[Posted July 23 2014 by: Barry Stiles]
This is our inaugural blog so it’s important for me to start our dialogue with the true purpose of our journey, what drives our people and our company. There will countless blogs about permeable paving, stormwater management, the how to’s , the specs, the in and outs of our products and our clients stories. But first I want to share why this is personal.
Some say it’s just business, nothing personal. I say that’s precisely what’s wrong with business today. It is personal and it must be true.
Growth and development are vital to our economy and to our improving lifestyles. Sadly and frighteningly, many toxins often come along with these developments. If not managed responsibly, these “improvements” poison our environment in subtle and not so subtle ways that impact our lives and most importantly our children’s health.
My epiphany struck closest to my heart when we discovered an aggressive cancer in my beautiful 4 year old son Hudson. Who’s to say what part of the root cause was genetics, what part the processed foods we eat, the chemicals in our toiletries and cleaning products, the quality of our water, or the toxins in our developed world around us that helped unleash this terrible disease in our child.
I realized after witnessing the most incredible bravery I will ever see as my son tearlessly endured multiple 10 inch needles into his spine to withdraw spinal fluids, seemingly endless chemo and nausea, that we had to do more. I had to do more.
Our purpose is to improve the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe. TRUEGRID will help manage stormwater, passively improve the quality of this water before it arrives at the natural aquifers that feed our drinking water supplies. It will keep plastic waste out of polluting landfills and oceans and repurpose these wastes into useful , environmentally friendly products. It will reduce CO2 emissions by replacing concrete which is responsible for 7% of the worlds pollutants. TRUEGRID replaces asphalt paving that is full of toxic chemicals and impacts the heat island effect and our unnaturally warming environment.
We are blessed. Hudson is now a happy, healthy just-turned-8 year old boy! As I watched his bravery through his ordeal, I realized we can all do more in our small ways, every day to make the world a healthier place. We need fewer bad stories. We need less cancer. We must do more. We are doing more.
I hope this is not too personal for a business blog but that’s how our company will do business. Our efforts come one permeable parking lot, one sustainable jobsite, one porous driveway, one grass fire-lane, one ADA complaint gravel park pathway at time. Thank you for considering our products and our purpose. We welcome you to join us on our true journey.
Barry Stiles
Founder – TRUEGRID
