KidsVids cares about the environment
We care because the world we leave for our children is also a part of their health and safety. We believe that digital production and distribution of our fine educational tools uses significantly less fossil fuels for transportation and storage, and that digital production leaves no chemical byproduct like other film techniques. It is also the most efficient way to distribute the very latest in print educational material: teachers get the most-up-to-date material and they print out only what they need.
We have chosen to use the Internet as our means of corresponding with you, our customers because we believe it is far more efficient than printing and mailing loads of paper products. Plus it has the added benefit of being practically instantaneous.
We hope you agree.
This is an on-going process for us and we have plans that are in effect and some that we would like to implement in the near future. Currently we telecommute to work whenever it is feasible, taking advantage of ichat and file transfer protocol technologies to help us reduce the amount of gasoline we burn in our cars, and we are in the process of re-designing the packaging that we use for our DVD's. The new packaging will be made from 100% recycled, 50% post consumer content which is processed chlorine free and printed with vegetable based inks. This packaging will also be smaller and lighter thus making it more economical to ship.
One of our long range plans is to establish a method whereby we do not physically deliver our films on DVD, rather take advantage of digital delivery technologies similar to video on demand. See the article below for more information about this. In the future our digital delivery will efficiently bring our video products to schools as well as homes, libraries and doctor's waiting rooms in an eco-friendly and efficient manner.
Here at KidsVids we think it is kind of important to be Earth friendly seeing as we think so much about kids that we developed a company dedicated to educating them, and being as they are the future custodians, we want to leave the place in a little better shape than when we moved in.
The Environmental Footprint of a DVD
Each month approximately 100,000 pounds of CD's and DVD's become obsolete. Although the technology to recycle the little silvery discs is slowly coming online, at KidsVids we believe that if we can deliver a product without them at all, we are that much greener.
More than 5.5 million boxes of software go to landfills and incinerators each year, plus people throw away millions of music CD's and DVD movies.
The medium itself uses aluminum or gold as the matrix to deliver the digital information but if you have ever held one in your hand, you know that most of the disc is made from plastic. There is the poly carbonate which makes up the bulk of the disc. This is made from crude oil and natural gas extracted from the earth. Then there is lacquer which is made of acrylic, another type of plastic. And the dyes used in producing most commercial discs are chemically made, partially from petroleum products.
The packaging for DVD's are typically plastic and shrink wrap, however some producers, like KidsVids are starting to come around to a more environmentally friendly package design made from recycled paper which uses no shrink wrap.
DVD's are then physically delivered over land, sea or by air which burns fossil fuels and emits greenhouse gases.
The good news is that the materials DVD's are made from are extremely stable and if properly cared for, the disc can last for decades and even if it becomes obsolete to you, it may still be useful to someone else. Many record and video rental stores buy and sell used DVD's, or you can trade them with your friends, or donate them to schools and libraries.
As more recycling centers come on line for this type of material, your old DVD's will be reprocessed into plastic for use in the automotive industry, to make office products, street lights, electrical cable insulation and even packaging for new DVD's.
This all helps to reduce the environmental impact associated with producing new DVD's.
