As a newer employee here I often find myself wondering “Why Water Billboards? What could have made Randy and Susan want to start a private label water bottling business?” I’d love to answer that question for any of you out there that are wondering the same thing.
History
The first thing that I have to tell you is that Randy and Susan did not set out to start a private label water bottling facility. What they wanted to do was to make the world a greener place, by providing a full line of compostable products for cafeterias, event centers, schools, and more!
Randy had been a farmer his entire life, and so had his father, Paul. From the time Randy was just a little boy he got up in the morning and helped his dad with chores, whether it was with their 500 head of stock cows, 1,850 acres of land, or just fixing up their equipment. Being a farmer, Randy had, and still has, a great awareness of the land. What could make it more fertile, what we can do to make it better, how can we reduce the amount of waste we put in the ground? As a farmer, Randy did the best he could to make sure he made as little of an impact as he could on the land.
Walt Disney World
What better place to have an epiphany than the most magical place on earth? Living with the Land, an attraction at Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park, has always been near and dear to Randy’s heart because of his farming background. If you have not been on the Living with the Land ride at Epcot here is a brief preview for you.
As the ride starts, the passengers get into a mechanical “boat” that is guided through water. The beginning portion of the ride takes the passengers through different scenes showing different types of natural biomes including the rain forest, dessert, and the American prairie. The ride then goes through a theater that shows the human impact on the land and then finally the through what is called the “living laboratory” where the passengers experience a greenhouse, fishery and more.
Randy’s favorite part of the ride is the greenhouse. In this portion of the ride, the passengers see how agronomists showcase the future of agriculture through the use of hydroponics and other techniques. The passengers ride through a greenhouse where plants are grown in sand-like soils, are “floating” as their roots hang in the air, and some plants are even made into “trees” for better yields. The science is very innovative and looks to be a great improvement for the future.
As the passenger exits the ride they are greeted by a cafeteria. This is where Randy had his great epiphany. Living with the Land is such an inspirational ride. It really makes a person want to take a look at what they are using as waste and reduce it. Now imagine as you come off this ride you see people sitting around drinking out of plastic straws in paper cups and plastic bottles that will more than likely not get recycled. All the waste that will be caught in landfills and taint the earth. This is where it all started.
Compostable Products
Randy decided then that it would be cool to be greeted by a cafeteria where everything was compostable. Everything could be thrown into one trash bag, composted without having to be separated and turned into nutrient rich soil and would benefit the earth. This is where Water Billboards’ full line of compostable products comes in; here at Water Billboards, we offer everything from straws to to-go containers, napkins, and garbage bags that are 100% compostable. What that means is that you can put everything into one (compostable) bag and bring it to a compost pile or facility, and in a matter of weeks all you will have left is nutrient-rich soil!
So where does the private label water bottling come in? Well, one of the products that Water Billboards was able to offer in the past was a fully compostable, corn-based-plastic, PLA water bottle. In addition to being able to compost the bottle, Randy and Susan wanted people to be able to put their message on that bottle. This would allow people to get their name and brand out there while also displaying that they were using green products in their business: wrap your billboard around a bottle of water! Water Billboards no longer offers the PLA compostable bottle because it was outlawed by the United States. The reason for the ban is because people would recycle the PLA bottles, not knowing they are meant to be composted. When a certain percentage of PLA gets in with PET recycling, it technically degrades the purity of the recycling stream. Other than the water bottles, Water Billboards DOES still offer a full-line of 100% compostable products.