Anyone who tries to do the right thing and recycle has experienced it: the utter confusion that certain products induce with their packaging. But a new label tries to address the vague and oftentimes misleading recycling messages. Los Angeles Times
Month: June 2012
GreenBlue CEO Makes Case for Aesthetics in Sustainable Design with New Book
People often equate environmentally friendly cars, buildings, and products with being unsightly. Yet not only can sustainable design be beautiful, argues author Lance Hosey, its beauty can make it more sustainable.
“Conventional wisdom portrays green as not just occasionally but inevitably unattractive, as if beauty and sustainability were incompatible,” Hosey writes in his new book, The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology and Design (Island Press), out this month. Yet, “long-term value is impossible without sensory appeal, because if design doesn’t inspire, it’s destined to be discarded.”
In his book, Hosey outlines a manifesto for both designers and consumers interested in bridging appearances and doing right by the planet. He identifies three core principles of sustainable design–conservation, attraction and connection–to show how good design and green design can become one and the same. Hosey cites such examples as:
- Cars so aerodynamic they get 80 miles a gallon without new technology;
- Comfortable chairs built from a single piece of plywood;
- Packaging that uses less material while keeping food fresher;
- Electronics so appealing you can’t throw them away; and
- Buildings that adapt to their locations to use a fraction of typical energy needs.
The first book to outline principles for the aesthetics of sustainable design, The Shape of Green does not ask that consumers sacrifice comfort. Rather, it shows how designers can create products that are aesthetically pleasing, environmentally friendly, and enjoyable for years to come. “Can we be as smart about how things look as we are about how they work?” asks Hosey.
Hosey, a nationally recognized architect, designer, and author, is President & CEO of GreenBlue, a nonprofit working to make products more sustainable. Hosey has more than two decades of experience in sustainable design and strategy, and he has worked with some of the world’s leading companies to advance sustainable innovation. Previously he was Director with the renowned pioneer of sustainable design William McDonough + Partners.
“It’s time someone revealed that the oppositions of sustainability vs. style, ethics vs. aesthetics, are false starts. In this book, Lance Hosey helps retire that opposition and shows us what makes beauty and sustainability one and the same.”
—Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief, Metropolis Magazine
Lance Hosey is “an inspirational guide to a future we can’t wait to embrace.”
—John Elkington, co-founder of SustainAbility and founding partner of Volans
This article by GreenBlue Senior Manager Minal Mistry appeared in this month’s issue of Packaging Digest, which features a monthly column by GreenBlue staff on packaging sustainability. Read the original article.
We often hear sustainability described as an iterative process, or a stepped journey to “mount sustainability” as industrialist and environmentalist Ray Anderson put it. At the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) spring meeting in Toronto, I reflected on the body of work the SPC has produced over its eight-year journey on the path towards sustainable packaging.
This catalog includes collaborative learning and teaching; research on materials production, end-of-life treatments, use of recycled content, measurements and reporting; and a package design assessment tool. Looking back shows us common threads that connect all these topics and demonstrates how change can be achieved through collaborative dialogue.
Since the creation of the SPC in 2004, coalition members have walked together on a series of paths towards sustainability. Everyone was given a map of the terrain in the form of the SPC’s Definition of Sustainable Packaging. The collective learning has allowed the group to take different paths yet stay together and exchange knowledge and best practices, which occurs primarily when members meet twice a year at the annual meetings.
The SPC’s collective learning also has been made accessible through the “Essentials of Sustainable Packaging” course, which provides a comprehensive overview of sustainability issues in packaging and has been on the road in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and, soon, China.
Over the past eight years, four main themes have emerged that have manifest themselves into resources developed by the SPC:
1. The sustainability road trip began with the notion of design as a leverage point for putting sustainability objectives into operation. This emphasis on design is still evident and has ushered in numerous changes in packaging, from initial lightweighting to completely rethinking material choices and product delivery. This design emphasis expresses itself through various SPC reports, including the “Design Guidelines for Sustainable Packaging” and COMPASS (Comparative Packaging Assessment), a life-cycle assessment (LCA) tool that provides design guidance along environmental parameters.
2. While design represents one path to sustainability, equally important are the measurement and data pathways that are key to design assessment, such as life-cycle data, indicators and metrics relevant to packaging materials and processes. The exploration of indicators and metrics resulted in the SPC’s release of the Sustainable Packaging Indicators and Metrics Framework. This report, in turn, served as the basis for a harmonized set of indicators known as the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS 2.0).
3. As folks learned new ways to integrate sustainability measures into their packaging operations, there came a dramatic shift in thinking. Increasingly, the conversation has shifted from sustainability in packaging to broader sustainability at the corporate level. As a result of increased packaging knowledge, many companies have jump-started corporate-level goals on energy, materials and end-of-life and recovery.
4. End of life and recovery represents new frontiers for packaging, and the SPC has led the way in this area. Numerous SPC reports have focused on materials and materials flow. Many of these reports are freely available, particularly those that were part of the Closing the Loop project funded by the State of California. As emphasis on material recovery increases, and to help consumers do their part, the SPC soon will launch www.how2recycle.info to support the new on-package label for recovery.
About 10 nationally known companies are adopting a recycling label redesign led by Charlottesville-based nonprofit GreenBlue and its Sustainable Packaging Coalition. The Charlottesville Daily Progress
Among the foremost challenges faced by waste and recycling services providers is educating the public about exactly what is and is not suitable for the recycling bin. Beyond that, many items that can be recycled don’t necessarily belong in a curbside bin. And if a package contains multiple components made of different materials, a single, nondescript recycling symbol does not make it clear which parts are recyclable or how to handle them. Waste Age
Categories
Top Five Fun Facts: June
Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his past Fun Facts here.
1. This year is the 40th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Environment Day. Celebrated every June 5th, this year’s theme is “Green Economy: Does it include YOU?”
2. The US consumed 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water in 2011. This equates to roughly $11 billion in producer revenues.
3. In the last 20 years, the amount of US households with air conditioners has increased from 68% to 87%. It is estimated that $15 billion is spent on energy used to power air conditioners.
4. A recent survey commissioned by Call2Recycle indicates that 57% of Americans have old electronics that they need to discard. The largest barrier to recycling e-waste identified in the survey was not knowing where or how to recycle a product.
5. It is reported that men use between 3 and 10 gallons of water every time they shave. If you ever needed an excuse to grow a beard and help one of the most water dependent industries save water, Budweiser’s “Grow one. Save a Million” campaign may be for you.
In November 2009, the cover story of Scientific American beckoned to me from a newsstand: “A Plan for a Sustainable Future.” Upon closer inspection, alas, I found the subtitle in smaller print: “How to get all energy from wind, water, and solar power by 2030.” Does a “sustainable future” mean merely ridding the world of greenhouse gases? Design Observer
We often hear sustainability described as an iterative process, or a stepped journey to “mount sustainability” as industrialist and environmentalist Ray Anderson put it. At the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) spring meeting in Toronto, I reflected on the body of work the SPC has produced over its eight-year journey on the path towards sustainable packaging. Packaging Digest
As part of our increasing work in recycling and recovery, Project Associate Danielle Peacock and Senior Manager Anne Bedarf continue their recycling blog series, ReLoop, which will address different recycling topics, questions, and concepts. You can check out other posts from the ReLoop series here.
There are three primary ways to collect household recycling: single stream, source separation, and no separation from trash (or “all in one”). Each of these methods poses unique benefits and trade-offs. In the last ReLoop blog, we covered single-stream recycling. This month we take a closer look at source separated recycling.
Recycling is a process in which valuable materials flow from collection to an end user, who makes the materials into new products. This flow of materials is often called the recycling “stream.” In single-stream recycling, mixed recyclable materials travel together (separately from trash) in one stream to a sorting facility, or Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
Source separated recycling is “separating materials by type at the point of discard so they can be recycled.” For example, there may be separate streams of metal, glass, paper, and plastic; or there may be one stream for paper and one for mixed containers. Source separated recycling may also be called sorted stream recycling or dual stream recycling. These terms are used synonymously and all mean that the consumer sorts their recyclables.
Items collected may still go to a MRF for further sorting. For example, North Carolina has a network of “Dual Stream MRFs,” where two or more streams of recycling are fed separately into the facility. In this example, mixed paper is one stream and mixed containers are a second.
GreenBlue’s Source Separated Recycling Bins
(Plastics, Metal, Glass, Paper)
The primary methods to collect source separated recycling are drop-off centers and curbside collection. In our office, we separate our recyclables into multiple bins, which are then taken to a local drop-off recycling center. At this drop-off, there are separate bins for each material. Our items are pre-sorted in the office, but sorting can also be done at the drop-off site if you bring a bin of mixed recyclables and hand sort them into the appropriate bins. These bins can then go directly to a buyer.
Source separated recycling can also be collected at curbside. Trucks collecting these materials have multiple chambers, one for each stream of materials. Programs may use multiple recycling bins or large carts with a center divider, creating two chambers. Materials are then dumped into the corresponding chamber. This contrasts to single-stream recycling, where the bin of mixed recyclables goes directly into a collection truck with no additional sorting.
Good – Materials from source separated recycling are generally higher in quality and can be sold at a higher price than materials collected as a single stream. There is also less potential contamination of recyclables (for example, left over liquids do not spill on paper and broken pieces of glass do not mix in with other items). Source separated recycling also does not rely as heavily on expensive sorting technology or manual labor.
Bad – Source separated recycling requires more effort by the consumer to either leave sorted items at their curb or take them to a drop-off site. In an area with a low recycling ethic, this can negatively impact participation in recycling, making collection volumes low.
The Grey Area – When it comes to recycling, many communities must make tough decisions between ease of use, quality of recyclables, and quantity of collection. Source separated requires more effort, but single stream (and all-in-one to a greater degree) results in more contamination, making a certain amount of materials unsuitable for sale and the processing of recyclables more difficult. Both programs require effective communication to consumers. Placing the wrong items in the recycling stream makes the materials less desirable, less valuable, and more difficult to manufacture into new products. Cost is another important factor in analyzing different types of recycling programs. The cost of a program is heavily dependent upon existing infrastructure, local markets for materials, and community goals.
We encourage you to explore your own recycling options, and let us know what you find!
Another label is coming to popcorn, yogurt and other products, but instead of adding to the visual noise caused by some confusing labels, this one is designed to give plain and simple recycling information. The How2Recycle label, created by nonprofit GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), will pop up on 10 companies’ products throughout the summer and into 2013. GreenBiz
