Algae Fuels vs. Corn Based Biofuels
In 2007, due to the Ethanol mandate there was a 400% price increase on corn food products in the world. As a results countries began growing crops by clearing out rainforests. Clear cutting and burning rain forests to make land available for new crops created more greenhouse gases than the total exhaust from EVERY vehicle in the WORLD. When we fill up our vehicles with Ethanol or use corn based plastics (such as PLA) we are contributing to the burning rainforests.
Product Stewardship and Manufacturers Responsibility
Reusing sounds like the answer to reducing pollution and the amount of trash we put into our landfills but it isn’t working. Manufacturers have built in product obsolescence for more than fifty years with the idea of the more we use the more jobs we’ll have. Recycling plays an important role in reducing waste; however, here in the U.S. recycling is failing miserably. Consumes are confused and believe that anything they put into a recycle bin should be recycled. It might be a good thought but recyclers are only removing the items that have market value…the rest goes into the landfill. Keep in mind that even if you reuse something or recycle something sooner or later it will end up as trash. Our landfills in this country are mostly the “Dry Tomb” type of landfill. Dry tomb landfills are nothing more than large pits that have been lined with a protective bottom and as each layer of garbage is bulldozed level it is compacted and covered with a thin layer of dirt. Biodegradation does take place with a dry tomb landfill but at a slow pace. The idea behind the dry tomb is to hide garbage from our sight and smell.
Are consumers ready to go green?
I often hear “everyone wants to go green, but no one wants to pay more for it.” Personally, I don’t mind paying a bit more for a better product. Don’t get me wrong here – I don’t want to pay $3 to buy a product that would normally cost $1, but I would be willing to pay $1.25-$1.50 without thinking twice.
Sustainable Plastics
By Max
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.
Are PET Bottles Safe?
NAPCOR Reassures on PET Safety with Answers to Common Concerns
Sonoma, CA, September 25, 2007 – PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles have garnered a great deal of media attention recently, some of it raising questions about PET safety. According to the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the trade group for PET packaging, it’s time to clear up any fallacies and set the record straight: Consumers can continue to rely on the safety of PET bottles.
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC BOTTLES CAN CREATE CLEAN ENERGY
By Del Andrus
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.
Can your company pass the “Sniff” test?
Nestlé expecting sustainability-savvy suppliers
By Mike Verespej
CHICAGO (Nov. 21, 4:15 p.m. ET) — There are a lot of things companies can do that create an appearance of being green and sustainable. But Kim Jeffery wants to do things that actually enhance sustainability and the environment.
“Are you trying to look good, or are you trying to do good?” asked the president and chief executive officer of Nestlé Waters North America, in a Nov. 6 interview during Sustain ’08 in Chicago.
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