We had recently written an article about all the green in the air this year. And since that article was written, about fifteen other articles have crossed our desk, all with the same theme: going green. It’s all good, a positive direction, a new level of conscientiousness. We’re happy about it. But some things still remind us we have a ways to go in some areas. Our RTU Debacle is one such area.
Having always been a “green” company, we’ve always been interested in ways of mitigating waste. It’s for that reason that we’ve always tried to purchase concentrated products instead of Ready-to-Use or RTU products. Lately, however, we’ve been experiencing increasing difficulty obtaining these concentrated products. It seems the industry in general is moving away from concentrated products in favor of RTU goods.
This is probably good for the consumer. After all, if it’s Ready-to-Use there’s no measuring, mixing, or any of those messy behind-the-scenes activities. No thinking necessary. Aim and pull the trigger. RTU makes it very convenient for people to get out there and spray, spray, spray. But this is bad for the environment. Make it easy for people to be poisoning their world and they probably will. Make it less off-the-shelf convenient and maybe more people will put it off for another day. But this is just one way of looking at RTU goods. There’s more and the situation is far more critical.
The world’s number one solvent is water. Water is used to clean and dilute more than all other solvents combined. Water is found in just about every liquid we purchase. Even products were a petroleum product is the primary solvent are often rounded out with water. Many of the concentrated products we like to carry come with water on the list of ingredients. What makes these products Ready-to-Use is the dilution of the concentrated ingredients, and this dilution is usually done by adding water. Something that can be done on the user’s end with ease.
The biggest issue we have with all of this is not how easy it is for people to now spray, spray, spray their RTU poisons. The biggest issue is transportation. Granted, manufacturers, distributors, and transporters of RTU goods can generate more money, but at what expense? Shipping RTU products all over the country is an absolute travesty — an environmental slap in the face. Shipping concentrated products is so much better for the environment. Think about it: You can ship 4 ounces of active ingredient, or a gallon of RTU. The difference is water. The very idea of shipping water around the country is sad because it is so unnecessary. One truck load of concentrated product can effectively keep twenty trucks of RTU products off our highways.
If you agree that this is not a step in the right direction, take a moment to share your feelings with your local retailer or garden center. Tell them you want to see the return of concentrated products and ask that they pass your concerns along to the makers of these products. Maybe we can do some good.
