Years of Sustainability Struggles
Thirty years ago, Bill, a Waterloo, Ontario native and one of the cofounders of Xtreme Eco, became part of a small company that created a consumer product called Frostbuster. It was a biodegradable ice melter for car windshields. Within six months of its inception, the product gained national distribution and insane sales. A big company came, offered a ton of money and bought the company.
Three things stood out in that experience:
1. The big company immediately replaced the formula for a toxic one and the product failed.
2. While the product was biodegradable, they had to hide the fact that it was, or no one would take it seriously. Consumers didn’t trust green products.
3. The worst part, in order to get two ounces (60 ml) of active ingredient to the consumer, they had to get a bottle, an expensive trigger sprayer, labels, cartons, fill with water and ship it all across the country. The waste was unbelievable.
Seven years ago, Bill was involved with another ‘green’ product. In order to get two ounces of active ingredients to the consumer, the same waste was required. Nothing had changed in 30 years.
First Concept
Bill struggled to figure out how to get two ounces (60 ml) of active ingredient to consumers in a better way. Together with his son, Mitch and their friend Mike, they came up with the first concept for the Multi Sprayer.
They knew that to be successful they needed a line of very powerful, yet eco-friendly concentrates that could solve the nastiest of household problems. The concentrates needed to work with each other (cross contamination could not be a problem). Additionally, they needed to find a Canadian manufacturing partner that had a long history of product innovation and development, as well as an incredible track record in production and supply.
In 2018, Bill reached across to the other side of Canada to find an equally passionate and highly experienced eco warrior, Kelly. A native Albertan.
Decades of Eco Product Development
Kelly, the other co-founder, met a talented bio-chemist who shared a passion for protecting the environment and who had spent his working life developing eco-friendly product formulations for commercial, industrial and homeowner applications. These products provided environmental solutions for a variety of sectors: agriculture, wastewater management, landfill and more.
Critical to the “science” behind all formulations – all “green” solutions had to be as effective, if not more effective than mainstream products.
Kelly established Earth Smart Solutions and started manufacturing and marketing these eco-friendly solutions.
Plants were stronger and more resilient, soil was healthier and farmers were getting greater yields as a result of using these products. Landfills were able to clean up massive problems using these solutions that no other company could resolve. Oil and Gas companies were able to replace toxic chemical usage with the alternatives Kelly was providing. The list goes on.
It Takes a Village
By the end of 2018, Bill and Kelly had a deal. Their shared and complimentary experiences, love of family and dogs, appreciation of and for Canadian things, and their respect for nature and the earth led to the creation of Xtreme Eco.
Production of the sprayers needed a specific talent that neither Bill nor Kelly had. Of paramount necessity was that the sprayers be built in North America. Quality, accessibility, reliability and accountability was and continue to be the imperatives. Along came Gary, the owner of Duron Plastics.
Gary is the Canadian inventor and producer of the famous www.retractabit.com, multi-tools that Canadians have relied on for over twenty years. His family has been designing and manufacturing products since 1938. The incredible experience and expertise of this man and his company enabled the meticulous engineering and perfection of the Xtreme Eco Multi Sprayer. It is also ensuring the production of high quality and durable Xtreme Eco Multi Sprayers.
Wives, adult kids, neighbours, friends and associates provided valuable insights, testing, retesting and support while the Xtreme Eco products were being developed. And now buyers, customers and media are joining the growing community that value the efficacy, convenience and sustainability that Xtreme Eco delivers.
Perseverance and Resilience
A year after Xtreme Eco was formed, the world was hit by the pandemic. They say the test of a great company is not in how well it does in good times, but how well it does in hard times. Very few start-ups have survived the pandemic, but Xtreme Eco has just gotten better and stronger……and that has everything to do with the people that are involved.
In March of 2022 the company was able to finally introduce the products to the world at the Inspired Show in Chicago to an incredible response by buyers from countries around the world. The future looks bright!