By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 17th,2010%  As I was packing my lunch today I noticed something on the packaging of the hummus I was using. Next to the logo and title was a stamp that said “New! Earth Friendlier Pack”and “More info at sabra.com”. I was curious,the tub was a simple transparent plastic. I didn’t notice anything unusual about it. I wanted to know what they had changed. So I went to the sabra.com website,as instructed. I couldn’t find the promised information. So I searched for it on Google. The information was there,buried in the News section. Sabra was making . . . →Read More:What does “Green”even mean? By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 15th,2010%  Several years go I picked up a book called Stirring It Up:How to Make Money and Save the World. I loved that book.It was about how environmentally responsible business can make a profit while being good for your body and for the environment. The author,Gary Hirshberg,is the CEO and founder of Stonyfield farms,an organic yogurt company based in New Hampshire,USA. We have always been happy with the quality and flavor of their products and are proud of the success of a NH company. The book was published in 2008 and at the . . . →Read More:Stonyfield’s new plant based yogurt cup By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 9th,2010%  KFC (the restaurant formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) is making an effort to improve the environmental impact of their food packaging. As part of this effort,KFC has been making efforts towards increasing the recycled content of their paperboard product. This is valuable because paper products which have been in contact with food (especially greasy food) can no longer be recycled due to contamination. Another innovation they are pioneering for the fast food industry is the reusable,recyclable side dish container. The polypropylene (PP) side dishes are microwavable,dishwasher safe,leak resistant and are fully recyclable at the . . . →Read More:KFC’s Packaging Efforts By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 6th,2010%  If you are already a bioplastic insider,you have certainly seen the recent articles around the web about the expected growth of bioplastics through 2015. It’s exciting news,not only for those of us interested in the plastics industry but also for people who are environmentally conscious. The according to the BCC Research Report titled:Bioplastics:Technologies and Global Markets published in September 2010 the usage of bioplastics is expected to grow at a 41% annual growth rate through 2015. This means a growth from 571,712 metric tons in 2010 to 3,230,660 metric tons in 2015. The graph in . . . →Read More:The Booming Bioplastic Industry By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 5th,2010% When new acquaintances find out that I’m interest in bioplastics and their applications,I’m often asked about what I think of the Sunchips bag. While I think the innovation is fantastic and a step in the right direction,I guess too many consumers did not appreciate the change. In exchange for being compostable in a backyard setting,the PLA bags were loud. Far too loud for some consumers. I was told by one friend that he couldn’t eat them anymore because he couldn’t sneak them after dinner. The crinkling sound alerted the whole household that he was cheating on . . . →Read More:Sunchips to Ditch Noisy Bags By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 23rd,2010%  Consumers increasingly want to be more environmentally conscious. Whether that be by recycling,composting,reducing waste or purchasing products with a more eco-friendly message. One way for consumers to get involved in improving the environment is to purchase products made from recycled materials. While companies may claim to be made of recycled product,there are agencies in place to safeguard the customers. The International Code Council Evaluation Services,ICC ES,has a program to ensure building products meet sustainability requirements. Their S.A.V.E. program,Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation,provides companies with voluntary evaluation of a product’s recycled content. SAVE™, . . . →Read More:Recycled Content in Products By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 20th,2010%  Companies are starting to understand the impact their material choices have on the environment. Papermate,known as a pen manufacturer,has recently come out with a pen with components that will biodegrade in about a year when buried in soil or placed in an industrial compost facility. These pens,known as Papermate Biodegradable,require some user disassembly before disposal. The biodegradable components of the pen are molded using a material branded Mirel. It is a biodegradable corn-based bioplastic made from renewable resources. Mirel is a PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) plastic as opposed to the better known PLA. From the Mirel Website: . . . →Read More:Papermate Plant a Pen Challenge By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 14th,2010%  This short video shows a little of Cereplast‘s bioplastic resin manufacturing lines. A few points to take away from the video: Bioplastics cost about 20% more than regular plastics Most are currently based on corn and tapioca If they take off,bioplastics may put stress on the cost of food Cereplast hopes to release an algae based bioplastic later this year. Cereplast is a California based company. They currently make a compostable grade plastic for injection molding,extrusion blow molding,papper coating,extrusion foam,thermoforming and profile extrusion. They also make a hybrid resin with 50% bio-based material . . . →Read More:A bioplastics manufacturing video By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 13th,2010%  Bioplastics from renewable resources often get slammed for taking materials from possible food sources. So I was very excited when I found out about a project in the running for the Pepsi Refresh Project:bioplastics from chicken feathers. This material uses a chicken meat production byproduct to make a keratin based biodegradable plastic. The material saves feathers from going into landfills and then can decompose. The Eastern Bioplastics is seeking $50,000 from the refresh project,be sure to vote here. Modern Plastics Worldwide magazine recently wrote a piece about Keratin based plastics and their front runner Eastern Bioplastics. . . . →Read More:Keratin plastics –Feathers Tickle Imaginations By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 12th,2010%  Business Courier reported this morning that three Proctor and Gamble Company (P&G) brands will be switching to Sugar cane based bioplastics in their product containers. The cosmetics and hair product brands expect to switch to the packaging in 2011 as part of P&G’s sustainability efforts. Currently included brands include Pantene Pro-V,Max Factor and Covergirl. P&G will be working with Brazillian plastics supplier Braskem. Braskem produces what they call biopolyethylene from sustainably grown Brazillian sugar cane. The high biomass of sugar cane allows the material to have high energy producing a green ethene molecule. The company claims that . . . →Read More:Sugar Cane Bioplastics will Contain Shampoos | CreditsBlog design elements by Kate HadfieldUsed as non-profit generating blog TOU |
