MEI GRANULAR ABSORBENT: WHAT MAKES IT SUSTAINABLE?

Being a company that prides itself on supplying organizations and individuals with products that enable them to clean up spills and ultimately protect themselves as well as the environment, it just doesn't make sense to implement anything into our offering that would actually harm either or. Being excellent at absorbing spills and being safe (for plants, animals, & humans) go hand-in-hand. We won't have one without the other. So, it's no surprise that when it came time to deciding upon a blend for our flagship product, we weren't going to settle for anything less than what we didn't feel comfortable using in our own kitchens.

So what material would exceed expectations in absorbing liquid, be safe to literally eat, be sustainable, all while actually furthering environmental improvement?

Clay based absorbent (commonly known as "kitty litter" or "floor dry") was a definite no. First, it's super heavy to the point where you might actually strain your back while carrying it. Second, it contains carcinogens/crystalline silica. Combine that with the extreme dust creation that it makes (which is most likely inhaled by the user) when applying it and you have a recipe for a serious health hazard.

Next up is peat moss which many regard as a sustainable and environmentally friendly absorbent material. Upon looking into it we found otherwise. Did you know that it takes around 15 years for 1 inch of peat moss to grow? So if you harvested just 3 inches of peat moss, you would destroy 45 years of work that the environment had put in creating it. Not to mention harvesting peat requires the digging up of the earth's living surface, ruining ecosystems in the process. The same process of digging it up releases carbon dioxide and drives climate change in a negative direction. With these factors considered, we questioned as to if peat moss is truly sustainable.

Finally, our search turned up some promising results. A light-weight, super absorbent material. What material was this? Coconuts. Not the white, interior flesh part of the coconut but rather the exterior husk/coir. Coconuts are not vegetables, nuts, or fruits. They belong to an entirely different group called "drupes". The husk of the coconut, when processed, exceeded our testing in regard to absorbency. We ran it through a number of absorbency tests including, but not limited to, motor oil, transmission fluid, canola oil, olive oil, maple syrup, laundry detergent, and even eggs. Tests showed that it had the ability to expand and absorb up to nine times its own weight. When handling it, we could actually feel it "pulling" the moisture from our hands. Not to mention it was incredibly light. 2 bags were placed side by side. They were filled with the same volume of material, one with clay and the other with coconut coir. The bag of clay weighed 3 times more then the bag of coconut coir. However, the bag of coconut still absorbed up to 6 times as much transmission fluid. The best part? Coconuts, specifically the husks, are highly sustainable.

How exactly are coconut husks sustainable? Coconut trees grow naturally in over 80 countries across the globe. The Philippines and Indonesia have the highest populaion of coconut bearing trees. Together, they have roughly 700 million palm trees that produce coconuts. With each of these trees producing an average of 40 coconuts (on the low end) per year. That means around 31 billion coconuts come out of these two countries alone! Things don't stop there as far as absorbent and sustainability are concerned. Most of these coconuts are harvested and exported...but not by us. In fact, we don't do any of the harvesting. Coconuts are sought after in large quantities by the cosmetics industry for their many benefits as a base ingredient in anti-aging creams, hair care creams, and skin care creams. The cosmetics industry is first place for market share in relation to coconut usage and accounts for approximately 65% of market share. Second is the food industry. The food industry takes to harvesting coconuts for their wealth of advantages in terms of implementation into many food and baking applications. Coconut water is also utilized in various sports drinks.

Having said this, both the cosmetics and food industry mostly harvest coconuts for their inner white "meat". The husks, which make up around 85% of the fruit, are discarded and deposited in mass quantities in landfills/waterways or burned by the

millions in open-air pits. These methods of disposal are hazardous to the environment is many different ways.

By using coconut husks as the base ingredient in our granular absorbent blend, we are able to provide you with an exceptional absorbent that is 100% safe for you and the environment. Additionally, each bag of MEI Granular Absorbent contributes to the wellness of the environment. This is done by using a sustainable resource that is not only naturally plentiful in the first place (coconut husks), but by using a resource that would otherwise be discarded as a by-product of the food and cosmetics industries.

MEI Granular Absorbent is available in 2 different sized bags, our 35 L bag and our Absorbent packet. Our MEI Spill Socks are also filled with our granular for maximum absorption when containing spills.