Tag Archives: earth friendly

PLA I am whatever I say I am

So what exactly is PLA?

 


PLA also known as  Polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) which is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch in the United States, tapioca products (roots, chips or starch mostly in Asia) or sugarcanes (in the rest of world).

In the U.S  a majority of PLA is made with genetically modified corn (Nature Works is the largest provider of genetically modified cornstarch in the world.) According to Elizabeth Royte, in Smithsonian, “PLA may well break down into its constituent parts (carbon dioxide and water) within 3 months in a controlled composting environment, that is, an industrial composting facility heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and fed a steady diet of digestive microbes. But it will take far longer in a compost bin, or in a landfill packed so tightly that no light and little oxygen are available to assist in the process. Indeed, analysts estimate that a PLA bottle could take anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill.”

Let’s get one thing straight PLA is not compostable in home compost, go ahead and try…you will be waiting a very long time and it still might not happen. PLA is ASTM 6400 which means a product can be considered compostable if a product has undergone 60% biodegradation within 180 days; the standard is 15-18 weeks at a majority of industrial compost facilities. So these industrial compost facilities, where are they? According to this site in the United States there are 422 composting facilities registered, what each facility is capable of composting I am unsure, you would have to contact the particular facility you are interested in.

So if you buy PLA products, such as PLA single use eating utensils and you do not have access to an industrial compost or you just think it will be okay to throw the fork, spoon or knife in the garbage because it seems natural enough, unfortunately it is not. That fork, spoon, or knife could take hundreds of years to decompose. If you do not plan to send your single use PLA purchases to an industrial compost, I do not see how it would be a rational investment. Not only because PLA utensils will sit in a landfill forever but because they are not very durable, they bend and break very easily and can become droopy if placed in heat. So if you’re not planning on disposing  of PLA properly what have you accomplished?  If you are one of those people who does not have access to an industrial compost or really just do not have time to think about it and prefer quality products, try purchasing biodegradable & recyclable plastic products , for example ENSO plastics.

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Thanks to these links for info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid

http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/pla.htm

http://www.greenworld365.com/what-are-corn-starch-biocompostables-aka-pla-plastics/

http://malcolmhally.com/large-multi-view/gallery/1436351–/Mixed%20Media/On%20Canvas/Non-representational.html

Reusable Shopping Bags Not Risk Free

The newest fad: The Reusable bag .




Reusable bags are being greatly pushed against the single use plastic bag and people seem to be latching on to the concept. It sounds like a good enough idea, and with all the design options you can really expressive yourself, but is the reusable bag really risk free? Just like many new products there may be some drawbacks that weren’t discovered before becomingso popular and “savior-esque.” The Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University conducted a study called the Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags. Now I am going to brief you on the results of this study!

So what is “Cross contamination” ?

Cross contamination occurs when disease-causing microorganisms are transferred from one food to another.

The assessment was divided into 3 Phases

1. Determine the occurrence of bacteria and bacteria of health concern in reusable shopping bags
2. Determine the potential for microbial cross-contamination in reusable shopping bags
3. Evaluate and recommend the washing/bleaching procedures necessary to decontaminate reusable shopping bags

They started off by collecting bags from consumers entering grocery stores in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona. 84 bags total were collected, 25 from LA, 25 from San Francisco and 34 from Tucson. All but 4 of these bags were woven polypropylene (a little softer than polyester which is what a typical plastic bottle is made out of.) Each bag owner was interviewed on bag usage, storage, and cleaning procedures. (4 unused reusable bags were also purchased and tested)

 

And the Results are in…

Large numbers of bacteria were found in all but 1 bag & coliform bacteria in half.

E-Coli was identified in 12% of the bags & a wide range of enteric bacteria & pathogens.

After meat juices were added to bags & stored in car s for 2 hours, bacteria increased 10-fold.

 

 

How to Clean your bags?

Hand or machine washing was found to reduce the bacteria in bags by >99.9%. So if you clean your bag after every separate use, you should be good! (Don’t forget to think of the water and energy that adds up over time)

 

What were the bag owners habits?

Cleaned bag at home?
97% No
3% Yes

Days bags were used in a Week?
49% 1 day
22% 2 days
18% 3 days
3% 4 days
2% 5 days
3% 6 days
3% 7 days

Bag used Soley for Groceries?
70% Yes
30% No

Other uses of Bag?
57% Other Shopping
19% Clothes
10% Books
9% Snacks
5% Biking Supplies

Separate Bags for Meats & Vegetables?
75% No
25% Yes

Transport in Car?
55% Trunk
45% Backseat

Stored at home?
55% Yes
45% No

 

As you are learning these bags get pretty filthy and are brought back into stores, which is proven to be not at all sanitary. So if reusable bag users do not make the continuous effort to keep their bags clean maybe this isn’t  the cleanest solution to the single-use plastic bag problem, why not explore another option like using Earth friendly  biodegradable and recyclable plastic instead, Like ENSO?

Take a few min to read the rest of the assessment it’s definitely worth your time!
http://www.llu.edu/public-health/news/news-grocery-bags-bacteria.page

 

 

Brands Say Bye to Excess Plastic to Save a few Bucks.

 

In recent news the rumor is that a few major stores are making “significant” changes to reduce packagingSaying Goodbye to Excess Packaging seems to be related more to high oil prices rather than true environmental concern. If companies were truly concerned about environmental factors wouldn’t they just switch to more earth friendly plastics, say ENSO? What may initially seem like a movement to lessen plastic waste has turned out to be companies just trying to save a few bucks. Target is removing plastic lids from its Archer Farms yogurts, redesigned some light bulb packages to eliminate plastic and is selling socks that are packaged with paper rather than bags. Wal-Mart has made a gallant effort to reduce their packaging by 5% between 2008-2013 by concentrating detergent to reduce size of packaging as well as making peroxide bottles from round to square and Home Depots Husky tools are switching to paper packaging. These aren’t the only companies cutting down on plastic, Seventh Generation (sustainable cleaning and personal products) has been mentioned as well. Minimizing plastic & making plastic earth friendly like ENSO is awesome but be sure to not be confused by the motive of these companies.
–Megan Bentley

Take a Read at the Article I am referring to below!

Major Brands Say Goodbye to Excess Packaging
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 06. 2.11

BUSINESS & POLITICS Good news, according to the New York Times: excess packaging, plastic in particular, is on the decline. Apparently more because of high oil prices than any environmental concern, but we’ll take it. The Times has examples of a few major stores making significant changes:
Target has removed the plastic lids from its Archer Farms yogurts, has redesigned packages for some light bulbs to eliminate plastic, and is selling socks held together by paper bands rather than in plastic bags.
Wal-Mart Stores, which has pledged to reduce its packaging by 5 percent between 2008 and 2013, has pushed suppliers to concentrate laundry detergent so it can be sold in smaller containers, and has made round hydrogen peroxide bottles into square ones to cut down on plastic use.
At Home Depot, Husky tools are going from clamshell to paperboard packaging, and EcoSmart LED bulbs are about to be sold in a corrugated box, rather than a larger plastic case.

And a follow-up blog post expands on a couple others:
Seventh Generation, a maker of sustainable cleaning and personal care products, began using a pressed-cardboard detergent bottle that is recyclable; an inner pouch contains the liquid detergent.
“The category potential for this is huge, from vitamin companies to pet food, juice, milk, ” said Julie Corbett, the founder of Ecologic, which makes the cartons.
Recently Wal-Mart began replacing the metal twist ties that keep dolls and other toys in their boxes with paper ties.

Now, reducing packaging is a huge step forward, but it’s not the end goal. Buying in bulk—everything from rice and coffee to shampoo using refillable containers—is always going to be the environmentally superior option.
As Planet Green has written before, “Nearly 80 million tons of waste is generated from packaging and containers annually,” and from TreeHugger: “a 10 kilogram bag of rice has 20 less bags than the equivalent in 500 gram packages. And it that one bulk bag is probably a compostable cotton sack anyhow, instead of plastic. Wasted transport fuel is reduced because much more product per container is delivered to the store.”
So yes, look for products with minimal packaging and support companies making the effort to eliminate excess, but whenever there’s a bulk aisle, shop there first.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/06/major-brands-say-goodbye-excess-packaging.php