Greening the Inaugural Parade
AFMInc, the client we’ve been working with on Heatsheets recycling, received a last minute request from the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) for Heatsheets to keep the participants in the Inaugural Parade warm until they begin their march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Naturally they turned to Lee and me for PR and logistical support.
What fun to work on a project like this! Our contact with the PIC was eager to help us work through the logistics of collecting the used Heatsheets and getting them to the TREX facility in Winchester, Virginia, where they’ll be processed and turned into “plastic wood” products.
Here’s a copy of the press release:
Inaugural Parade Participants Will Be Wrapped In Certified Space Technology Typically Used By Marathon Runners
Heatsheets®-on-a-Roll™ will keep schoolchildren from Honolulu and members of NASA’s STS-126 Endeavor Crew warm in parade staging area.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2009, Petaluma, CA: With the weather forecast for Inauguration Day calling for temperatures in the low 30s, the kids in the Punahou School Marching Band and Junior ROTC Marching Unit will be pleased to know that the organizers from the Presidential Inaugural Committee have them covered. Literally. In fact, all parade participants will be issued a reflective-insulating plastic blanket from AFMInc, the manufacturers of Heatsheets, to shield them from wind and possible snow until they begin their march from the U.S. Capitol Building to the White House.
“The Suurimmanitchuat Eskimo Dance Group might not find Tuesday’s weather conditions too severe,” said Stephanie Deigan, President and COO of AFMInc, “but the kids from Hawaii will certainly appreciate the fact that Heatsheets reflect up to 90% of your body’s heat.”
Deigan added: “I was thrilled when the Presidential Inaugural Committee contacted us. Our product is typically used at mass participation events like the Marine Corps, Chicago, Boston and New York marathons, but the folks gathering for the Inaugural Parade will have similar needs for harnessing their body heat until they start marching.”
Heatsheet technology can be traced to the early days of the US space program. NASA developed an ultra-light, highly efficient reflective insulation technology to protect astronauts, spacecraft, and heat-sensitive equipment from the extreme temperatures in space. AFMInc’s product line is built on this reflective insulation technology, and has earned the Certified Space Technology seal.
AFMInc and special events consultants Eco-Logistics have been working with Presidential Inaugural Committee staff to arrange for the collection of Heatsheets as parade participants leave the staging area. Once collected, the used Heatsheets, which are made from low density polyethylene, a recyclable film plastic, will be shipped to a TREX manufacturing facility in Winchester, Virginia, where they will be processed and made into wood-alternative decking, fencing and railing products.
About AFMInc:
AFMInc combines a unique understanding of infra-red reflective insulation technology with careful needs research, original thinking, and the process knowledge necessary to build creative solutions for passively extending or delaying thermal heating.
AFM’s technology can be traced to the early days of our nation’s space program when NASA developed an ultra-light, highly efficient reflective insulation technology to protect astronauts, spacecraft, and heat-sensitive equipment from temperatures of 250°F above zero to 460°F below. AFM’s reflective insulation technology has earned the Certified Space Technology seal.
For more information about Heatsheets and AFMInc, contact David Deigan, CEO and Chief Technology Officer, at (707) 658-4655, David.Deigan@AFMInc.com, or visit www.Heatsheets.com.
Tags: AFMInc, Certified Space Technology, green event management, Heatsheets-on-a-roll, NASA, Presidential Inauguration Parade, Punahou School, recycling LDPE, Suurimmanitchuat Eskimo Dance Group