This company is handing out free sunscreen for a very important reason
You might be shocked to learn that bringing sunscreen to school is prohibited in several school districts across America. Because of this, kids’ access to sunscreen is limited, and in turn, their chance of sunburn is greater. That’s why one company is installing free sunscreen dispensers in locations across all 50 states. Their goal is to decrease the threat of melanoma in adults, which is directly linked to previous childhood sunburns.
The company is called BrightGuard, and it was founded by Alex Beck and Ryan Warren back in 2014. The two entrepreneurs told Fast Company that their goal is “to remove all excuses for why people aren’t applying sunscreen.”
And so far, their invention is working.
Since BrightGuard’s 2014 launch, Beck and Warren have installed over 2,000 public sunscreen dispensers across the U.S. Fast Company reports that New York city already has 80 SPF 30 dispensers scattered in state parks, beaches, and boroughs.
BrightGuard offers their dispensers for $70 each and also provides refill packets that range from $20-$150. Each dispenser is touch-free and are designed to withstand damage and vandalism.
Plus, each dispenser contains enough sunblock for about 150 people.
Beck and Warren have begun to work with skin cancer nonprofits to help them spread skin cancer awareness. “It occurred to a lot of our nonprofit partners that our dispensers are a concrete way to turn their messages into action,” Beck explained to Fast Company.
Together, BrightGuard and their nonprofit partners are trying to actively change the way the public thinks about and acts on skin health in regards to sun exposure.
These partnerships are having the biggest effect on those school systems where sunscreen is banned, like those in Nevada. School-provided BrightGuard dispensers are now in 8 of the 17 Nevada school districts, and have actually become quite trendy with the kids.
Beck said, "They saw a friend doing it so they all wanted to do it—they were lining up before they went out to recess."
Making sunscreen cool is all part of Beck and Warren’s mission. Together, they hope to decrease skin cancer diagnoses by 20 percent by 2025. With the way their BrightGuard dispensers are heating up across America, this goal seems highly reachable.
