This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This week's Utah Crowd-Funding Project gets to the bottom of things.
People who buy growlers of beer know that the hard part of washing and recycling the bottles is drying them. Same goes for sports bottles.
Pete Mercier, a motorsports engineer in Salt Lake City, knows the feeling. That's why he developed the Growler Grunt, a device to dry narrow-necked containers quickly and efficiently. (It can also be used a paper-towel holder.)
It's essentially a tall rod held up by a tripod. Mercier's version is sturdy, with aircraft-grade aluminum rods and urethane ball ends to prevent scratching. The device is produced in Tooele, with the ball ends sourced from a U.S. supplier.
Mercier has launched a crowd-funding campaign, via Kickstarter, seeking $1,500 for production costs. The campaign so far has raised $356 in pledges. The deadline is Dec. 18.
Benefits for backers range from one Growler Grunt (for $24, which is $8 less than the retail price) to a pack of three (for $64).
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