April 22, 2014

EARTH DAY RESOLUTION: TIME TO MAKE A LIFESTYLE CHANGE.

JOIN MY ECO REUSE GROUP NOW.

New App Available in iTunes. No More Excuses. Easy and Fun Way to Shop with Reusable Bags

(Montclair, NJ) DID YOU REMEMBER YOUR REUSABLE BAG TODAY? WHY NOT?? Americans use 100 billion plastic bags per year – enough to blanket the earth several times. It’s time to change the way we shop. It’s time to remember reusable bags. Earth Day reminds us how critical it is to protect our planet everyday. MY ECO’s mission is to bring reuse to the forefront of consumer behavior 365 days a year.

Millions of consumers have purchased reusable bags but less than 3% are reusing them. Why not? MY ECO has eliminated the excuses by providing technology to help you remember to bring your bags. MY ECO is trailblazing REAL CHANGE one reuse at a time. Empowering consumers to join a Reuse Group, MY ECO offers new tools and technology to increase reuse, by making it easy and fun and with measurable results. The EPA considers reuse more important than recycling, since reuse uses no additional energy or natural resources.

MY ECO founder Kristen Brown has a personal connection to the cause. Her father, Gordon Dancy, patented one of the first versions of the plastic grocery bag.

His invention helped coin the iconic question “Paper or plastic?”, which changed consumer behavior and revolutionized the grocery bag industry. Thirty years later, we are once again in need of behavior change at the supermarket. We now know that both paper and plastic disposable bags harm the environment. The average household uses 1,000 disposable bags per year. Clearly, it is time to make a change.

The MY ECO Reuse App offers a simple registration process to get started. First, download the app to your iPhone or Android smartphone. After creating an account, you can join a Reuse Group that enables eco-minded shoppers to work together, encourage each other, and share the satisfaction in making a difference with reusable bags. With technology rooted in behavioral science, the smartphone app combines guilt-free reminders, team camaraderie, and the excitement of immediate results – all in the palm of your hand.

The MY ECO Reuse App sends a calendar alert on your designated shopping day to remind you to bring your reusable bags. The App uses geo-tracking technology to notify you when you get to the store to be sure you remember to bring your reusable bags inside. Upon check-out, simply key in your total dollars spent shopping (or scan the MY ECO QR code at Partner Retailers) to enter your results.

With the exclusive MY ECO Scorecard, users can measure and celebrate personal reuse success in real time. The Scorecard keeps a running tab of the quantity of bags you’ve saved from landfills, calculating your personal total and the totals of those within your community against your set reuse goals. The Scorecard also tracks your reuse alongside other eco-responsible individuals in different Reuse Groups so you can see the power of collective action.

The MY ECO Shopping Bag Sets were created to make using reusable bags easy, efficient and fun. For more information go to: www.getmyeco.com to buy your reusable bag NOW and JOIN the movement.

ABOUT MY ECO:

MY ECO is a sustainability business that uses technology to measure and influence consumer reuse behavior. The MY ECO approach helps consumers break the disposable- bag habit through positive reinforcement, social engagement and financial incentives; and by creating a collaborative relationship between consumers and retailers to benefit non-profit organizations. MY ECO was founded in 2010 by Kristen Brown, a former U.S. EPA consultant and the daughter of Gordon Dancy, who developed one of the first high-density plastic grocery bags. MY ECO strives to abate the 100 billion disposable bags used in the U.S. every year.

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ReUse Jersey City, an initiative launched to promote reusable bag use, has the goal of reducing the number of plastic bags throughout the city.

During a press conference to highlight the program today in Arlington Park, Tom Cherry, CEO of MY ECO — one of the campaign’s sponsors — said the city uses an estimated 100 million plastic bags a year, which end up in landfills, on streets and clogging drainage pipes.

“We don’t have a product problem, we think there is a habit problem,” Cherry said. “What we are trying to do is change the behavior of people in communities to get them to move away from disposable bags and towards reusable bags.”

That goal, Cherry said, will be reinforced by something nearly everyone already has: their cell phone.

People are being encouraged to download the MY ECO app, which is supported on iPhone and Android. The app will serve as a reminder for people to take their reusable bags with them to the store, track the number of bags you save and provide a plethora of other metrics.

However, habits are hard to change, Cherry conceded. So the campaign has worked with local retailers to take some of those cost savings they will realize when people are using less plastic and invest them back into the community.

Local retailers will take some of those savings and donate them to local schools and nonprofits, such as the Jersey City Parks Coalition.

In fact, those that download the MY ECO app will be able to select which nonprofit or school in Jersey City will receive the money.

Retailers that have already joined the campaign include the A&P at 125 18th St., and Pathmark locations at 321 Stadium Plaza and 420 Grand St.

Laura Skolar, president of the Jersey City Parks Coalition, said the campaign is a win-win for both the environment, and local schools and nonprofits.

“For the nonprofit, it is really special that we can have donations from this program go directly to our parks,” Skolar said.

Florance Holmes, co-founder of the nonprofit Friends of Arlington Park, said the funds generated by ReUse Jersey City will be a “great help” to organizations such as hers.

“We need whatever we can get for this park,” Holmes said as she looked over the park. “I have such a big dream for this park.”

ReUse Jersey City is sponsored by Goldman Sachs, Bag the Habit and MY ECO.

Chanda Gibson, vice president in corporate services and real estate at Goldman Sach’s, said the campaign brings sustainability both to the environment and charities in the city.

“It’s a beautiful thing when your environmental commitments can meet your social commitments, and this was an initiative that we felt we could support,” said Chanda, a local resident for a dozen years. “It was a way we felt like we could support sustainability and a local school or charity of your choice.”

In addition, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, a sponsor of the campaign, is giving away 1,500 reusable, eco-friendly bags to the community and local schools.

Bag the Habit, a Jersey City business, has also launched a bag design competition for artwork that will appear on the reusable bags. Residents can submit their designs now through May 27 in two categories: general resident and student under 18 years old. Submissions can be sent to www.reusejc.org/design.

The submissions will be whittled down to finalists, before residents then vote for the design of their choice online in June. Two winners — one from each category — will receive a $250 cash prize and have their design printed on the bags.

Holly Tienken, co-founder of Bag the Habit, said the campaign will change the way people in Jersey City think about plastic bags.

“The reusable bag design competition, coupled with the ReUse Jersey City effort to eliminate single-use bags, will get city residents thinking about the importance of ditching plastic and excited about reusable bags,” said Tienken.

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The first Earth Day was in 1970. It was created in the United States to increase public awareness of environmental problems.

Now it’s celebrated every year by more than a billion people in 180 nations. Earth Day is credited with starting the environmental movement in the U.S.

A local group of people behind the company “MY ECO” produce reusable tote bags so you can lower your carbon footprint.

Just in time for Earth Day, the MY ECO Reuse app is now available for iPhone users.

It tracks your use of reusable bags at your favorite grocery stores to show you how much of an impact you’re making when you ditch plastic bags.

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=1034252#.U1Zb9q1dVbW

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For the last four years Shaws has had a zero waste policy. When the company learned about MY ECO, the grocery giant was excited about the opportunity. “Shaws and Star Market are excited to partner with a company like MY ECO to help promote the use of reusable bags,” Shaws spokesman Jeff Gulko said. “By making a donation to local schools, we feel that we are helping promote change through our future generations. Customers are rewarded for using reusable bags through monetary donations made to the school of their choice.” Gulko said schools have expressed their appreciation to both Shaws and Star Market and MY ECO. “The schools and PTO’s are excited for another way to help raise funds for their school programs,” he said.

Founded by the company’s president, Kristen Brown, MY ECO partners with businesses and communities to provide solutions for greater sustainability. Ironically, Brown’s father, Gordon Dancy, patented one of the first versions of the plastic grocery bag. His invention helped coin the iconic question, “Paper or plastic?” With the knowledge that both paper and plastic disposable bags harm the environment, 30 years later she sees the need for change.

According to the MY ECO website, the manufacturing process for paper bags is energy-intensive and increases water and air pollution. Plastic bags litter our environment, waste our diminishing oil supply, and harm marine life. The average household uses 1,000 disposable bags per year. A former environmental consultant for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Brown believes the only sustainable option is reuse. As she explains at www.getmyeco.com, she invented the MY ECO Reusable Bag System as a fun, practical solution to the disposable bag epidemic.

To participate, community members need to download the MY ECO app for iPhone or Android, shop at participating retailers with reusable bags and start making money for their school. Each time a person shops with a reusable bag at Shaws, money is given back to a school or charity. A shopper’s reuse is tracked on the MY ECO app and they can see how many bags they keep out of the environment and the number of times they reuse. The app also shows how the chosen school is doing against other Massachusetts schools.

The post Shaws, MY ECO, Carver Elementary School team up appeared first on MY ECO.

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“We admire North Attleboro for recognizing that their community must work together to make an impactful environmental change,” said Kristen Brown, Founder and President of MY ECO. “The Selectmen have made a giant leap in curbing the use of unnecessary plastic bags by instituting our program. We applaud their decision and look forward to other towns following suit.”

The MY ECO Reuse Program provides a financial reward incentive for consumers who use reusable bags every time they shop. Using the program’s unique MY ECO App, the reward can be donated to North Attleborough schools whenever a consumer uses reusable bags and chooses those schools to receive their reward.

There is no limit to the amount of reward money that can be raised through the MY ECO Reuse Program. The goal is to generate a significant flow of money to reward North Attleborough schools’ students for promoting reuse through their community. A minimum of $20,000 has been pledged to the schools.

To participate, retailers simply place MY ECO program’s QR code stickers at their check-out stations and registers. For the first year, retailers can participate without pledging a donation.  The town will use the MY ECO program to gather reuse data from its residents and assess the residential reuse rate, but for the best results, the majority of North Attleborough’s retailers must participate. North Attleborough currently has one of the best recycling rates in the state and the town wants to achieve the same for its reuse.

Through its unique reminder-track-and-measure technology, the MY ECO App prompts consumers to bring reusable bags whenever they shop. The App allows shoppers to keep track of how many bags they’ve kept out of landfills – individually, as a community, and on a national level. It also measures how much money schools have raised, working together to encourage their student families to reuse.

The MY ECO Reuse Program is available in retail locations wherever there’s a MY ECO Program QR Code sticker at check-out, including all Shaw’s/Star Market groceries in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and other select retailers throughout the northeastern U.S.

The post North Attleboro Selectmen Selects MY ECO appeared first on MY ECO.

“Our partnerships have been instrumental in helping MY ECO reach consumers and reward them, thus supporting our long-term goals for the environment,” said MY ECO’s CEO Tom Cherry. “We applaud Shaw’s/Star Markets for their help in getting shoppers to rethink the way they shop.”

Rhode Island shoppers can enroll in the MY ECO program quickly and easily: they simply download the free MY ECO mobile app to their smartphone, and register; then every time they shop using their own reusable bags (or the patented MY ECO shopping bag set), they scan the unique MY ECO QR code at checkout, and the app will track their use and allow Shaw’s to make a donation to their selected school or charity. Customers who take advantage of the MY ECO program can also monitor how many bags they have kept out of landfills, as well as the money they are raising on behalf of their school or charity.

Over 20 Rhode Island school systems are participating in the MY ECO Reuse Program at the eight Shaw’s and Star Markets locations throughout the state. MY ECO Reuse Program is already available in Massachusetts and the New York metropolitan area, and will expand throughout the Northeast in 2014.

The MY ECO app is available for iPhone or Android platforms.  Consumers can go to www.getmyeco.com to join the MY ECO Reuse Program and for more information.

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