What’s New at The Body Shop?

As part of its Nature’s Way to Beautiful campaign, the first marketing effort since its purchase by L’Oreal, The Body Shop has launched its Wellbeing line of  beauty products in 100% PCR (post-consumer recyclate) bottles, and will feature in-store displays describing the environmentally friendly nature of their products.  According to a Body Shop spokesperson, the company intends over the next 12 months, to convert all of their PET bottles from 30% PCR to 100%, with significant gains in PCR expected even before the end of 2008.  In an effort to get customers to stop using plastic bags, they have also introduced the Bag of Life, a shopping bag made of organic cotton-canvas, with $2.00 from each purchase being donated to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  In the long term, The Body Shop intends to become carbon neutral by 2010.

The Body Shop

Bag of Life

Yarn From Old Newspapers

Today’s news, tomorrow’s textiles. A graduate from Design Academy Eindhoven, Greetje van Tiem, has found a distinctive and creative way to recycle old newspapers that have been sitting around. As part of a school assignment, van Tiem completed a project that turns newspapers into yarn, and although not quite the same as regular yarn, it can be spun tighter and woven into something like a mat to be nearly as durable and functional. These newspaper threads can be woven into products like rugs, curtains and upholstery for the home, to help create a very distinguishing look. The delicate yarn is handspun and requires few supplies: a pair of scissors, a spindle, and of course, the newspaper itself. Twenty yards of yarn can be made from each sheet of newspaper. Van Tiem calls the project Indruk. She says that it is possible to transpose yesterday’s news into tangible memories.

http://www.greetjevantiem.nl

Modular Home Recycling

Recycling plays an important role in achieving sustainability. It conserves natural resources, energy, and landfill space.  And in contrast with standard recycling bins, having something a little more convenient and intrinsic to use, makes the process of recycling more attractive. Thomas Deckert, a student in San Francisco, developed a very useful device for a wide range of kitchen environments. In a product design class, he designed a container system which utilizes space for general recyclables and compostables, including food waste. Constructed with reclaimed plastics and spare parts from around the house, the Household Recycling System provides a bin for plastics, separate bagged spaces for toxic waste, and a compartment for decomposable waste. In the end, Deckert’s goal was to provide something that common households could use in one compact unit.

Closing the Loop on Plastic Bottle Recycling

For those of us frustrated by the lack of effective plastic recycling (and the notion of sending our waste overseas for someone else to worry about), we should turn our attention to a solution emanating from the U.K.  With the opening in June of their new recycling plant in Essex, England, Closed Loop Recycling has developed a method of capturing, processing and reconstituting otherwise landfill-bound plastic (PET and HDPE) bottles into food-grade material (”flake”), to be resold to manufacturers.  This is no small feat, given the lack of infrastructure and capacity many countries have, for capturing a high enough volume of waste before it gets lost to a landfill, not to mention the remaining lack of consciousness of the need for recycling in the first place.  As if this weren’t enough, Closed Loop Recycling also advises companies, organizations and municipalities on how best to utilize recyclable content within packaging products for future ease-of reuse, and offers services by which to educate people on the benefits of applying closed loop methodologies, from proper collection of waste to eventual reconstitution.

(All images courtesy of Closed Loop Recycling)

It seems that Closed Loop Recycling has come up with a viable closed loop system, so hopefully their example will make waves and spread its way around the world, and particularly to the U.S., a major consumer of bottled water.  Already, a number of U.S. cities have taken on the challenge of reducing and eliminating plastic water bottles, and although some consumers may be complaining, they will probably soon come to see that such efforts are only for their benefit.  As success from Closed Loop Recycling’s experiences become known in coming months, more companies will surely follow suit and start their own closed loop plants, including in the U.S.

For more on the topic of plastic bottles and waste, please visit the following links -

Closed Loop Recycling’s site pages on Technology and Case Studies

Bottlemania

The Great Garbage Patch

NRDC’s On Earth article Global plastic pollution: the scale of the problem

NRDC Bottled Water. Pure Drink or Pure Hype?

Can a Cell Phone Really Be Green?

When we read about low wage workers in unsafe conditions sifting through piles of discarded computers and cell phones in some far off country, many of us find ourselves asking if there is a way to make electronic devices sustainable, and how we can reverse the process of making the Third World a dumping ground for our e-waste. Is it even possible to make devices truly “green”, considering the many toxic ingredients involved in their manufacturing (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc), which when not properly disposed of, contaminate air, soil and groundwater? Other things to consider are recyclability, energy efficiency, and whether a phone can even be upgraded in order to extend its lifespan.

A number of cell phone manufacturers are beginning to make strides in addressing these issues, including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. Nokia has been getting a lot of press lately, for their Remade and Eco Sensor phone concepts, featuring recycled aluminum, plastic, rubber, and glass, and so-called “printed electronics”, as well as the potential incorporation of an interface to monitor personal health and environmental conditions. Motorola has been working on a display screen for a phone, which would double as a solar charger, and Samsung is said to be developing a way by which to power cell phones through a water-hydrogen system. Even a Chinese manufacturer not yet well known in the West, Hi-Tech Wealth, has had a solar chargeable phone on the market since last year, with many more planned to launch in the near future. Clearly, the more efficient phones (and chargers) that are now on the market, and these R&D efforts themselves, represent potential progress in terms of positive impact within a market that is known for style-driven products with short lives, but it may take some time before any of these exciting concepts emerge from the realm of ideas, to become reality.

In the meantime, as consumers, we must make efforts to use our cell phones as long as possible, and recycle them only when they cease to work effectively, rather than replace them every one to one and a half years, which is the average. Nonetheless, it is important to keep in mind that ultimately, the responsibility of proper disposal of electronic waste should rest on manufacturers, as is becoming the norm in Europe (European Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment), with the consumer taking up the slack before such options exist worldwide. This sort of mindset will not be established however, before legislation is in place, that will direct companies to redesign their products in such a way that they can effectively be taken back at end of life. Certainly no small task.

For those inclined to recycle their old cell phones, a number of options exist. Apart from the large retail chains at which you can drop off old phones and batteries (Best Buy, Staples, Radio Shack, etc), many cell phone manufacturers (Nokia and Motorola included) are starting to have their own direct recycle-to programs. One may also donate old phones to honorable organizations like ReCellular.com and the Support Network for Battered Women, and some organizations like greenphone.com and RIPMobile (and many others), even buy old cell phones, and donate them to various charities. Earth 911 also offers a guide to lessen your electronics’ environmental impact, including many further options to breathe potential new life into your old cell phone.

Some informative selections from You Tube:

GOOD Magazine: E-Waste

The Secret Life of Cell Phones by INFORM, Inc

How Cell Phone Recycling Works

What Happens to All That Glass?

Ever think of all the potential future uses of that glass bottle or jar you just tossed into the recycling bin? A wide variety of both functional and beautiful products, ranging from Mod Rocks‘ architectural tiles, to Ice Stone’s countertops and flooring material, and even barware made from old or broken car windshields, are now being made from discarded glass. Thanks to its inherent properties, glass is often able to be recycled more frequently than other materials, re-formed into a wide range of different shapes and colors, and is becoming a sought after source material for many design and architectural projects.

Once retrieved from curb-side by municipal or private recycling service, discarded glass is then washed, color sorted and crushed at a recycling facility, at which point, it is ready to be reconstituted. The “cullet”, or crushed glass, is then transported to a particular manufacturing plant, either to be combined with concrete or other material (e.g., Ice Stone), or in its more traditional process, taken back to its viscous state after being mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone, and fed into a furnace for melting - crushed glass actually aids the process by lowering the melting temperature, and making for more stable results. The glass, in viscous state, may then be poured into molds or distributed in another way, resulting in its intended product, such as architectural tiles, drinking glasses, or more commonly, road beds, food containers and beverage bottles. Although perhaps counterintuitive, it’s worth noting that glass always remains in a super-cool liquid state, even when rigid and seemingly stable in the form of a final product.

This process represents a major positive effort in stemming the flow of waste to the landfill, but efforts to implement bottle bills throughout the U.S. (many countries are ahead of us in this regard), as well as enhance those that exist, are still needed. Great things to keep in mind as we all become more committed to recycling (or reusing) as much as we can!

Also, see Glass, How is It Made from the Ecolect Blog

Why does Germany LOVE to Recycle glass? on You Tube

The Genius of Paper Tube Architecture

(Images courtesy of Centre Pompidou)

To characterize some of Shigeru Ban’s recent architectural projects as paradigm-shifting would be an understatement. Born in Tokyo Japan in 1957, the world famous architect was influenced by both Japanese minimalism and many of the most renowned Western architects (Corbusier, van der Rohe, and others). In fact, one can see echoes of such simplicity in Ban’s use of cardboard shipping tubes in structures from temporary relief housing he designed for earthquake victims in Japan and Turkey, to a church in Kobe, Japan (reassembled in Taiwan in 2007), and even his small studio space on the roof of the Pompidou Center in Paris. Although there are certainly other materials present, such as recycled fiberboard, steel hardware and support cables, the cylindrical cardboard tubing often makes up the bulk of these simple structures.

When one considers Ban’s use of cardboard tubing as a structural (some might even remark on its minimalist aesthetic quality) material, it is easy to understand why many refer to him as a green architect, yet he eschews such labeling as contrived and perhaps short-lived, preferring to adhere to his own notion of designing and engineering structures holistically through a sort of practical minimalism. It is encouraging to see an architect as famous as him, utilizing such simple and straightforward waste as cardboard shipping tubes, within a project, rather than simply being comfortable with their being landfilled or incinerated. Perhaps his work will have a powerful influence not only on those humanitarian-minded architects and designers who are already inclined to offer solutions to overcrowding and low cost housing, but also on those who have yet seen the benefits of sustainable alternative materials.

Shiguru Ban’s Interview with designboom.com

New York e-waste Recycling Legislation

A study by the EPA estimates that New York City residents purchase about 12 million electronic devices each year amounting to 92,000 tons of product a year. When close to 25,000 tons of electronic waste is created each year in New York City (at the cities expense), it comes as no surprise that “The Big Apple” will be the first US city to enforce a electronic-recycling law. Come July 2009 all manufacturers of electronic goods will be required to start collecting old electronics for reuse and recycling, by July 2010 the Department of Sanitation will no longer collect certain electronic instruments, next by 2012 manufacturers will be required to collect 25% of their sold electronics (in weight), and finally by 2018 they will be required to collect 65% of their disposed product.

This requires electonic comanies to initiate a buy-back program. It also requires them to look at their overall manufacturing process and figure out where they can integrate reused parts and recycled materials. In addition, this law will encourage companies and manufacturers to take responsibility for the product they put on the market and design products to have a longer life.

The main concern presented by consumers on this topic is that this recycling initiative will take the cost right back out of the consumers pocket. In opposition, I say that if designed properly, companies could generate less waste, incorporate reused parts, have to source less raw material, and ultimately find themselves with more efficient manufacturing processes that will result in a lower cost.