Archive for 'Green Business'
Starbucks Coffee: Green or Greenwashed?
Posted on 10. Jun, 2009 by admin.
Starbucks is given credit by many for revolutionizing the American coffee drinking experience. The company, however, is both praised and criticized by environmentalists. Is Starbucks a leader of sustainability or a greenwasher?
The Coffee Industry
The coffee industry itself is inherently unsustainable. Coffee is cultivated in more than 60 tropical countries across tens of millions of acres of land. Tropical soils unfortunately are vulnerable to erosion and loss of topsoil, particularly when the native vegetation is removed. Coffee also has relatively high water footprint — to produce one cup of coffee requires 140 liters of water.
Historically, much coffee was shade grown under a variety of native trees on small farms. A surge in coffee demand a decade ago significantly increased global production, thus boosting the prevalence of monoculture farming. The land is often cleared of native vegetation and pesticide use became more common.
Read the entire article at GreenBiz.com
Continue Reading
Plastic Association Warns Against Degradable Materials
Posted on 02. Jun, 2009 by admin.
SONOMA, Calif. — The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is urging manufacturers of PET resin and products to avoid using additives that make plastic degradable.
PET is widely used in making plastic bottles, containers and other packaging. It is also widely recycled, identifiable by the resin code 1.
As companies investigate more sustainable packaging, some have started using plant-based plastics in place of PET or started using additives that make the PET degradable based on certain conditions.
NAPCOR, the trade organization for the PET packaging industry, is asking companies to stop using additives until more information is gathered on what effect additive-laden plastic could have on recycling streams if that plastic ends up being put in recycling systems instead of being left to degrade.
NAPCOR also wants to see documentation related to degradability claims, more information on what effect degradable additives could have on products made out of recycled PET, and information on what impact the additives have on product lifespan.
“Without the testing and data necessary to understand the potential impacts of degradable additives in PET, it’s not an overstatement to say that they could potentially put the whole PET recycling system at risk,” said NAPCOR Executive Director Dennis Sabourin. “We don’t yet understand the impacts that these additives could have on the quality of the PET recycling stream, let alone the impacts on the safety and functionality over time of next-use PET products like recycled-content PET packaging, carpeting, or strapping.”
NAPCOR is also questioning the use of degradable plastics because when plastic is left to degrade instead of being recycled or remanufactured, the inherent energy in the packaging is lost, and the plastic industry also loses material that could have recycled into new packaging.
In 2007, the U.S. recycled 1.4 billion pounds of postconsumer PET packaging, and some companies have started using bottles and packaging made entirely out of recycled plastic.
Continue Reading
Earth ball joins recycling effort
Posted on 20. May, 2009 by admin.
Where do old golf balls go to die? Preferably to Dixon Golf, and not your local landfill, where they could remain intact for decades.
The Arizona-based company markets a golf ball, the Earth ED, but it will also take any golf ball for recycling. The Earth ball is a two-piece construction, made of a polymer that Dixon CEO Dane Platt says is recyclable. “We grind it up until it’s fine dust,” he says. “The dust can be used for other things.”
Platt says the company received 38,000 used balls on Earth Day. Some were Dixon products, others were a variety of brands, many of which contain elements of heavy metals. Platt says a process for recycling those balls is being developed.
Joe Burbee, the director of golf at Bay Creek Resort in Cape Charles, Va., says recycling balls, other than reclaiming them from ponds and selling them used, is new. “All we can do now is throw them away,” says Burbee, who buys 2,500 dozen each year for Bay Creek’s driving range. “The problem is the expense of shipping the balls.”
The Earth ball (suggested retail of $39.99 per dozen) can be purchased at selected retailers listed at the company’s website (dixongolf.com). The company offers a $1 credit for one Dixon ball toward the purchase of a new one and 50-cent credit on a Dixon ball for any other brand returned.
By Jerry Potter, USA TODAY
