Smart Automotive Blog

The Pacific Swim?

David Turney - Saturday, December 12, 2009

We love hearing about people and companies who feel the same way about environmental responsibility as we do.

Recently we learned of The Plastiki, a project designed to raise awareness of the negative impact of post-consumer plastics on the Earth's eco-systems. The central theme of the project is a boat made entirely from recycled PET drink bottles, that will sail from California to Sydney, Australia via the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a seething mass of post-consumer discarded plastic circling within one of the Pacific Ocean's largest gyres.

You can read about The Plastiki in our previous post here. Incidentally, word out of the US is that the boat is now floating, testing and preparing to set sail for a March 2010 arrival in Australia.

But if you thought sailing across the Pacific in a plastic boat was impressive, then you'll be bowled over by this.

Australian documentary filmmaker Richard Pain is preparing to swim across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to California, 9000km's give or take. Yes, he's swimming. He's going to be swimming behind a boat that'll be towing a protective capsule that'll be in the shape of a PET bottle and made entirely OF PET bottles. His route will take him through the same garbage patch that Plastiki will have visited some time earlier and he'll release the whole trip as a documentary.

His aim is to raise $1 million to donate to organisations engaged in trying to clean up the garbage patch as well as raise broader community awareness of the issue by doing something crazy and memorable. Well Richard, we think you've nailed it.

Prep time is estimated at 12-18 months and the actual swim set to take around 40 weeks. You can read one of the articles covering the recent launch of the campaign here (source: SMH)

While both Plastiki and the Pacific Swim (as it's dubbed) are bound to raise awareness about the impact of post-consumer plastic waste on the environment, our Repeat products also aim to change behaviours and attitudes towards plastic recycling in the automotive repair industry. Our scope is narrower, but our message is the same.

In the midst of the debate over climate change and reducing CO2 emissions, it's vital not to ignore the unfolding ecological catastrophe being brought on by discarded and non-recycled plastic waste, one that we can see with our very own eyes.

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All aboard The Plastiki

David Turney - Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The most amazing and confronting story has just crossed the news desk at Smart Automotive, which has special relevance to our own business. It's a story that must be spread, because it brings to the fore a problem that's serious, undeniable and reversible yet, for some reason, we have little awareness of.

The Plastiki is a 60-foot catamaran, being constructed in a warehouse overlooking San Francisco Bay, to make a journey across the Pacific and - all things to plan - sailing into Sydney Harbour some time during March 2010.

What's so special about that? The Plastiki is made entirely from PET plastic bottles, some recycled and some still in original form lining the frame and hull, for buoyancy. 12,500 bottles alone will line the frame of the boat. It's the brainchild of David de Rothschild (a descendent of the Rothschild banking family) and is designed to highlight the ecological impact of PET plastic waste and raise awareness of the need to act now to arrest the growth of plastic waste, including reusing and recycling. You should check the expedition website by clicking here.

Early into its journey, The Plastiki will set sail across what's known as the eastern pacific garbage patch, which is a mass of post-consumer rubbish in the Pacific Ocean, gathered by natural ocean currents (gyres) and an area at least twice as big as Texas (or New South Wales and Victoria, in Australia, combined). Yes, you read it right; a rubbish patch twice the size of Texas, floating in the ocean. Unimaginable enough, but most confronting is this: it's been discovered recently that the mass of plastic now exceeds that of plankton (the food source for thousands of species' of sea animals and birds) by a ratio of six to one. That's sampled at the edge of the gyre too. Therefore it's theorised that, due to the nature of the gyre, at the centre, the ratio would be much higher. Take a look at this clip and we dare you not to be affected.

At Smart Automotive, we're very excited by the expedition for two reasons.

Firstly, we share the same passion and similarities in our attitudes for making a positive impact on the environment. On our own patch, we're doing what we can by using and encouraging the use of reusable, sustainable material. Second, the expedition will complete its ocean journey in our hometown and HQ, Sydney Australia (after which the boat will be broken down and recycled again). The boat's due to depart some time during November and we'll be following its journey closely as it heads towards its goals and our home, so visit us (or their site) often to get the latest.

In your line of business, there's a practical need and desire to protect customer cars while they're in your care. It reduces your liabilities and protects your image as an automotive professional. Smart Automotive fulfils this need in an environmentally responsible way and our Repeat seat protectors break new ground by being manufactured from 100% recycled PET bottles. When you buy and use Repeat seat protectors for your workshop, business or franchise network then you're also doing your part to reduce the impact of PET plastic waste on the environment.

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Rally Australia, Smart Automotive and Protecting the Environment

David Turney - Thursday, September 03, 2009

Rally Australia (round 10 of the WRC) kicks off later this afternoon (EST) after several years absence, this time around the Northern Rivers region of NSW. WRC followers will know how strategically vital Rally Australia is for outright championship contenders, while at the same time throwing the wild-card of a completely new event at those drivers.

Rallying is a spectacular & engaging motorsport. Drivers in the FIA World Rally Championship must rate as the best in the world. They not only possess lightning fast reaction times and nerves of steel but also race on vastly different surfaces, most of them not designed to driven at 180kph + and sideways. The WRC is watched, reportedly, by audience numbers second to only Formula 1. In their home countries, drivers are revered as gods and are used to sell everything from the brand they drive to breath mints. Despite that, at any given rally the fan access is amazing. Drivers and teams - while being under timed pressure for the entire rally - happily mingle with their fan base, chatting and signing autographs. There's little elitism, just the love of their motorsport leveled across the spectrum.

Like most motorsport though, rallying has opponents, and they usually come from an environmental perspective. Rallying attracts particular criticism from detractors by its format; timed runs on public roads, following the curves, rises, falls and unique scenery of the landscape. In Australia at least, rallying is highly controlled and environmental impacts (if any) are analysed forensically. The 2009 Rally Australia boasts to be the most environmentally rally ever staged anywhere and backs that up with a suite of reports (all but one downloadable from their website) covering every aspect from flora and fauna, to noise and dust management. That's right, dust management. How many rallies have a dust management plan? Australia's does; 50-pages worth.

A small news piece I saw on ABC yesterday reported on and presented both sides of the argument. One interviewee against the rally (happening to be a local councillor) openly questioned why an "extreme" car race is OK where four-wheel drives aren't allowed to access. It's hardly fair to draw comparisons between the potential for an uncontrolled, disrespecting rogue element, crushing swathes through national park forests and a controlled, analysed and heavily regulated week-long event running on existing, closed (for the event), council-maintained public roads that already exist.

Whatever your opinion (and I'm pretty sure you know ours), every possible safeguard has been put in place to ensure that Rally Australia runs to satisfy environmental impact concerns, while putting Australia back on the international rallying stage. It will run on its environmental credentials and the point is, whatever you do, you need to stand on your own beliefs about what's right to balance needs with impact and as much as possible, tip the balance.

At Smart Automotive, we do just that. Like Rallying, we are fulfilling a need while making sure that the environmental impact is minimised. Our patented, reusable, recyclable Smartcover is a case in point (as are our other products made from NWPP). By using custom-branded Smartcovers to cover and protect your customers seats, you're not only projecting a strong, professional image, you're also helping to reduce the impact of automotive waste on the environment.

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Hot products, but not that hot!

David Turney - Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Been quiet in the blogoshpere last month for Smart Automotive; we're busy working on some great new products & promotions that we'll announce soon.

Bit of excitement at the Smart Automotive offices today though, which I thought I'd share with you. We think our products are pretty hot and are the best thing for covering & protecting your customers' cars, but even we have to concede that there wasn't much we could do for this poor guy. Take a look at the picture....

Right out the window, in a carpark right at the base of our offices, a Ford Cougar decided to spontaneously combust. It went from a small lick to this in about 2 minutes (as you'd expect) with a thick column of black smoke billowing skyward and all the smells of burning car plastics going with it.

Even more spectacular were the fireworks of exploding electrics and the loud pops of sealed parts, glass popping and pipes exploding with the heat (some loud enough to shake the windows). This shot was taken right before the fire truck arrived on the scene and about 5 minutes into the Cougars demise, when the heat had turned the previously rolled up windows into rivers of glass. One fire fighter, getting in close with the hose, got a faceshield full of white firecracker when something under the dash exploded with a loud bang. Undeterred, they got the fire out real quick and what was once clearly someone's pride and joy (as any surviving Ford Cougar in Australia probably would be) was burned to a well-done crisp.

Later reports in the day revealed that the owner had pulled up right in that spot and become instantly aware of electrics burning. When they saw a lick of flame come up from under the bonnet, they and passenger swiftly egressed (hence the doors still swung open) and could only stand by and watch helplessly as their Cougar went up in flames.

So sure, it was exciting to watch at the time, but when I went down there later and saw that car still smoldering away, sitting on its rims and all filled with water and foam, I had only a small part of the sinking feeling the owner must've had.

Smart Automotive can cover and protect anyones pride & joy in most ways, but this was definitely one situation where even we couldn't.

(Thanks to Paul Ridoutt at Smart Web Marketing for the pic)

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Our e-brochure is now online. Download away!

David Turney - Wednesday, July 15, 2009

This just in!

Now online from Smart Automotive is our glossy, new e-brochure, ready for download by clicking the button over there to the right of you. Go on, you know you want one.

In it you'll find all of our current range of custom-branded automotive protection solutions. From our patented, reusable & recyclable Smartcover, our innovative 3-piece guard cover set and right through to our other NWPP protection products, it's all in there.

Download your own version, print it out, keep it on your desk or pin it to your wall, just keep it handy. Above all, email it to your friends & colleagues in the industry to share the good news about the solutions we offer.

Cover it, Protect it, with Smart Automotive.

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We're on Twitter

David Turney - Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Yep, that's right. Smart Automotive's now on Twitter!

Sure, we'll promote our fine products and custom-branded protection solutions on there. We'll also 'tweet' and share with our followers (and those we follow) about the automotive industry and what's going on.

It's another way we aim to share, communicate and keep in touch.

To follow us, hit the button you see over there to the right of your screen. The one that says "FOLLOW US ON TWITTER".

Don't know what Twitter is? Probably about time you got up to speed. Hit the button to get the heads up.

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