Wind Simplicity's Windancer Small Wind Turbine Strikes Gold At RCO Awards
Wind Simplicity's Windancer™ Small Wind Turbine Takes Gold at the Recycling Council Ontario (RCO) Waste Minimization Awards 2010.
- (1888PressRelease) January 12, 2011 - Toronto, ON - Environmentalist and Windancer co-inventor Sharolyn Vettese won't allow any product with a skull and crossbones on the label through the doors of her manufacturing plant. A container sporting a decomposing hand won't get inside either.
She says the best way to minimize hazardous waste is not to generate it in the first place.
That's just one of the reasons she received a Gold Sustainable Product Award from the RCO for her small wind turbine, the Windancer, which is high-efficiency, compact and noise-free.
Ms Vettese, who invented the wind generator with her father Dr. Alfred Mathieu, adds that it not only generates renewable wind energy onsite but the way it's made minimizes harm to workers, the environment and the community.
The reason is that the father-daughter team chose to make the Windancer's wind blades out of aluminum to reduce the impact on the environment. Most wind turbine blades are made of fiberglass.
Making fiberglass blades involves using chemicals that can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, skin problems, nausea and dizziness. Fiberglass dust may also pose a physical hazard to workers.
"These chemicals also cause disposal problems," says Ms. Vettese, adding that they are detrimental to the environment if not disposed of properly, ending up in our soil and water.
"My father and I were thrilled to win the Gold RCO award, and we thank the RCO for the recognition and for the important work they do, including promoting the reduction of waste," she says.
"Wind Simplicity represents the type of innovation and environmental consciousness that will lead Ontario's business community into the future," says Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director of the RCO. "Sharolyn and Alfred understand that successful businesses are responsible ones. We are proud to recognize them with a Gold Award in this year's Ontario Waste Minimization Awards."
The RCO award is the fifth award for Wind Simplicity™ for the Windancer, which also has a sustainable life cycle.
Ms Vettese says that the Windancer has been designed with longevity in mind and was inspired by prairie windmills.
"The Windancer can also be recycled at the end of its very long life," she says, because aluminum has a cradle-to-cradle lifecycle. This means it can be recycled over and over without losing its properties and it's another reason she chose the material for the wind blades instead of fiberglass.
The Windancer's rotor blades are designed to be kept out of landfill or incinerators, unlike composite fiber blades that are hard-to-recycle.
Wind Simplicity is also proud to lead the way in reviving the idea of designing products that last, and that can be easily reconditioned and repaired instead of thrown away.
"Companies often don't want to mention the elephant in the room, what happens to their product at the end of its life, when they are selling you a new product. However this is something we want to talk about upfront at Wind Simplicity," says Ms. Vettese.
"Gadgets that can't be fixed end up in the trash sooner and that has a huge environmental cost. The longer a machine can keep working before it has to be recycled, which is the case with the Windancer, the better for the environment, and ultimately for us all."
With a balanced-blade design, based on the beauty and efficiency of nature, the Windancer is a design classic.
"Good design stands the test of time. If you buy a durable, well-designed product it's something you would not want to replace because it's worth holding onto."
The Gold RCO Sustainable Product Award 2010 was presented to Wind Simplicity at the 2010 Ontario Waste Minimization Awards Gala at the Atlantis Pavilions, Ontario Place, Toronto, October 21, 2010.
The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) is a Canadian not-for-profit, membership-based organization involved in policy, education and project work around the issues of consumption, waste generation, reduction and diversion, and recycling.
Wind Simplicity™ is the designer, manufacturer and turn-key installer of the high-efficiency, compact, noise-free Windancer™ horizontal-axis wind turbine (3 kW, 7 kW and 23 kW).
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