The Inspired Economist

This article was originally published on Eco-Libris blog on September 17.

I really love milk, so I was very happy to hear about this new great idea that is coming from the UK: a milk bottle that is made mainly of recycled paper and can be recycled again. In one word: Greenbottle.

Greenbottle (http://www.greenbottle.com) has developed a much greener solution which can replace plastic milk bottles. The outer shell is made from recycled paper which can then be further recycled, or if left it will just decompose within a matter of weeks. The inner liner, which takes up less than 0.5% of the space of a plastic bottle if dumped in a landfill, prevents liquid from contaminating the paper outer.

The GreenBottle, according to their website, consumes about a third of the energy required to make a plastic bottle and has a carbon footprint that is 48% lower than plastic.

The Telegraph reported last month that Asda, the big supermarkets chain, is stocking its Lowestoft store in Suffolk with the Greenbottle after a successful trial in a move that could herald the demise of the plastic bottle. According to the article the supermarket chain hopes to agree a roll-out of the packaging to stores across the east of England, with the potential to take it nationwide further down the line. Sounds like great news to all the UK green milk lovers!

Just to give you an idea what this bottle can save - according to the article, Britons drink around 180 million pints of milk every week, of which around two-thirds is bought in plastic bottles.More than 100,000 tons end up in landfill each year - equal to 260 jumbo jets. They take 500 years to decompose.

One last fact that made me fall in love with Greenbottle - Its inventor, Martin Myerscough, came up with the idea in the pub. You can never be wrong with such ideas of course, later on he worked on it for 18 months before Asda started a ‘concept’ trial last year.

Kudos to Martin and Greenbottle. This is the kind of innovation we need to move the green revolution forward. I hope to see these bottles very soon on the shelves of the supermarkets here in the U.S. (and actually everywhere) as well.

Wall Street is in financial crisis. Individual investors are reeling. The world is watching. If ever there were a time to get serious about our world stewardship, it’s now.

While we’re used to thinking along broad, expansive lines such as international policy and national priorities, the fact is, there are changes you and I can make in our daily lives to make things better, including in the world of marketing. We don’t have to change the world. We just have to change our world.

That’s what “Greening Print Marketing” is about.

Along those lines, I got a press release from Xerox today. The company has released a new series of papers and tools to help companies reduce the environmental impact of printing in their organizations. This starts a comprehensive program of papers, resources, and Web tools to help customers identify the right paper, the right supplies, and the right way to print with the environment in mind.

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Earlier this week, I talked about printing with recycled paper and how the decision on which stock to select goes beyond merely “recycled” to include other factors, including the percentage of postconsumer waste content and whether or not the paper is elemental chlorine-free.

Printing with recycled paper ought to be a no-brainer. Not only do you save trees, but according to Friends of the Earth, the production process used to create recycled paper uses up to 70% less energy than for virgin pulp. It also requires fewer chemicals.

Some marketers sniff at recycled paper, however, because it’s not quite as bright as virgin stock. Yet, one could make the argument that the positive social image associated with recycling can easily offset any loss in brightness—if that was ever really important at all.

More Reasons to Use Recycled

If the points above aren’t enough to overcome the “brightness” appeal, here are just a few more reasons to favored recycled stock. This list is compliments of Barefoot Press of Raleigh, NC. Read the rest of this entry »

In my first post on “green” marketing, someone posted a comment about a company called Smart Levels that prints on recycled paper with soy-based inks. This piqued my interest, so I went and checked out the company’s website. Sure enough, there it was—the company’s proud declaration on its home page.

(Gotta love the tree frog, too. I’m a sucker for tree frogs.)

I think it’s terrific that more and more printing companies are moving toward environmental sustainability. It’s also terrific that marketers are increasingly caring about environmental sustainability—to the point that printers see investing in and promoting it as an effective strategy.

What caught my eye on Smart Levels’ home page, however, was not what was there but what was not. There were no other links to further efforts toward environmental sustainability. This might lead one to the conclusion that, by itself, printing on recycled stocks and using soy inks is enough.

But is it?

What Else Is in My Paper?

In reality, while recycled content and soy inks are a great start, there is much more you can do. Let’s just consider the paper. For example, have you ever asked the question, “Beyond recycled content, what else in my paper?” Read the rest of this entry »

Three years after Subaru introduced America to landfill-free car manufacturing, General Motors has announced plans to turn half of their 181 factories waste-free by 2010—and they’ve made the process profitable.

The company explains that while lessening their environmental impact is a main goal, they’re now seeing realizing a high cash flow from the sale of their recycled materials. Scrap metal, cardboard, wood, plastic, and oil will be spared from the junk yards that surround 80 of General Motors’ factories, including 10 in the United States and 33 in Mexico. The company began its recycling program in 2000, but its few test projects cost the company $32 million to operate, but through streamlining and some creativity, they’ve moved the program out of the red.

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Waste Farmers is a new approach to waste management. They are more than recyclers. They are a resource recovery company.  Instead of looking at used discards as trash to be disposed of, they see them as resources in need of cultivation.  Waste Farmers provides Zero Waste solutions and customized services for hard-to-recycle items.  Their strategies are designed to provide their customers with significant cost savings and sustainable business practices.
Waste Farmers is dedicated to reducing solid waste sent to landfills and incinerators by helping businesses, residences, and municipalities achieve Zero Waste objectives.  They focus on Zero Waste solutions and hard-to-recycle items offering recycling, hauling and clean up services to residential, multi-family, and commercial customers.  They offer a variety of customized recycling solutions that address conventional single stream, items as well as hard-to-recycle items such as electronics, construction waste and debris, metals, residential and commercial appliances, yard and other organic waste, and other items traditionally thought of as “ junk”.  They work with companies to plan and implement Zero Waste strategies, developing recycling programs that fit the unique needs of their customers.
Waste Farmers was founded on the simple principle that “Waste=Food”.  Inspired by life’s natural processes and the work of William McDonough, the Lovins’, Eric Lombardi, and other forefathers of the sustainability and recycling movement, they seek not only to reduce waste but also to eliminate the concept altogether.  
 Call Waste Farmers today at 1-888-DO-ZERO-WASTE, or email services@wastefarmers.com for a free audit of your existing waste removal and recycling system.  Based on their analysis of your discard stream, they will implement sustainable and cost effective solutions to handle and process your discarded resources.

Waste Management, Inc. recently announced that it has acquired the LampTracker business, the nation’s first provider of mail-back recycling for fluorescent lighting, from shareholders of Mercury Waste Solutions, LLC. This business, which will be operated through Waste Management’s WM LampTracker subsidiary, will provide collection and safe recycling of fluorescent bulbs using integrated on-line tracking capability and a unique shipping container design. WM LampTracker also offers this service for the recycling of batteries, electronics and other wastes commonly referred to as universal wastes.

"As North America’s largest recycler, Waste Management continues to be a leader in developing new and advanced recycling services and technologies in areas like this where we see shifting public sentiment driving growth," said Carl Rush, vice president of the Organic Growth Group of Waste Management. "Waste Management’s acquisition of the LampTracker(R) business exemplifies our ongoing commitment to recycling and environmental stewardship."

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Recycling and donating your old, used cell phone is easier than ever before, thanks to a unique partnership that was announced today. Community Computer Connection, which refurbishes and donates computers to underserved communities and schools in Colorado, and Providers’ Resource Clearinghouse, a nonprofit that donates office supplies and furniture to community-based organizations, have partnered with The Wireless Alliance, a Boulder-based organization that collects, refurbishes and recycles used cell phone equipment to encourage the recycling of old cell phones and to save Colorado’s environment from the devastating impact of improperly disposed electronic equipment.

Any individual or organization looking to recycle a cell phone, battery or charger can now request a specially marked drop-off collection box or make an on-line donation at www.thewirelessalliance.com, making cell phone recycling easy and convenient. For each cell phone collected, Community Computer Connection and Providers’ Resource Clearinghouse will receive funds from The Wireless Alliance that will be used to enhance their operations, including purchasing spare parts for computer refurbishment, truck repairs and warehouse utilities.

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The International Council on Mining and Metals has recently published a declaration on recycling principles aimed at encouraging product policy-makers, designers and manufacturers to adopt life cycle thinking when developing metals recycling policies.

Metals are chemical elements and therefore can be recycled infinitely with no inherent degradation of properties. Commonly today the content of recycled metals and alloys in products is used as a driver for increasing recycling rates and an indicator of environmental performance. However this approach is too simplistic and could encourage in-efficiency in the production and use of recycled metals, according to a broad coalition of 18 metal industry associations including the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).

The industry coalition believes the objective should be to promote eco-efficiency in metals use, that is to minimize negative environmental impacts whilst maximizing the economic benefits to society.

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According to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) some airports and the carriers that use them are finding creative solutions for thousands of tons of cans, bottles, and paper that come off the aircraft headed for costly landfills that pay significant financial dividends.

"Airlines in the U.S. throw away enough aluminum cans every year to build 58 new 747s. It’s the same story with paper and plastic," said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a Senior Scientist at NRDC. "Along with a huge amount of recyclable waste, the industry is throwing away a significant amount of money. And it’s not just dollars. These are resources that don’t need to be mined, logged or drilled. And by avoiding all that, you save a lot of energy and avoid a lot of emissions."

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