Green Terratory
How to outsmart waste
Does Earth Day do a world of good?
Another Earth Day has passed us by, marking 42 years of celebrating our planet on April 22. Every Earth Day–and April as a whole–is full of green marketing. There are recycling initiatives, green pledge drives, awareness events and more. Some are awesome, like Honest Tea’s Great Recycle, but some are only half baked. As someone who has dedicated the last decade of his life to ...... Read More
Comments (0)Compostable vs. recyclable: Which is better?
When I recently posted in a New York Times blog that biodegradability isn’t what it seems, and on Packaging Digest that we should be careful with biodegradable plastics and incineration habits, I got a few reminders that some compostable plastics are not made of PLA (polylactic acid), which is the most common polymer used for biodegradable plastics. Some are made of different types ...... Read More
Comments (10)Breaking down biodegradability and incineration
Part of the problem with landfill waste is that it takes up so much space. Waste solutions such as biodegradable plastic and incineration that are seemingly safe for the environment and make our “trash” disappear appear to be a great option. An item made of biodegradable plastic, or PLA (polylactic acid) is appealing because you can throw it away and it will (supposedly) disintegrat ...... Read More
Comments (3)Rigid container reincarnation
Designing packaging for second life implies reuse in a very permanent sense, rather than just refilling a plastic water bottle a few times before tossing it. This concept has the potential to entirely change the game for reusable packaging-as long as the trend can gain some momentum. Some concepts, explored as early as the 1970s, already have faded, but design for reuse is picking up steam once ag ...... Read More
Comments (4)The trials and triumphs of corporate transparency
Consumers are demanding more transparency in sustainability efforts; stakeholders and investors are doing the same. As corporate citizens we need to give it to them. Giving customers what they want is key to any business, and to keep investors and stakeholders on board, transparency is crucial to keeping them informed and happy. Packaging is at the front line of the sustainability battle, since it ...... Read More
Comments (2)The problem with the popularity of pouches
TerraCycle’s food packaging recycling programs began with drink pouches. Those programs have expanded from Capri Sun and Honest Kids drink pouches, to Flavia Fresh Packs, Sprout baby food pouches, and Method Cleaner Refill packs. Clif Family Winery is soon launching a Brigade for their Climber Wine Pouches and other wine pouch packaging. Nowadays, pouches are in every aisle of every big-bo ...... Read More
Comments (7)Resolutions for a packaging addict
As both packaging professionals and consumers, we live lives dominated by packaging and its science. When we pick up a product at the grocery store or order something new online, we think about what the item itself is packaged in, how it was or will be sent to its destination, and what will happen to it after we use it. What are the possibilities? What are the limitations? 2012 brings an entire n ...... Read More
Comments (7)The most wasteful time of the year
The amount of waste generated by U.S. consumers leaps by 25 percent around the holidays, bumping our yearly output of garbage up from 199.9 million pounds to 249.9 million, based on calculations from the EPA’s 2010 measurements. A whopping one fifth of our annual trash load is produced during the holidays, making this not only the most wonderful time of the year, but also the most wasteful. ...... Read More
Comments (5)Recyclebank + Greenopolis = bright future for package recycling
As recycling has gained ground and moved to the forefront of concern in the past few years with the overflowing landscapes across the country and world, the innovative space of end-of-life processes has been growing. TerraCycle is no longer alone in this space, and we’re glad for the growth and attention that recycling solutions are receiving. We’re often asked what our greatest chal ...... Read More
Comments (2)Packaging's got game with the kids
Can packaging reclamation and end-of-life responsibility really be something fun that can engage younger generations? Yes! Packaging is vital and important to the consumer economy on many levels: it ensures safety of a product, freshness of a product, and of course represents the brand itself. You and I have built our careers around making packaging lighter, sturdier, more sustainable, and, well, ...... Read More
Comments (5)The one big missing option in packaging
With all the talk of making packaging biodegradable, compostable, recycled and recyclable, one option seems to have been left out of the party: reusable.Once a commonplace practice–far before green, sustainability, even environmentalism were a part of the mass consciousness–this simple, practical, common sense use of resources occurred in several sectors, milk being the most common. ...... Read More
Comments (7)Should we charge a virgin tax?
Brazil, beyond Carnaval and its taste for open source software, is doing something we should all pay attention to: Its National Policy on Solid Waste was passed last year, and has laid out an extensive range of measures to better address the disposal, recycling and reuse of waste material. Of most interest to the Packaging Digest community is this paragraph: “The National Solid Waste Polic ...... Read More
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