We all hear about compostable and biodegradable plastics, but do they work and how? The hope is that we can eliminate things like the pacific gyre – the huge floating plastic garbage dump of the pacific ocean. The question is are these plastics (or any plastics) the answer, or are we just buying some fancy wording that makes us feel better?
I am doing a bit or research and hope to do a series of posts trying to find out.
First, definitions.
Compostable products are biodegradable, but with an added benefit: when they break down, they release valuable nutrients into the soil, aiding the growth of trees and plants. These products degrade within [...]
Are Compostable and Biodegradable Plastics Really Green?
Eco-friendly baby carriers with flair
Babywearting – carrying an infant or toddler in a cloth sling or carrier – has been practiced by mothers across the globe for centuries.
Young children who are carried this way reap impressive benefits. Evidence shows it helps accelerate their ability to learn, they feel more secure and safe, they cry less and they’re calmer. Moms report they feel more in tune with their babies too, and are more easily able to anticipate their child’s needs.
Until recently,however, fashion and ergonomics weren’t part of this equation.
Enter Belle Baby Carriers in Colorado who, since 2007, has been offering moms – and dads – stylish, comfortable and ergonomic baby carriers.
The design is streamlined for comfort,” [...]
Spa Baby makes bathing baby a pleasure
Parents of young babies know that giving them a bath is challenging, frustrating and rarely fun.
An amazingly innovative Canadian product called Spa Baby makes it pleasant a pleasant experience all around.
The Spa Baby is a European-style baby bath tub that lets you bathe your baby while it’s sitting up.
It goes back to the idea of bathing them in the kitchen sink, says Brandy Cameron, founder of Spa Baby Tubs, Inc.
After the birth of her baby six years ago, Cameron discovered how difficult it was to give newborns a bath and how much they disliked the process! Searching for a better alternative, she discovered that outside of North America, it was standard to bathe [...]
In Search of Sustainable Office Products
As the Sustainability Director (or intern set in motion) you are tasked with finding “Sustainable Office Supplies” to meet your corporate responsibility Statement or your LEED certification requirements or because your company cares.
But what does it mean?
The Goal for sustainability is for humans to be able to live on the Earth for a prolonged period of time. This means the rate we use the Earth’s resources should be at or less than the rate they can be replenished.
This is not currently happening. In the US we are using resources at a much higher rate than they can be replenished. The end result is [...]
Coca Cola develops chairs from recycled Coke bottles
Coca Cola is making recycling stylish.
In a collaboration with Emeco, the reknowned beverage company has created a line of chairs made from at least 111 plastic drink bottles. Each ”111 Navy Chair” by Emeco, a leading furniture manufacturer, contains 60% rPET ((recycled polyethylene terephthalate plastic) and a special combination of other materials including pigment and glass fiber for strength. It comes in colors like Coca-Cola Red, Snow, Flint, Grass, Persimmon and Charcoal.
This eco-friendly chair - which is modeled after the original aluminium Emeco Navy Chair (#1006) designed in 1944 for the U.S. Navy - debuts this week at the 2010 Salone Internazionale del Mobile, one of the top furniture trade shows in the world.
Coca-Cola and United Resource Recovery [...]
Washington businesswoman recycles styrofoam
Marilyn Lauderdale, owner of V&G Styro Recycle is making a difference. Her Renton , Washington company does what few others do – accepts styrofoam and recycles it.
Joining the ranks of Dart Container Corp., about whom I’ve written several times, this company is filling a growing need, taking leftover styrofoam packing from electronics, appliances and and other #6 or EPS-filled packages companies and individuals regularly go through. Lauderdale utilizes a machine that conveys the used styrofoam packing into a grinder that then twists it into a taffy consistency. This is then dumped into containers where it’s compressed and shaped into 40-pound ingots that can then be used for new packaging for electronics and other items.
Lauderdale’s company serves three segments:
home [...]
PaperMate goes green
PaperMate has been one of America’s go-to pens for decades. Users of these durable, reasonably priced products cover every age and economic bracket from schoolkids to corporations.
On Earth Day 2008, PaperMate’s parent company, Newell Rubermaid, established their sustainability policy, which included a commitment to energy and waste reduction and to sourcing green materials for their products.
With the approaching 40th anniversary of Earth Day, PaperMate has achieved creating two green product lines.
Their Biodegradable pen and mechanical pencil line was launched in November 2009. These durable writing tools have a soft touch yet are made to the high quality standards of all PaperMate’s products. Writing with them is smooth and comfortable.
These handsome [...]
Green wrapping from Chewing the Cud
One of the most annoying things about parties, weddings…well really the whole darn gift giving industry is the waste. I hate it. But I would definitely not be offended if one of our wedding gifts came one of these little beauties:
These amazing items are Fabric Gift Wrap by Chewing the Cud. How adorable are they? I imagine you could easily make your own, but think about how reusable this wrapping is. I can think of a million different uses, and none of them involve throwing them into a landfill to slowly degrade away.
Each of these lovely items have wonderful pearls of wisdom- give luck, give love, give cheer, and give [...]
Recycling Plastics Breakthrough could be near
Researchers from IBM and Stanford University are working to create a new kind of plastic, one that can be recycled multiple times and that’s biodegradable.
Most plastics can only be recycled once as the metal catalysts they contain break down, contaminating and degrading it, affecting the material’s recyclability. Organic catalysts such as are being worked with at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, leave no residue, can break down the plastic’s polymers to their original state and are cheap to produce.
Also, organic catalysts break down plastic at room temperature – a much lover level than currently possible, where higher temperatures and greater energy are required.
This breakthrough could allow plastics to [...]
Vancouver’s Olympic graphics to be recycled as flooring
Now that the Vancouver Olympics are just a wonderful memory, lots of materials are left to be dealt with.
Enter Mannington Commercial who plans to take the almost 200,000 square feet of graphic wraps, made by 3M Canada, that were used for advertising during the 2010 Winter Games and will turn them into commercial flooring. These wraps were wrapped on vehicles and other types of displays
Mannington will utilize these wraps for their Premium Tile line, which also includes scrap drywall and VCT removed from renovation sites.
Mannington officials said the Premium Tile line is popular for educational, healthcare and retail uses.
Once again, a little corporate ingenuity and commitment to sustainability will turn what would have been trashed into something useful.
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