May 03, 2020 —
It has been all about statistics, restrictions, and politics lately. Confirmed cases, active cases, and resolved cases. Hospitalized cases, patients in intensive care, patients in intensive care on ventilators. And, the unsettling death statistics.
Restrictions have become part of daily living. Passing people on a sidewalk is like a schoolyard game of cooties. Entering a supermarket is like taking a tour of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Ontario and Québec, some parks are open, others are not. Walking is permitted in some, but don’t you dare sit on a bench. You can get a drive-thru coffee at Tim Hortons, but do not socialize with friends in the parking lot while you drink it.
And then there’s the politics. Daily briefings from Presidents, Prime Ministers, Premiers, and Governors have replaced game shows, soap operas, and Judge Judy as staples of daytime television. Someone recently told me that they never miss Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s daily briefing. It made me think of a neighbor I had as a young child who diligently watched The Guiding Light each afternoon.
So, let’s forget about statistics, safety, and statesmen and find out about something positive that is happening in the midst of this mania over microbes.
There is a market for clean hands these days because of COVID-19, and a Hawkesbury, Ontario company is doing its best to meet that demand.
The Green Beaver Company, which manufactures all-natural, environmentally friendly personal care products, has started making hand sanitizer at a time when it has been in short supply on store shelves.
According to Green Beaver Co-founder and President Alain Menard, hand sanitizer is not usually part of the company’s product development plan, but the need resulting from COVID-19 allowed them to adapt because the virus emergency had thwarted other projects that were in progress.
Menard said that Green Beaver was about to launch a major marketing campaign for a new aluminum-free antiperspirant, but that had to be postponed, and three marketing employees had to be laid off. Normally, approximately 30 people work at the company, located on Tupper Street in Hawkesbury.
“I think that by making hand sanitizer, we can help keep some jobs,” Menard said.
The hand sanitizer made at Green Beaver is a spray product which is 70 per cent alcohol. The federal health department in Canada requires the products to contain a minimum of 60 per cent alcohol and a maximum of 80 per cent. Menard said he chose the mid-point for the alcohol content in his product. Unlike gel sanitizers, no other chemical agents are added to the spray product, and any fragrances added are from essential oils.
“It’s all about natural ingredients,” said Menard.
The alcohol used in hand sanitizer is ethanol. According to Menard, demand for that is high right now too, making it a challenge to obtain the key ingredient for the product.
“Right now, we need alcohol,” he said.
Due to the shortage of pharmaceutical grade alcohol, Health Canada has given manufacturers permission to use food and technical grade alcohol in hand sanitizers.
The initial production run of hand sanitizer at Green Beaver was small at 15,000 bottles. It is only being sold on the company’s website, and some was also donated to Hawkesbury and District General Hospital and to Glengarry Memorial Hospital in nearby Alexandria. Menard is awaiting a shipment of packaging for two additional production runs of 45,000 bottles each that are planned for May and June. The hand sanitizer made in those batches will be sold along with Green Beaver’s other products which are already available at health food stores, and major supermarket and drugstore chains.
All Green Beaver’s products carry the ECO-CERT logo because they meet natural health and environmental standards.
Was that enough good news in the midst of our current crisis? Keep your hands clean while nervously navigating supermarket aisles or after touching that germy gas station nozzle.