“Rethink Your Drink”- Earth
Every year as Earth Day approaches, the conversation turns to humans’ impact on our planet and what we can do to take better care of this place we call home. From reusable bottles to compostable items, sustainable products lead the conversation. This year, let’s shift our commitment to sustainability and kick things up a notch with action.
If you really want to turn the tide on plastic pollution and slow down the effects of climate change, one way is to rethink your drink.
Firstly, let’s take, for example, beverages that come in single-use plastic bottles. These include bottled and flavored waters, sports drinks, sodas, juice, teas and many more. Plastic water bottles are made from a petroleum product that require large amounts of fossil fuels to make and transport. The average American drinks more than 30 gallons of bottled water every year, which means it takes 90 gallons of water just for one person to drink bottled water. This is an incredible amount of impact from single-use plastic bottles.
In addition to the significant negative impact the production of plastic bottles has on the environment, once discarded bottles often end up in the ocean, destroying ecosystems. According to a report from the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight.
Secondly, as “plastic” risks becoming a dirty word, it’s worth remembering its benefits are unmatched by other materials. It is light, easily shaped and inexpensive. Indeed, it’s worth highlighting the fact that not all plastics are the enemy. Single-use plastics — plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, bottles and food packaging — pose the greatest challenge. We need to focus on drastically cutting back on single-use plastics and making wholesale changes in design so plastics can be reused, recycled and even repurposed.
But if we rethink our drink, we could reduce the impact on our planet.
The Story Behind HDX Mix
I grew up in Southern California with a passion for surfing and snowboarding. This passion for action sports led me to owning a surf shop, launching an award-winning marketing agency and working for one of the top energy drink brands in the world. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and learned I would need to make serious changes in my life. It was clear to me that sugary drinks were significantly contributing to the increase of diabetes.
A year after my diagnosis, I attended a meeting where I learned about the tremendous amount of unnecessary plastic waste generated on a daily basis by our need for convenience and our consumption of beverages in single-use plastic bottles. It was then that finding a more sustainable and environmentally-conscious solution to sugary drinks in single-use plastic bottles became my personal challenge.
In 2011, my brother and I created HDX Hydration Mix (HDX Mix). Instead of putting our product in a bottle, we packed all of the healthy minerals and nutrients into a tasty powder mix. The environmental benefits of using HDX Hydration Mix is that our minimal packaging design reduces waste, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while providing portability and convenience for those on the go.
When considering the reduced impact HDX Mix has on the environment, all you need to do is look at the facts. HDX Mix uses considerably less packaging waste than a bottled sports drink. It consumes a small fraction of the amount of energy required to produce bottled sports drinks and generates significantly less emissions than bottled sports drinks when it comes to transportation.
If we can encourage our friends, family and neighbors to change their behavior — to rethink their drink, we could make every day #EarthDay and have an even greater impact while reducing plastic waste, fighting climate change and staying hydrated.
The creation of HDX Mix is a part of a much bigger movement to protect our oceans, of which single-use plastic is just one threat. In fact, our coastlines are currently at risk of being opened up to more oil and gas drilling.
Brand Activism on The Rise
In addition to founding HDX Mix, I’ve spent three decades launching disruptive brands and serving on nonprofit boards. Serving on nonprofit boards has provided me the opportunity to have a seat at the table with some of the most impactful environmental groups in the world working to manage healthy oceans and clean beaches. All these efforts have resulted in working alongside organizations that help to elect leaders in the House and Senate who are dedicated to protecting our oceans, passing legislation around plastic bags, single-use plastic, straws, and microbeads and along with an award winning campaign to inspire people to stop using plastic straws.
And just recently, I was invited to give testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee to oppose offshore oil and gas drilling to protect our oceans and coastal communities.
Today, my focus is on ensuring future generations are met with a healthy and thriving ocean. My work on innovative solutions to our oceans problems aims to reduce plastic waste and minimize our impact on the planet. It’s why I also started the Rising Tide Summit, now in its 2nd year. The summit brings together leaders in business, nonprofit and government to address the issues facing our oceans and inspire action and solutions.
If you’re ready to save the planet, then it’s time to rethink your drink this Earth Day, because what’s good for you should also be good for the planet.
About Vipe
Vipe is the founder and CEO of HDX Mix, an environmentally friendly sports drink mix. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, he has applied his more than 3 decades of experience in launching disruptive brands, brand building and cause-marketing strategies for both for-profit and non-profits. Currently Vipe is serving as a Board Member for Ocean Champions, Lonely Whale Foundation, AltaSea and RichUncles.com, an SEC reporting company managing more than $450 million in assets.
Today, Vipe’s focus is on ensuring that future generations are met with a healthy and thriving ocean. He’s involved with several ventures focused around innovations and solutions that will reduce plastic waste and minimize impact on the planet.
Twitter: @VipeDesai
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vipedesai/
Company: HDX Hydration Mix
