There is a better design for a landfill which is called a “Bioreactor landfill.” Bioreactor landfills are designed to enhance biodegradation and create biogases (Also called landfill gases). LFG’s are being used to produce clean energy. Additionally, Bioreactor landfills have a longer life then the traditional dry tomb site and that means we need less land for garbage disposal.

If we are going to help our environment and leave our planet a healthier place for future generations we’re going to have to start thinking “Cradle to Cradle” with every product that is produced. We as consumers need to demand that manufacturers take stewardship for the products they make. They should be willing to take back packaging which by some accounts is more than 25 percent of all garbage. They should be willing to take back products for recycling or disposal once a product is no longer serviceable. Manufacturers who take stewardship for their products will be more inclined to design products which are better for our environment.

Fixing our environmental problems isn’t going to be easy, but I believe we humans have the capacity to do the right thing. Being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean we have to do without. Being environmentally friendly can mean we start thinking about the products we use and their impact on our planet.

Max

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There is a lot of concern about the growing plastic pollution problem, and rightly so.  Did you know?

* Plastic bottles take hundred or thousands of years to begin biodegrading
* 150 billion plastic beverage bottles are produced each year
* 70-80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
* 100 billion plastic bottles end up in landfills, roadsides, streams or oceans
* The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
* Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States
* A majority of containers today are made from plastic

It seems that a lot of interest is being placed on bottled water, but take a look at the shelves where you shop; almost everything is packaged in plastic.  Bottled water has become an easy target; many of us think that because our tap water is safe, it must be safe everywhere else.  I wish that were true, most places in the world don’t have safe drinking water.  We should be focusing on the pollution caused by all plastics and insist that plastics be designed to be sustainable.  Sustainable plastics regardless of what it is made from, petroleum or plants should be biodegradable and designed to meet“Cradle to Cradle,” design criteria.  A cradle to cradle product is made from something, used, reused, recycled and when its useful life is over, it returns to the earth as a harmless substance.

The problem is that we consumers are confused we don’t understand what is biodegradable, what is compostable, what is the carbon foot print, etc?  Market experts know we’re confused and have designed their campaigns to keep us that way.  Here’s an example, Polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA)is a plastic made primarily from corn but can be made from other plants, is marketed as biodegradable and compostable.  Making plastics from corn may sound like the perfect utopian answer for solving all our plastic pollution problems, but everything in PLA land isn’t what it seems to be.  PLA made from corn increases use of pesticides, is made from genetically altered corn, reduces food crops, raises food prices, and does not biodegrade any quicker than standard plastic in a landfill.  A huge problem with PLA is that it isn’t easily recycled and for proper disposal, it must be processed in a commercial composting site.  There aren’t many commercial composting sites here in the U.S. and some that do exist won’t accept PLA that is made from genetically altered corn. The bottom line is that PLA can’t be composted in your backyard compost pile and with the limited number of commercial sites here in the U.S., most PLA will end up in the garbage dump where it will languish for thousands of years, right along with other plastics.

Beware spin masters, consumers are getting smarter and we want products that don’t harm us or our future generations.

Max

http://www.ensobottles.com

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With the domestic and world markets looking into alternative energy, it is not surprising that the use of biogas created by our landfills are emerging as an easy answer to clean energy (see bioreactor landfill). What is surprising is that this seemingly untapped resource has been available for decades, and is only now being taken serious as a mainstream source for clean energy.

With countries like England adopting a massive effort to capture and utilize methane from waste off gassing from landfills, it is another exciting development towards a green and responsible stewardship of our planet for future generations to come. Here in the US, we are looking to forge ahead in the ambitious challenge to change the way we are consuming our products and resources, and in turn how we dispose of them. There are the “old school” influences that are entrenched in “status quo”, but do not be fooled, change is here, and the scale is tipping towards a healthier way we treat our planet. We are changing mainstream things that could set a new course our children will look back and thank us for. Look at the city of San Jose, CA were this city’s vision has a goal of using 100% of the city’s electrical power from clean renewable sources.

These are exciting times where innovations like our biodegradable bottles are springing up, and alternative sources for clean power are emerging. We are excited about our involvement in this transformational process that is taking place because we can help rid a pollution problem both from a litter perspective, as well as an emission perspective. Our biodegradable plastic bottles will biodegrade to reduce plastic trash in the environment, and in the process create clean energy from the methane off gassing produced by the degrading process in a landfill. We are first and foremost an advocate of recycling; recycling should and must be the goals of everyone within the voice of our message-please choose to recycle! But with the rates of recycling as low as they have historically been in the US, we take solace in that we can still achieve a positive effect by providing clean power through our plastic PET bottle technology made with Eco-Pure.

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