Category Archives: Green Marketing

Coco-Colas plant bottle business plan

This isn’t the most recent use for those up to date with cokes plant bottle. This article however goes into a more detailed business view of Cokes decision and long term goals. Definitely worth the read, comment and let me know what you think!

http://www.greenwashingindex.com/ad_single.php?id=7083

Coca-Cola in green bottles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/coca-cola-green-plant-bottles

The software drinks giant has come up with a technology to use plant material in plastic bottles. But it is not an easy task

Coca-Cola has come up with a formula that will reduce the use of plastic in making bottles. Photograph: George Frey/Rueters

You could forgive Scott Vitters the occasional spate of Monday morning blues. As global head of sustainable packaging at The Coca-Cola Company, he has an unenviable job. Some might even call it impossible. Every day, consumers around the world slurp their way through 1.5 billion Coca-Cola products. Packaging those servings accounts for the most sizeable chunk of the company’s environmental footprint. Now Vitters’ bosses back at Coca-Cola’s Atlanta HQ are saying they want to double sales over the next decade.

Yet today finds him surprisingly upbeat. Hitting UK shelves today is PlantBottle, what Vitters calls a “breakthrough technology” destined to green not just Coca-Cola but the entire packaging industry.

“We know that we need to do more with less and we know that we can do that through technological innovations like PlantBottle”, he says.

So how does it work? The theory is simple. Plastic bottles are currently made out of a variety of petroleum-based materials. What the chemistry wonks in Coca-Cola’s labs have done is replace some of those with plant materials.

The result is to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions by 8-10% in the process. Furthermore, the plant-based solution is an identical match with polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a recyclable plastic already widely used by Coca-Cola.

“This isn’t about an innovation that’s just a little green widget or flavour of the day … We’re taking the next step of the journey to decouple our plastic from fossil fuels”, Vitters insists.

The numbers seem to back him. Coca-Cola expects to shift over 200 million packs in the UK this year as it switches 500ml bottles of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero to the greener formula.

The UK is no guinea pig. PlantBottle has already been around for a couple of years, rolled out first in Denmark to coincide with the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen. Coca-Cola currently produces around five billion packs in twenty markets.

Vitters is adamant that the new bottle makes long-term financial as well as environmental sense. Although the plant alternative currently costs more than petroleum, he expects that to drop to parity or below by 2020 – due to predicted oil price increases and efficiencies in the PlantBottle supply chain.

Recyclability is another big win. As one of the toughest, most efficient polymers around, PET can be reused many times. That way, the plant material stays within a “continuous loop” – one up on biodegradable plastics that go to landfill and “then sit like a petroleum bottle”.

The impacts across industry could also be profound. Coca-Cola is working with Heinz to help it produce a PlantBottle-packaged ketchup. Toyota is also said to be interested to use the technology for the seats in its cars.

“Across all commodity plastics, this same pathway could be followed. For HDPE [High Density Polyethylene] plastic, polyethenes, films and even PVC”, says Vitters.

Although Coca-Cola is in the process of patenting the application of the plant-based technology (known as Bio-MEG) to containers, Vitters insists that Coca-Cola ultimately intends for the technology to be open. “This is bigger than Coke”, he says magnanimously. Vitters isn’t even again arch rivals Pepsi getting a look in too. “We believe that our competition will need to be part of this journey.” Coca Cola’s sustainable packaging chief may have skipped to work this morning, but his job is still far from complete.

Work to do

PlantBottle is a step in the right direction, but it’s far from the final destination. The plant-based alternative only covers ethyleneglycol – around 22.5% of PET by weight. Coca-Cola has yet to develop a commercially viable plant solution for the other 77.5%, comprising the petroleum-based compound terephthalic acid.

Vitters admits that his marketing team would have been “much happier” if the ratios were the other way around. As it is, the US beverage giant hopes to have a market-ready, plant-based alternative to terephthalic acid by 2015. A date for its integration into brand packaging is yet to be set.

His problems don’t stop there. ‘Plant-based materials’ all sounds very wholesome and green, but not if their production requires excessive water use, pushes up food prices (by using arable land for non-food purposes) or relies on genetically-modified technologies.

As the Coca-Cola packaging head admits: “We knew inherently that just because it’s a plant, it isn’t better for the environment by any stretch of the imagination…this programe fundamentally rests on the ability to demonstrate proven social and environmental sustainability.”.”

For the moment, the company has turned to Brazil and the bio-ethanol extracted from the country’s vast sugar cane plantations. As a major buyer of Brazilian sugar already, Vitters says Coca-Cola has a “comfort for getting the programme started” there.. Not that the social and environmental record of Brazillian sugar is perfect. Far from it. Vitters admits there is still “a lot of growth room to meet [Coca Cola’s] sustainability criteria”. As a result, the company is working with WWF towards a sugar certification scheme in Brazil.

In the future, Vitters conceded that it’s not sustainable to “source only from Brazillian sugar cane. If PlantBottle takes off in the way he predicts, Coca-Cola will have to look elsewhere, as well as to other plants. Excessive demand could present supply problems as well as pushing sugar prices up – something, Vitters jokes, that “wouldn’t be a good career choice” for him.

Wisely wary

The clever polymer chemists in Coca-Cola’s labs have identified other potential feedstocks, but the company is wary about jumping in too fast.

“We need to be very careful about expanding use of land at a time when we think agricultural environments for feeding a growing population are going to be essential”, says Vitters, who acknowledges the need to proceed “responsibly”..

The US drinks giant is therefore looking to second-generation technologies focused on agricultural waste, such as switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and fruit peel.

Even then, challenges still exist. Supply is one. Finding such agricultural bi-products in commercial volumes is no easy task. Land productivity represents another issue. In many parts of the world, agricultural waste is typically returned to the soil as a natural fertiliser.

“Disruptive” though PlantBottle may be, it falls far from enabling Vitters to fulfil his sustainable packaging brief completely. Commercialising a plant-based solution for the terephthalic acid portion of PET would help considerably. But we still have to wait for 2020 until Coca-Cola bottles of all sizes boast the 22.5% plant content.

Nagging at his mind as well must be the fact that Coca-Cola was recently thrown out of the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Index. More galling still, the Index praised Pepsi as a “supersector leader”.

There’s a silver lining, though as Dow Jones did award Coca-Cola an “uptick” for its packaging and material sourcing – another reason Vitters’ Monday shouldn’t be too blue.

Battling the bottle- from the Inside

Aspen native battles the bottle — from the inside

Max Ben-Hamoo fights bottled water — with better bottlesStewart Oksenhorn
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado

Aspen native Max Ben-Hamoo is the president of WorldLife Water, which has introduced water in a biodegradable bottle.Stewart Oksenhorn / The Aspen Times

ASPEN — As a kid growing up in Aspen, Max Ben-Hamoo was intensely interested in science; he went on to major in environmental science at the University of Denver. But as he got older Ben-Hamoo became more practical-minded, and after getting his bachelor’s degree, he changed directions and earned an MBA, also from the University of Denver.

“Once I realized how much more powerful business is than science, I wanted to combine my passion for the environment with some knowledge of business, and grow that,” the 25-year-old said.

Ben-Hamoo’s current career is a near-perfect reflection of the development of that sort of thinking. Where in his childhood, Ben-Hamoo disdained single-use bottles of water — “I gave my parents trouble when they got bottled water: ‘Get something you can refill,’” he said — he has adjusted his perspective and has joined the bottled-water business. But with a twist. WorldLife Water, the company which he serves as president, has introduced what Ben-Hamoo says is the first single-use water bottle to use completely biodegradable plastic. The bottles are manufactured by an Arizona company that treats the PET plastic with an additive that attracts microbes, thus speeding the decomposition of the material. (The bottles are also made without BPA, a plastic which Canada has banned as a toxic substance.)

WorldLife Water arrived on shelves two weeks ago at the Highlands Pizza Co., at Aspen Highlands. “I asked the guy there if he wanted it, and he said, ‘Yeah, looks great. I think people will love it,’” Ben-Hamoo said. “I think he understands people will want it.”

For the moment, Highlands Pizza is the only place to find WorldLife Water, but Ben-Hamoo believes retailers, especially in Colorado, will see things the way Highlands Pizza did: Customers who are attached to the convenience of bottled water will happily switch to a product that is relatively easy on the environment.

“It’s the conscious consumer we’re after, someone who will notice that biodegradable plastic is important for the future of our environment,” Ben-Hamoo said, adding that he is working on adding accounts in Aspen, where he visits frequently to see family, and Denver, where he now lives. “And Colorado is the best place for that — most people have a good understanding of that connection. We’re optimistic because we’ve gotten a great response from everyone we’ve shown it to. It’s like people were waiting for it. They feel bad about their bottled water habit, and this helps them do something about it.”

Ben-Hamoo said making a bottle biodegradable costs 70-80 percent more than a regular plastic bottle, but the added manufacturing expense results in only a slight increase in price for the customer. A 500-milliliter bottle of WorldLife, he said, will sell for between $1 and $2. The trick will be to get the big retailers who emphasize low prices to stock it.

WorldLife was founded two years ago by Kris Kalnow, a Cincinnati resident who has a house in Snowmass, and whose son, Chip, was a friend of Ben-Hamoo’s in college: “She founded the company, then quickly realized, while she wanted to keep it going, she didn’t want to be the one running it,” Ben-Hamoo said. “She knew my background and thought I’d be a good one to run it.”

Taking over the business has required some readjustment of his perspective. Now, instead of shouting out against bottled water — and seeing its use more than quadruple in his lifetime — Ben-Hamoo is on the inside, trying to make the product more environmentally palatable.

“I understand how much bottled water is out there; people are going to buy it,” he said. “If we can replace the standard market with this product, that’s better. It’s better for the earth.” (Ben-Hamoo added that the best thing that can be done with plastic bottles is to recycle them, but that, in practice, some 70 percent of bottles end up in landfills.)

Ben-Hamoo is currently the only employee of WorldLife. While he looks to line up some interns, he is handling sales, marketing, manufacturing, warehousing and accounting. And while he gains broad business experience, his curiosity about science hasn’t died. In the yard at his father’s house are buried several WorldLife bottles, so Ben-Hamoo can monitor for himself how quickly his product biodegrades.

stewart@aspentimes.com

How the Green Trend has Affected Product Design

Sustainable Future: How The Green Trend Has Affected Product Design

By LX Group on 12 September 2011

Sustainable Future: How The Green Trend Has Affected Product Design

It’s difficult to determine when the green trend started – whether it was back in the 90s when we all decided to save the whales and ban aerosol sprays or whether it was much recently when Al Gore won an Oscar and Nobel Prize for his travelling PowerPoint-documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” But, no matter when it began, there’s no denying that people these days have become more environmentally conscious, and the green trend is here to stay. Product designers have realized that everyone is going eco-crazy, whether that means going on green vacations, using green electronic products, and even having green weddings. And today, when designing any product, whether it’s a computer, a couch or the latest smart phone, being environmentally-friendly is almost a requirement. Of course, this goes without saying that green product demand has also increased and environmentally friendly products not only save money, but get profits flowing in.

Let’s look at the ways that this green trend has influenced product design.

‘Green’ Product Design Criteria
To design a truly green product, it must meet some or all of these criteria:
• Be non-toxic so as not to harm the environment, people and pets; In electronics products for example, must contain lead-free pcb boards.
• It can be recycled or recyclable, to reduce the amount of trash in the landfills;
• It must use energy responsibly, whether that means that products use only renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or geothermal power or will reduce energy use, such as electronic products that go into ‘sleep mode’ to conserve energy.
• To a certain extent, it must support environmental responsibility, such as eco-friendly practices, creating more green or local jobs, and even use fair and truthful marketing when selling their products

‘Green’ Materials
Understanding the materials used for any process is essential for any project and one of the first things many designers must master is the use of materials. Unlike 20 years ago, eco-friendly materials are now more available than ever. Eco-friendly plastics for example, which can be recycled or biodegradable, are now more widely available, but are also as tough and durable as their regular counterparts. Take the ubiquitous plastic water bottle, for example – simple to design but the material takes hundreds of years to decompose, and is quite toxic to the environment. Arizona-based Enso Bottles has developed a truly biodegradable plastic, by using an additive that helps the bottle degrade in as little as 250 days, without releasing any harmful gasses. Electronic manufacturers also use green materials for their own products. For example, LCD TVs which use carbon neutral biopaint, smart phones with bioplastic enclosures and electronic products which feature lead-free electronics pcb boards.

Product Manufacture
It’s not enough that your materials are eco-friendly, but the way you create your product should be as well. Consumers truly care about how a product is made, and so the construction of a product must also fit within green standards. For example, Kyocera, a Japanese firm, creates their own energy from solar power generating systems for their manufacturing plants and offices around the world. One of the problems of any manufacturing plant is not just the energy they use, but the amount of waste produced. Canada-based OKI Printing solutions, which produces printers and printing accessories, have reduced the wastes and harmful materials from their process, including the total removal of hexavalent chromium from their screws and implementing a waste segregation policy which has reduced their waste by 70%.

Electronic waste or e-waste is another prevalent problem, this time on the side of electronic product designers. In many cases, such as in with the CEH (Center for Environmental Health) in the United States, electronic design houses are encouraged to, design products that are eco-friendly and safe for the environment, whether that means creating non-toxic programs, or creating products which can easily be recycled.

Product Disposal
Aside from just waste disposal, the end-of-life disposal is just as important – what happens when a product is no longer useful and must be replaced? Previously, manufacturers just let their old products linger in the landfills, but for today’s environmentally-conscious consumer, that simply won’t do. Many manufacturers recycle their products, or donate their waste to other companies or organizations who can reuse their old materials. Electronics designers and manufacturers should, from the very beginning of the design process, should create “Take-back” campaigns wherein consumers are encouraged to bring their used electronics back to the manufacturer for proper disposal or better yet, recycling. Apple Computers in 2009, for example, figured out that they were emitting 9.6 million metric tons of greenhouses gases every year. So, within the next year, they re-evaluated their entire process – from designing, to manufacturing, transportation, product use, recycling and even how they their facilities (office, stores etc.) and made numerous changes that drastically reduced their carbon emissions. Their biggest expenditure when it came to carbon emissions was the manufacturing process itself (45%) and so they drastically reduced this by redesigning their products to be smaller, thinner and lighter, thus dramatically lowering their over-all carbon footprint.

The green trend, it seems, is here to stay. Electronic product designers and manufacturers must comply or be left behind. By keeping their products and processes eco-friendly, everyone – the designers, manufacturers and even the retailers are not just protecting their bottom-line, but the environment as well, ensuring that we all preserve the planet one product at a time.

image http://moralcoral.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/sustainability-for-dummies/

Coke bottle Recycling Plant reopens

Embattled Coke Bottle Recycling Plant Reopens

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/08/22/embattled-coke-bottle-recycling-plant-reopens/

The troubled Coca-Cola joint-venture recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C., is set to reopen today after being shuttered by the company in March.

But Coke is considering selling its 49 percent stake in the plant, according to the Wall Street Journal

Coke and its partner in the factory, United Resource Recovery Corp. LLC, closed the factory down earlier this year to restructure the plant and improve the quality of the plastic being produced. All 50 factory workers and most of the plant’s office staff were laid off when the factory closed.

“We are restarting the plant,” said Carlos Gutierrez, president and CEO of URRC, PlasticsNews.com reports. “We feel pretty good on the results from our retooling efforts.”

Over the last half-year the Spartanburg team has been trying to more efficiently recycle old bottles into food-grade resin and correct certain operational problems. Prior to the fix, certain lightweight bottles had a habit of flying off the production line, Plasticsnews reports.

On reopening, the plant is likely to process half the amount of bottles it was originally designed to handle, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The plant, once described as the world’s largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling complex, opened in 2009. It was supposed to produce 100 million pounds of recycled plastic when fully operational, or about two billion 20-ounce Coke bottles.

ACC demands positive marketing towards plastic bags

Group alleges ACC influenced comments about plastics in Calif. curricula

PLASTICS NEWS REPORT
Posted August 22, 2011

WASHINGTON (Aug. 22, 2:35 p.m. ET) — An investigative reporting team alleges that the American Chemistry Council pressured educational officials in California to revise a section of an environmental curriculum to present positive information about plastic shopping bags.

Washington-based ACC says the allegation “distorts and misrepresents” what took place during a public comment period.

The California EPA also issued a statement, saying that all revisions to the Education and Environment Initiative curriculum were made for “accuracy and educational value” and “thoroughly vetted.”

California Watch, a reporting initiative of the Center for Investigative Reporting, claims that Gerald Lieberman, a private consultant hired by California school officials, added a new section to the 11th-grade teachers’ edition textbook called “The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags,” with the title and some of the textbook language inserted almost verbatim from letters written by the chemistry council.

California Watch posted the report on its website on Aug. 19.

The group also alleges that Lieberman added a workbook section that asks students to list some advantages of plastic bag, and that the correct answer in the revised teachers’ edition is that “plastic shopping bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport and can be reused.”

The claim by California Watch “distorts and misrepresents public process and the role the ACC played in it,” said Steve Russell, ACC’s vice president of plastics. “When CalEPA developed its curricula, the agency … posted an invitation [for public comment] on draft versions of the curricula.”

“We submitted comments in response to the state’s public solicitation for input,” Russell said. “The purpose of our comments was to correct factual inaccuracies and to present a more complete view of plastic bags’ environmental attributes, including their benefits, which were absent from the draft. Our comments, and those of all other stakeholders, were submitted via email and through an online form on CalEPA’s website.”

Lieberman is director of the State Education and Environment Roundtable, a nonprofit group developed by 16 state departments of education to enhance environmental education in schools. He declined to comment on his role in editing the textbook, and referred Plastics News to CalEPA, which defended the EEI curriculum.

“We stand by the integrity of the EEI Curriculum and the open and transparent process in which it was created,” said Lindsey VanLaningham, director of communications for CalEPA. “The curriculum was thoroughly vetted by all appropriate state agencies and was ultimately approved (unanimously) by the California State Board of Education.”

“Throughout the development process, the state made revisions to the curriculum based on two primary factors: (1) accuracy; and (2) educational value,” said VanLaningham. “Teacher feedback supports our belief that the EEI engages students on issues of vital importance to them and their environment, including the role of plastic in our society.”

Regardless, state Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Santa Monica, author of the 2003 legislation that requires that environmental principles and concepts be taught in the state’s public schools, plans to write ask CalEPA officials to tweak the current text to remove language that portrays plastic bags in a favorable light.

The curriculum covers science, history, social studies and the arts, and weaves in environmental principles and concepts. It is currently being tested at 19 school districts that include 140 schools and more than 14,000 students. And an additional 400 school districts have signed up to use it, according to Cal-EPA.

In its letter to CalEPA dated Aug. 14, 2009, ACC said that it felt the lesson plan on Mass Production, Marketing and Consumption in the Roaring Twenties was “extensive in its inaccuracies and bias about plastic and plastic bags.

“The ACC takes exception to the overall tone, instructional approach and the lack of solutions offered — most especially, the lack of mention of the overall solution of plastic recycling,” wrote Alyson Thomas, a senior account executive with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, who submitted the letter on behalf of ACC.

“We recommend that the list of concerns related to plastic bags be balanced with a measured response regarding efforts … to promote the recycling of plastic bags,” ACC said.

Plastic bags are referred to as “litter” in the text, ACC said. “To be clear, plastic bags don’t start as litter. They can become litter through behavioral actions leading to inappropriate disposal.”

The new text incorporated that view, as it now says that plastic bags “can become litter,” instead of calling them litter as the original version.

According to California Watch, the first teachers’ edition also had been highly critical of plastic shopping bags, noting the long decomposition rate of the bags and their threat to marine life and ocean health.

That information remains in the text, but a section on the benefits of plastic bags was added, after ACC made its comments.

“To counteract what is perceived as an exclusively negative positioning of plastic bags issues, we recommend adding a section entitled “Benefits of Plastic Shopping Bags,” ACC said in its letter.

It suggested that the text point out that plastic grocery bags require 70 percent less energy to manufacture than paper ones, that lightweight plastic bags save space and fuel in transport, and that paper bags are reusable, and also can be recycled and made into new plastic bags, and plastic lumber for decking, park benches and picnic tables.

“We recommend adding text referring to the second life of plastic products, and the increase in the recycling of plastic bags,” ACC said. “Recovered plastic bags and wraps can be recycled into many products, including backyard decking, fencing, railings, shopping carts and new bags.”

Buying Bio Degradable

Buying Biodegradable Bags Instead Of Standard Plastic Bags

Posted By Bob B Taylor On August 19th 2011.

Biodegradable bags are a hot subject of environmental protection. National’s Government propagandize everyone use these bags instead of normal bag; further they issue policy to forbid the using plastic without biodegradable additive.

There are numerous ways to classify the biodegradable. One of the ways is degradable condition, there are two main types: Biodegradable plastic bags and Degradable plastic bags. Bio-degradable is manufactured out of farmed items like cornstarch and additive; they’re decomposed in the aerobic condition, so they can not degrade in environment. It is not the ideal choice for the landfill in environment.

Alternatively, the biodegradable trash bags are a lot more environment friendly. It may decompose easily because they are made, almost, entirely from the natural wastes. These usually do not imperil the aquatic life since the biodegradable bags may also decompose in aquatic atmosphere. Moreover, if these are swallowed through the inhabitants of aqua, it may easily be digested owing to their natural composition. Using these bags may also save huge amount of money that it takes the municipal authorities to remove them from your sewage pipes. The assembly and subsequent use of these bags has, surprisingly, a zero net impact on the Fractional co2 of the atmosphere as these release how much carbon dioxide at the time of their decomposition consumed during their production. The sunshine weight, easy transportation and lesser price will also be one of the most substantial advantages of these bags.

There is a good news for packaging bag market is biodegradable material appeared. This is a great choice for protecting environment. Through the use of additive elements including EPI, D2W or ECM just 1 percent or 2 percent to combine into resin material, plastic bags may be degraded totally from 6 months to five years. However, the purchase price is just a tiny bit higher than normal ones with the same quality of plastic bags: durability, light weight, water resistance, printing quality, nevertheless it bring to persistent development for economic and also the life. There are a lot of main reasons why using eco-friendly products makes good business sense. The most importance thing is that benefit moves along with sustainability and morality of economic. It is recommended for business owner to lessen their foot print on the planet.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/shopping-bags-debra-hurd.html

Beverage World Packaging Design Competition

Think your beverage packaging is one of The Best!? Get the exposure you deserve and enter this competition!

Beverage World magazine recently announced that they are now accepting entries for their 2011 Global Packaging Design Awards. The competition is open to any packages introduced since September 2010 and will be judged on a variety of elements such as graphic design and structural innovation. The deadline for entries is September 1, 2011. The winners will appear in the November print edition of Beverage World and on beverageworld.com the same month. Winners will be recognized as the best in beverage packaging from around the world so don’t miss this opportunity, the submittal process is EASY! They are currently accepting samples of the package you wish to enter (samples are preferred) but you can also submit a photo or rendering by e-mail.

This is a great opportunity for all brands including those that have used ENSO Plastics to show off their earth friendly packaging and design.

How to enter

For those sending a sample
If you wish to send a sample of your package you will need to e-mail Beverage World Managing Editor Andrew Kaplan at akaplan@beverageworld.com with the subject line “Packaging Awards” for information on where to ship your package. Remember the deadline to submit your package is September 1, 2011 .
For those e-mailing a photo or rendering
If you decide to send a photo or rendering, you need to e-mail Beverage World Managing Editor Andrew Kaplan at akaplan@beverageworld.com with the subject line “Packaging Awards” and you must include the following information (Remember the deadline to submit your package/photo/rendering is September 1, 2011 .)

• Brand Name
• Beverage Company Name
• Design firm name and location
• Name of key packaging supplier(s)
• Contact person’s name, e-mail, phone number & address
• A brief write-up explaining why the package should win

If you have any questions about the packaging awards, please contact Andrew Kaplan at akaplan@beverageworld.com or (347) 494-5731

Here are some photos of beverage packages that I find extremely inspirational!

Diapers Debate, Every Thing you Need

I have seen many articles on the internet about all these different diaper options and it can get very confusing. Whether you are exploring your options for environmental reasons, financial, health concerns, or just want the cutest diapers for your baby you will find the unbiased information you deserve, here. After writing this I know which one I would probably go with, but this is not about me it’s about you!

The Eco Side of Each Diaper

Disposable diapers can take 500+ years to biodegrade in a landfill. In 2-3 years 1 child can go through 8000-10000 disposable diapers.
Cloth Diapers, depending on the company you get them from can be designed with earth friendly materials. Cloth diapers are made to be reused and that is a good thing because it results in less waste. Of course the water and energy used to clean the diapers is a downside of cloth diapers. However there are many cloth diaper washing services specifically created to clean these diapers as efficiently as possible.
G-Diapers were designed with the cradle to cradle concept meaning that what goes into the product will return to the eco system in a beneficial or neutral way. Waste then becomes a resource. Gdiapers have 2 options, 100% Biodegradable refills or reusable cloths. With the refills you can place them in a home compost (urine only refills), toss, or flush the biodegradable refills (break down in 50-150 days. The Gpants themselves are reusable and can last as long as you want them too, just like cloth diapers.
Biodegradable diapers are disposable diapers made with PLA plastic. The name biodegradable makes it seem like you can throw them in the trash and they will biodegrade in a landfill but because of the lack of oxygen, this would take a very long time to occur. Biodegradable diapers are compostable in industrial compost, so if you unable to send these diapers to a industrial compost, you are only getting other benefits that the diapers may offer depending on the brand such as (lack of chemical(s) used)

Comparing the prices

Disposable diapers can run from 1,500 – 3,000 dollars depending on the brand and how long your child will wear the diapers.
Cloth diapers can run from 700 – 1,900+ dollars (depending on style, this is including laundry costs) (ex. 6 reusable inserts can run at $30) After doing much research, lots of people that use cloth diapers have commented about needed to use disposables for trips and at night time because of potential accidents, this is something to keep in mind in costs.

G-Diapers, at Target you can get refill inserts for $52/128 inserts.Also at Target you can get 6 reusable Gpants for 80 dollars. On the Gdiaper website they have all of their products listed with prices.

Biodegradable disposable Diapers will run you the same costs of regular disposable diapers, 1,500-3,000 dollars, depending on how long your child will wear the diapers and what brand you choose.

Health Effects

Disposable diapers are made with plastic and can contribute to diaper rash and irritation. These diapers also keep babies from feeling wetness so it can take longer for a child to understand what is happening when they are using the bathroom. It has been shown that it can take longer for children brought up on disposable diapers to be potty trained, but of course situations vary and so do children.
Cloth diapers, depending on how they are washed can also cause irritation, but it is usually because of the soap that is used in cleansing. These diapers can contribute to children becoming potty-trained sooner because they are much more breathable and this allows a child feel wetness. Bumgenius is a popular stop for cloth diapers made with earth friendly materials that are less likely to irritate your childs skin.
Biodegradable diapers. The most popular, Natures baby care diapers are 100% chlorine free, 100% GM.
G-Diapers Biodegradable gRefills are made of a water-resistant breathable outer material made of all natural fiber. The inner material is an elemental chlorine free tree-farmed fluff pulp and Super Absorbing Polyacrylate, an absorbent core that keeps bottoms dry. gRefills and 100% biodegradable. gPants are made out of cotton, with a hint of elastene for stretch. gPant pouches are made of breathable polyurethane-coated nylon, similar to what’s used in sports clothing. Pouches are breathable which means babies bottoms stay cool and diaper rash is kept at bay.gCloth inserts are made from four layers of soft microfleece and hemp/cotton. There should be little to know irritation with these diapers.

Ease of Use?

Disposable diapers are quick and easy. Take one off, put one on, throw the used one away and you’re done. They are good for night time wear and travel.
Cloth Diapers, depending on which system you use can be simple or take a few more steps. If you have a cleaning service, it takes some steps out for you, if not you need to make sure that you have a special spot for dirty cloths and that you clean them within a day or two. If you are using refills that can be thrown away/flushes/composted you just have to focus on keeping the shell of the diaper clean. If you have a system going they can work for night time and travel but it will require more attention than a single use diaper.
Biodegradable diapers are just like disposables, quick and easy. Take one off, put one on, throw the used one away and you’re done. They are good for night time wear and travel.
G-diapers , if you are using disposable refills are quite easy, same number of steps as using a disposable. If the gpant gets wet of course you will need to place it in a bin to be cleaned and use a fresh one. If you are using the reusable cloths you will need to make sure they are cleaned within a day or two.If you hiring a cleaning service for cloths gdiapers are very simple, if you use refills, they are still very simple. These diapers have a lot of leak free structure so they are ok for night time wear and traveling.

Go Shop!

Gdiaper Bumgenius Natures Babycare

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

Project Kaisei Cleans up the Plastic Vortex with your “Clicks”

What is Project Kaisei?

I recently came across an unusual and touching fundraiser put on by Project Kaisei. If you haven’t heard of them, Project Kaisei is a California based NGO that focuses on cleaning up plastic waste from the North Pacific Gyre. This company also concentrates on integrating technologies to turn the plastic they collect into fuel or secondary products. Project Kaisei strives to bring awareness, education and showcase new technologies. So far they have taken 2 expeditions into the N Pacific Gyre to study the impacts and issues that result from plastic waste. The plastic waste found there is a mixture of new trash and small plastic pieces that have been broken down by the sun. Most of the plastic is not biodegradable plastic or does not have a chance to, and if it has not washed up on a shore somewhere or sunk to the bottom of the ocean it is still floating at sea.

To learn more about Project Kasei visit their website http://www.projectkaisei.org

The Campaign “Save Kai”

In order to take another expedition Project Kaisei has come up with a facebook fundraising campaign that involves a Goldfish named Kai.

On the Save Kai page you can watch Kai 24 hours a day swimming around in a aquarium protected by a plastic wall. After 30 days from the start of the campaign Kai will be removed from his safe home and into a new home, known as the Plastic Vortex. You can learn more about the waste filled Plastic Vortex on the Save Kai page http://on.fb.me/savekaino

With every donation, Project Kaisei will remove a piece of plastic from Kai’s future plastic polluted home. This may seem cruel but it’s there way of convincing people to help clean up the Plastic Vortex and save millions of sea life. Whether you plan to donate or not you should check out the page to learn more about this campaign and the amazing work done by Project Kaisei.

Help Spread the word!

ENSO Biodegradable Plastics appreciates this cause because we have a passion for making plastics Earth Friendly.

Please visit Kai on the Save Kai Facebook page http://on.fb.me/savekaino

Tweet & Facebook post about Kai!

Check out this Video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO5asmSvrL0