for everyone and major manufactures have jumped on the band wagon to offer these products.  Companies like Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag, Johnstone Supply and Ferguson are all selling these products.  MEGA Group USA, also known as Best Brands Plus, a 1500 member (2300 store front), national buying group of independent Appliance, Furniture, Mattress, Electronics, and Lawn & Garden retailers did a national rollout of VibeAway January of this year (2010) .

Timing...

The company just began sales of the EcoPad and VibeAway. Now they are about to open another big door to innovation.  B Green Innovations is in the final stages of bringing to market a line of plastic garbage, compactor and pet bags which will decompose in a land fill in 200 days.  The bags are food friendly and don't pollute the environment.  You can see the test images of the bags on their site. http://bit.ly/9mBwHc  These bags will be on the market middle of 2010.

As of the writing of this story, shares of B Green Innovations trade at .0034 a share. They announced today (2-24-10)  that they raised $1.1 million in a Preferred stock offering.  So they will have the money necessary to launch their new trash bag product and expand operations of their current lines.

I really like the idea of what the company is doing.  I am impressed when a company can take on a noble mission and do it profitably. If B Green Innovations can help clean up piles of tires, create jobs in the process, create a product line that further enhances our lives and can show a profit to shareholders all at the same time... thats a huge win for everyone.