Holidays are made for enjoying alongside family and friends. For sharing memories and relaxing times. It’s always good to leave the office for a couple of days and come back recharged and ready to go.
Hope you have a great holiday weekend! We’ll be back on Monday with our regular blog post.
Cheers!
Three months ago, we announced Jason Gore as our new Falcon ambassador. Just like us, Jason is a California native and has grown up experiencing first hand conservation and the California way of life. In the article below, Sports Techie blog does a great job at illustrating our local water conservation campaign (CA Shut the Flush Up) and why Jason is a perfect fit.
ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY SPORTS TECHIE BLOG:
Falcon Water Technologies sponsored PGA Tour golf professional Jason Gore to evangelize water savings rebate programs implemented by local utilities throughout California in order to help overcome the possibility that the state has one year of stored H20 left after four years of drought. The Sports Techie community blog spoke to Gore about his social media efforts to spread awareness about this global epidemic that has led to unprecedented glacier melting in Greenland, the Article Circle and Antarctica, the largest land mass of ice on the planet resulting is ocean levels rising with the potential to displace millions of human and animals that live on the many coast lines around the world. The time is now for all golf courses to meet this dilemma head on with conservation efforts much like Scott Heyn, General Manager at Oakmont Country Club in Southern California has persuaded his private equity course members to initially fund. Steve Nuskiewicz, Falcon Senior VP North American Sales, also shared with us why the rebate program is in place and how their tech eliminates the need for flush or low flush urinals.
Falcon Waterfree Technologies, LLC promotes conservation of fresh water and supports sustainable resource management by providing the #waterfree urinal system. Golf course restrooms are the focus of their “CA Shut The Flush Up” campaign because by installing water-efficient or waterfree urinals, up to 40,000 gallons of water per year/per urinal is saved a year. In order to save 88,000,000 gallons of water a year, each one of the 1,100 golf courses in California would need to install two waterfree urinals in their bathrooms. Gore said, “Making the switch to waterfree urinals is a very small undertaking with unlimited savings potential.”
The Los Angeles and San Francisco water utilities are doing their part to conserve water by incentivizing golf courses with rebate programs designed to pay for the total purchase and installation price of the waterless urinal. Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has a $20 million rebate program that allows L.A. area golf courses to subsidize out of pocket costs on the $500 fixture purchase and installation in most cases. An added bonus is there are no limits on redeemable rebates per location. Installation takes a mere one hour in many cases.
“Golf courses get a bad reputation, sometimes deservedly so, when it comes to water usage and while they’ve come a long way in the last 10 years, there are still important steps for them to take to finish the job,” emphasized Gore.
Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club are already saving money on water bills and cutting back on usage due to Falcon Waterfree urinals installed in their clubhouses, locker rooms, restaurants and pool areas.
Gore is a CA native that lives in Valencia. He has known Tiger Woods since he was 11. Jason graduated from Pepperdine where he helped lead the Waves to the NCAA Championship in 1997. Before transferring there, he won the Pac-10 individual championship as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Arizona. Besides holding the record for most wins in Web.com Tour history, Gore once shot an impressive 59 on the PGA Tour.
“As a global company with California roots, we jumped at the chance to work with Jason to help raise awareness for our efforts,” said Falcon Waterfree CEO Simon Davis. “We are always looking at new, fun ways to reach important market segments and Jason will help to ensure we get our message out there. We look forward to a long relationship and we are convinced he will win on the course and we will win off the course.”
Jason wears the Falcon logo on his polo shirt sleeve during tournaments and after play. The business relationship began at Valencia CC because Davis and Gore are fellow members. PGA golfers have asked him about the logo and placement. Gore mentioned that Rory McIIroy and Phil Mickelson both liked it. Gore’s caddy loves the sponsorship and thinks it is great. His social media content was met by PGA Tour characters with jokes such as, “that’s why we use trees,” but some have retweeted his noble efforts.
Shut The Flush Up
Steve Nuskiewicz spoke to me about the severe California drought and the need for more awareness which is why the Shut The Flush Up campaign was created. He is eager to watch the ROI Gore provides on social media via targeted marketing.
Waterfree technology developed by Falcon is the marketplace leader and more advanced than any other urinal. They constantly bring new concepts to market and are innovators in the janitorial and maintenance space saving hundreds and thousands of gallons of water for customers and the environment. The cartridges take three minutes to change, either you do it or sign up for the Falcon maintenance program. Day to day operation is simple, spray and wipe down the urinal, no engineering staff is needed for installation.
The rebate program in Southern California has been around since 2002/2003. The first facility to install Waterfree was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The initial 300 urinals will be added to the extras recent stadium renovations called for. Staples Center installed Waterfree back in 2007 and saves millions of gallons of water spread across their 330 events a year.
Phillips Arena here in Atlanta is not a present client. Throughout Georgia, some school districts and office spaces are using Waterfree but not The Masters at Augusta National. Even though water rates are not as high here or in other states compared to CA, sewage rates and waste water elimination is.
They offer a “Greener Restroom” for facilities that comes with waterless urinals, high efficiency toilets and solar powered faucets. The Sloan Valve Company produces the solar facets that actually are a Falcon private label relationship for Sloan water free, solar facets, sinks and flush valves.
I learned a new term from him, Zeroscape. It basically means a desert like ecosystem that requires no water, something golf courses and resorts around the globe are beginning to embrace.
Read the article here and more about our California campaign here.
Welcome back! It is time for our Spotlight series. This space is reserved for highlighting all the great things our partners and customers are accomplishing worldwide. These companies, institutions and venues are as much a part of Falcon’s journey to conserve, as our employees. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
Since 1945, Waxie has grown from a small store in San Diego, CA into America’s largest independent family-owned sanitary maintenance supply distributor. From your everyday basics like cleaning supplies to paper towels – to more specialized items, like our cartridges, Waxie provides excellent customer service with an underlying commitment to the environment.
With goals such as promoting responsible business practices and advancing platforms to support achieving a green building status, Waxie has been a purpose-built company from the start. We are proud to work with them and be a part of their pledge to sustainability.
Stay in touch with the latest industry changes, improvements and news on their blog, Facebook and Twitter pages!
After attending a B Corp event with the Do Good Bus last month, we decided to have them take the whole Falcon gang out to celebrate World Water Day yesterday.
Being a B Corp means more than just striving for environmental savings. Water savings is the core of our products, however we also want to work towards a better world where people commit their time to help others. That is when the Do Good Bus comes in. They are a non-profit organization that promises altruistic adventurism by bringing people together to help local causes in a fun and social environment. They round up a group of people and drive them to an unknown location where the goal is to get to know and help a cause. It made perfect sense to hire them for the day!
Thursday started as a mystery. All we knew was that our volunteering opportunity was related to water. Since our HQ is in Los Angeles, the first thing that came to mind was: B E A C H. It was a hot 80 degrees day in Southern California, so we put on hats, sunglasses and a ton of sunscreen, and went out to have some fun! As soon as we pulled into the notorious Venice Beach neighborhood, it was clear what our goal for the day was. Tyler, from the Do Good Bus handed out black trash bags and gloves to all the team and we set out on a beach cleaning spree.
Check out the Do Good Bus‘ website and maybe you too will be interested in going for a ride!
Sports Techie covers our partnership with Professional Golfer, Jason Gore, and how we are trying to promote water savings rebate programs implemented by local utilities throughout California to help overcome the fact that the state has one year of stored H20 left after four years of drought. Read the full article here.
Today we are having our regular off-site meeting at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica.
We will have our regular Friday post, so don’t forget to check back then!
The underlying premise is simple: water is life. It is a necessity that flows through every part of our day, every day of our life. We depend on water for everything from basic survival to generating the energy that lights our homes and fuels our businesses. Therefore it is very important that we take water conservation seriously and start to innovate new ways to make what limited resources we have last.
In Water, Marq de Villiers tours the world to examine the state of its most vital resource. What he finds is not encouraging. From Africa to Asia and Australia, from Europe to the Middle East and the Americas, too many people depend on too little — and increasingly limited — water. Despite engineering schemes constructed to water deserts and to store and deliver water where it would otherwise not be available, demand for water will almost surely continue to outstrip supply unless we dramatically alter our behavior.
In addition to the problems of supply and demand, the book describes the ecological damage incurred by the use and abuse of water sources. Through pollution, diversion, and degradation, industrialization of the world has taken a heavy toll on water quality.
The author creates his narrative based of childhood memories. Growing up in an arid and rural South Africa, de Villiers is aggressive with the value of clean, uncompromised water. The book brings both ecological and historical knowledge alongside his frank criticism of how the world’s water resources has and continue to be managed. He states that, “Humans consume water, discard it, poison it, waste it, and restlessly change the hydrological cycles, indifferent to the consequences: too many people, too little water, water in the wrong places and in the wrong amount. The human population is burgeoning, but water demand is increasing twice as fast.”
Thanks to de Marq de Villiers’s humane tone and unique curiosity, Water ends on a positive note. There is much to be learned here and even though it takes a long time to change a mindset, with education and awareness we go from just talking about it
FALCON WATERFREE TECHNOLOGIES RIDES WITH THE DO GOOD BUS TO CELEBRATE WORLD WATER DAY
Los Angeles, California: March 22, 2015
About World Water Day:
World Water Day (WWD) is an annual celebration of our most important resource, and a time to reflect on the water-related challenges we still face in our communities all over the world. The problems may change according to the region, however it all boils down to our relationship with water. This year’s theme was “Water and Sustainable Development.” Water is central to health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food, and equality. Since we need all these things, the discussion falls on how we can maintain a sustainable practice.
About Do Good Bus:
Los Angeles-based non-profit, Do Good Bus is an organization that promises altruistic adventurism by bringing people together to help local causes in a fun and social environment. They round up a group of people and drive them to an unknown location where the goal is to get to know and help a cause. The mystery of the ride makes things fun and avoids any pre-conceived ideas or opinions, allowing volunteers to show up with an open mind. And, most importantly, ready to help! With goals like awareness, creating community and developing continued support, the organization creates new bonds and strengthen existing ones through unique team building with a “do good” twist.
The event:
Being a B Corp means more than just striving for environmental savings. Water savings is the core of our products, however we also strive to work towards a better world where people give their time to help others. That is when the Do Good Bus comes in the picture. “As a team we wanted to come together to celebrate World Water Day by giving back to our community and helping conserve the environment. The Do Good Bus was a natural fit, since they are a local non-profit that brings people together to help causes in a fun and social environment,” stated Simon A. Davis, President & CEO of Falcon Waterfree Technologies.
Our ride took us to a local Los Angeles beach, where our team worked together to clean up debris on the shore. After a fun day building community and helping others, we left feeling accomplished, informed about the cause and happy to help out our local community.
Have you ever heard of a Twitter Party? It’s a way to create online conversation, bringing people together for a cause. We will be co-hosting a Twitter Party with DigDeep today from 11 am to 12 pm PST in honor of World Water Day.
World Water Day (WWD) is an annual celebration of our most important resource, and a time to reflect on the water-related challenges we still face in our communities all over the world. The problems may change according to the region, however it all boils down to our relationship with water. This year, WWD falls on a Sunday, so we decided to host this event on Friday. This year’s theme is “Water and Sustainable Development.” Water is central to health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food, and equality. Since we need all these things, the discussion falls on how we can maintain a sustainable practice.
Let’s get down to the rules, shall we?
The party will begin with a brief introduction and then the host (@DigDeepH2O) will be posing ten questions to followers (one every six minutes.) Each of the questions will touch on water’s link to health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food, and equality – as mentioned above. We will then be answering the questions as they come under the #WWDHang.
We hope this Twitter Party will create a unique way to interact with our friends and followers in a conversation that is close to our heart. This party is for World Water Day, but we can’t do it without you. Follow us on Twitter (@shuttheflushup) and tag your friends (#WWDHang). Spread the word and join the fun! Together we can do this.
Welcome back! It is time for our Spotlight series. Today we will be featuring an Los Angeles based non profit, DIGDEEP. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
Not many people stop to think about where their water is coming from when turning on the tap and grabbing a bottle of water. It’s hard to create an emotional desire for clean water when we haven’t faced the lack of it and when clean water is abundant and at our reach whenever we want it.
Every human being has a right to clean water and George McGraw is doing something about it. He is the Executive Director of DIGDEEP, a Right to Water Project in Los Angeles. DIGDEEP promotes human rights access to water. Transforming their lives with clean water and safeguarding their human dignity. Each of their water projects is designed using a human rights-based approach, a practical model that integrates rights and dignity into the plans and processes of development. .
The non profit is changing the way people think about water, protecting water access as a human right through education and awareness. An example of there ongoing campaign is the 4 liters challenge. The way it works is that for 24 hours, you can only use four liters of water for everything you do. It has created huge awareness to water poverty and by inserting it into people’s daily lives, an emotional connection to clean water was originated.
DIGDEEP is doing an amazing job defending those who can’t. Fighting for what is a right to them and bringing out the truth for us on the over side. And “the truth is that when it comes to needing water, each and every one of us is equal.” (George McGraw TedX talk)
