Not Scraps, But New Beginnings

White Eagle is a manufacturer of dazzling gift items, wind and rainbow toys, garden art, and other whimsical creations. The company combines holographic technology and nature images to create endearing works of art that appeal to all ages. Located in the Redwood forests of Willits, California, White Eagle handcrafts each rainbow art piece, striving to manufacture the creations from reused and recycled materials whenever possible, and sends the gift items throughout the world.

White Eagle's mobiles have been displayed internationally through major motion pictures such as The Fifth Element, First Kid, and You've Got Mail. The mobiles have also decorated prestigious events, including the 64th Academy Awards banquet.

Sheri Hanson, owner and president of White Eagle, says that as a manufacturer, they use raw resources of the earth. Hanson believes they must use these resources responsibly. They use only non-toxic materials and design their cutting dies to maximize material use and reduce the amount of waste generated at all times.

Since the business opened in 1987, White Eagle has been reusing the same components in the manufacturing process—including using the same boxes! The company has been reusing the same cardboard sheets since 1989. Even their unneeded office paper has a second purpose—it is shredded and then used to pack their shipping boxes. Hanson says that when she started the company; she was a television producer and her partner was the designer, so they knew how to pull things together.

2001 marks the sixteenth year of White Eagle as the leading manufacturing company of holographic and rainbow toys. In addition, White Eagle has been a Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) winner for three years in a row due to their reuse and recycling efforts. The company intends to enter the awards program again this year. White Eagle's 1999 WRAP award sparked interest in their community, and the company's environmental message was featured in several articles. 

As a result of the articles, White Eagle now sponsors an innovative reuse project in Willits: a postconsumer wrapping paper drive during the holidays. Sheri asks the residents to remove the bows from their used wrapping paper and give the wrapping paper to her, and she will give them a mobile in exchange for every bag of wrapping paper donated. She then used paper to pack the shipping boxes. This exchange program has been met with a great deal of enthusiasm, with many people participating in the program. Additionally, any local company who has unwanted shipping material is invited to let White Eagle reuse it. White Eagle is driven to find new and creative ways to reuse, reduce, and recycle materials.

White Eagle designates at least one employee to coordinate its waste reduction programs and requires every employee to participate in the company's recycling awareness program. Its efforts continue to save the company hundreds of dollars each year. The company introduces new employees to its waste reduction programs and periodically reminds and updates employees about them. White Eagle provides companywide acknowledgement as an incentive to employees to develop new waste reduction ideas and to encourage them to participate in its waste reduction programs.

White Eagle reuses everything in two formats: materials are first reused to manufacture products, and then any leftover pieces from the manufactured products are reused to create additional products. To reuse materials, White Eagle takes parts of the products that are manufactured, cuts off the waste of the products, and reuses the good parts to create a new product. New dies are then made to fit that small area.

Hanson says that White Eagle produces colorful "garbage," which is highly sought-after. White Eagle donates one to two scrap pallets each month to Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP) in the Bay Area. The company also gives to elementary schools throughout the Northern California area on request, spreading the enthusiasm of the rainbow-making material while sparking young creativity. Schools greatly appreciate the donations of the scraps, since so many art programs have been eliminated from school curricula. The children take the material and creatively reuse the hearts, stars, and other shapes to create collages, crowns, etc. Some of the material is magnetic, and Hanson has even seen one person decorate their entire car with the magnetic pieces.

The major product lines of White Eagle are mobiles, outdoor wind toys, and magic wands (hundreds of thousands are made). The excess material stripped during the manufacturing of the windsocks is reused. White Eagle does not use any raw materials to create the gift baskets; the company only uses pieces of material discarded. The company bags the basket shreds and sells them as packing material.

White Eagle's Web site encourages its customers to participate in its efforts to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfills. The company asks all of its customers to provide their e-mail addresses to cut down on paper for correspondence and sales information, and offers Web site ordering and an online catalog in an effort to use less paper. White Eagle always asks everyone to remember to "reduce, reuse, and recycle."

About ten percent of all the materials used for the business are reused. Hanson says that unfortunately, they have to use PVC plastic in their manufacturing processes. She says that they have to pay for the hauling of PVC to the recycler, but they would rather pay to have it recycled than send it to a landfill At the end of every year, or at the end of their supplier's year, they ask their supplier what trash and leftovers they have on their floors. White Eagle takes mill ends and works with those as well. At the end of every year, nearly a ton of paper remains, which White Eagle warehouses and uses. The company annually reuses 20 cubic yards of office paper, 150 cubic yards of PVC plastic, and 150 cubic yards of material out-takes.

"The major reason we do all of this is out of respect for the earth," says Hanson. "Monetarily, it would be cheaper to use a new sheet of something but our motto has been from the beginning that there are no scraps, only new beginnings for all of our products." White Eagle strives to design all of its new products with this statement in mind.

White Eagle
P.O. Box 40
Willits, CA 95490
(707) 459-0311
1-800-959-5811 (toll free)
(707) 459-6602 (fax)
info@whiteeaglerainbows.com
www.whiteeaglerainbows.com

For more reuse resources, visit: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Reuse/  

Creative Reuse Home

Last updated: August 01, 2008