What goes around comes around

method is now using bottles made of 100% recycled plastic!

You’ve heard the term “cradle to grave,” right? In marketing-speak, it refers to the importance of getting consumers hooked on your brand while they’re young so they’ll remain loyal to you over the course of their lifetime. And hey, that’s something we aspire to, although not in a creepy way.

Environmentally speaking, however, “cradle to grave” refers to the life cycle of a product, from manufacture (“cradle”) to disposal (“grave”). Putting our bottles and other packaging back into circulation has always been important to us, which is why we encourage all you people against dirty to recycle every scrap of it.

zanzibar bans plastic bags

Zanzibar, more known for its idyllic beaches than its environmental progressiveness, has officially banned the import and production of plastic bags. Recognizing that discarded plastic bags damage marine environments as well as being eyesores, they've banned them in hopes of restoring the pristine island environment. It's a move both intended to enhance their natural environment as well as preserve their bustling tourism industry - the mainstay of Zanzibar's economy.

Such a move naturally comes with criticism, including skepticism on the ability to enforce the measure and whether the economy will be negatively affected by the ban. As an alternative, the government has suggested raffia bags. Rwanda is another country that has entirely banned the use of plastic bags.

If developing countries like these can take such progressive environmental measures, could they work in more advanced, richer countries like the US? Tell us what you think.

:via BBC

celebrity gossip goes green

It is pretty easy to see that some of the most popular blogs out there are celebrity gossip blogs.  There is Prez Hilton, Socialite Life, Defamer, and our office favorite Pop Sugar just to name a few. Everyday thousands of people partake in the guilty pleasure of being voyeurs into the lives of celebrities. 

But there is a new site out there that takes the time to call out celebrities that are using their status to promote environmental and social issues. "Ecorazzi exists to highlight the people making this effort for the environment."  So if you are into celebrity gossip and would like to see who is doing what to help our planet, check it out.  They even give links to celebrities who have started eco-websites.

be green now!

Green Mountain Energy has just launched its new site BeGreen which allows consumers to calculate their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and purchase offsets that enable users to neutralize their carbon footprint. Green Mountain, based in Texas, is the country's largest supplier of green energy and serves both residential and commercial interests. Their highly interactive and informative BeGreen site allows users to calculate auto, home, air travel and natural gas emissions and purchase carbon offsets which go towards renewable energy credits, reforestation programs and other carbon offset technologies. In addition it allows users to create online profiles and get useful tips on living a low-impact lifestyle.

filling the gap

My sensors have been in hibernation for a bit, but when a close friend suggested I take a look at what Gap is doing in Lesotho, I perked up. I spent two years in Lesotho – it’s a tiny, beautiful, mountainous country landlocked inside South Africa. I’m still in love with the place and miss it more as each day passes. I heard that they recently found a 600 carat diamond in one of Lesotho’s mines, but the only exciting thing about that was a co-worker mentioning that he heard about Lesotho in the news! This Gap thing, though…I’m in!

Dell offers computer recycling service

Here's a novel thought - what if, when your old household electronics and appliances became obsolete, you could just call the manufacturer and have them pick it up? Sounds impossible, right? Well, now Dell Computer is now offering free recycling a for its products. Dell will pick up any obsolete Dell computer or peripherals at no charge, even if the replacement isn't a Dell. And, if you buy a new Dell computer, they'll offer to recycle your old non-Dell PC. This program was announced by Michael Dell in June and went into service in the US in September.  Global rollout will occur in November.

a date with the garbage man

Whoever thought walking through a building full of trash wasn't fun, is dead wrong!! method employees, this week, were treated to a tour of the San Francisco Recycling Center. We were privy to an insider's look at what really happens to those blue garbage cans...

I should note that this recycling center in San Fran is one of a kind! It manages to recycle 90% of the material that comes through its doors! That's thanks to conscious consumers who throw their recyclables into proper receptacles, a city that cared enough to invest in an easy-to-use 3 bin system for garbage, ALL recyclables, and compost and a recycling center with the technology and manpower to devote to the daunting task of sifting through 20,000 tons of material/hour!!!!

Good-ness that's gracious of you!

I seem to be on a kick right now for charitable giving. So, I was pretty excited to find this new magazine out, called Good Magazine. Similar to the idea behind the search engine GoodSearch, which we wrote about recently, this magazine will donate your one-year subscription fee of $20 to an organization of your choosing. You'll get six issues of a hip magazine dedicated to (in their own words) "stimulating the culture of good by creating dialogue around things that matter". Good hopes to sign-up 50,000 subscribers, and donate 1 million dollars!! Ambitious and right up my alley!

an AIDS story to smile about

Scrolling through my RSS reader the other day, I came across a bit of AIDS-related news that put a smile on my face. Sounds strange, I know.

It turns out 5 nations (France, Britain, Norway, Brazil and Chile) plan to raise $300 million to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis next year, through the implementation of an airfare tax. In all, the money will pay for the treatment of 100,000 children with AIDS, 100,000 people who have developed drug-resistance to former AIDS treatments, 150,000 children with tuberculosis and 28 million with malaria. Hopefully drug companies will be coaxed into providing these treatments at reduced prices. Bill Clinton's foundation has been asked to work on these negotiations.

While certainly not the end-all, I think this is a great way to provide sustainable funding for diseases that disporpotionately affect children in the developing world. Chalk one up for the fight against dirty!

:Read

breathing earth

Ever wonder how which countries have the highest carbon dioxide emissions? Breathing Earth, a fascinating interactive site shows just how much CO2 is being released into our atmosphere and by which countries, in real time. Spending just five minutes on the site will stagger you when you see how many tons of CO2 have been emitted during your visit.

:see

carbon-neutral contrails

Recently, we posted a piece on Terrapass, a company specializing in programs that allow you to neutralize your carbon footprint from your car's emissions. Now Expedia is partnering with Terrapass to enable air travelers to neutralize the carbon emissions of their air travel by purchasing passes that fund clean energy research programs.

Think you're burning less fuel when you travel in an airplane full of people?  Think again. Expedia, claims that "a single cross-country plane flight burns about 100 gallons of fuel per passenger" or about 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide (CO2). This is roughly the amount of CO2 the average car emits in 4 months of driving.

Terrapass is available in three levels dependent on the length of travel you're planning: short haul, cross country or international. Short haul passes, appropriate for round-trip flights of approximately 2,200 miles, start at $5.99. This buys you enough to offset the 1,000 lbs of CO2 one passenger will emit on that flight. A cross-country pass is $16.99 and international passes (for up to 14,000 miles) cost $29.99. For cross-country and international flights, participants receive a Terrapass luggage tag.

Expedia offers Terrapass at cost so all proceeds go directly towards Terrapass' greenhouse gas reduction programs.

:read

Costco joins the club

For all of you Costco fanatics out there, there’s yet one more reason to love them. Costco recently rolled out new ‘green’ packaging which replaces some of its clamshell designed bulk packaging with more environmentally friendly Natralock™, a paperboard-based packaging technology.

Traditionally, plastic clamshells were the best solution for cheap packaging that deterred theft. But, due to consumer backlash on the difficulty and sometimes danger consumers faced trying to open clamshells, retailers have begun to rethink clamshells. The result – a paper-based, renewable technology that is not only safer to the environment, it’s also safer on your hands.

Natralock’s main component is paperboard but it does use an amorphous polyester (APET) “bubble” component, which is said to be more earth-friendly than the materials in traditional packaging. In comparison, traditional PVC clamshells offer limited recyclability. In fact many European and Asian countries discourage PVC packaging with taxes and other regulations restricting their use.

My applause to Costco (with newly healed hands) on taking the initiative to replace the ubiquitous clamshell with safer, greener technology.