Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Full Circle Home Products Combine Sustainablity and Design

Full Circle has some exciting household products which use green materials and combine them with modern industrial design to create both functional and sustainable items for consumers.

I've tried a number of dish brushes over the years and many of them I don't like either because of the design or the materials used.  Often these products are made entirely from plastic and are designed to be disposable.  That isn't very green.

Along comes the Laid Back brush from Full Circle.  The first thing I noticed was the design and ergonomics of the wooden handle.  The angle is ideal for cleaning dishes.  The handle is made out of bamboo which has been triple coated using vegetable-based oils to protect it from water.  The interesting thing about the Laid Back brush is the part with the bristles is designed to be removable allowing consumers to replace the bristle head after it wears.  This makes the brush different from many others on the market in that it isn't designed to be disposable.

The removable head is made from the plant-based plastic Bonterra and the bristles are also plant-based.  So when the bristles wear you remove and replace the head, not the whole brush..

Full Circle also makes a number of other products which like the Laid Back brush combine elements of modern design with green components.

One of their other products i'm particularly fond of is the stick 'em magnet kitchen towel.  This super absorbent towel is made from bamboo and organic cotton and has a magnet inside so it sticks to a refrigerator or other metal surface.

Full Circle's products are available online at retailers like GreenFeet and others even Amazon.

 

 

WaterGeeks Filtered Water Bottles

Here's an interesting new product - with a built-in filter, WaterGeeks water bottles include a filter with the convenience of a portable water bottle.

Made from BPA-free plastic tops and stainless steal containers and available in a variety of fun colors, these bottles are a stylish way to implement or maintain a green lifestyle into your daily routine.

According to the company the filter removes contaminants including chlorine from water.

IQ Clean: Greener Cleaning Products at Affordable Prices

IQ Clean is a new product line launched by the Canadian company Planet People.  The new products include four different cleaning solutions and accompanying refill cartridges.

The idea is simple take a non -toxic cleaning solution made from corn and coconut based surfactants package the product in bold easy to use packaging and include a refill cartridge.

IQ Clean has an all-purpose, glass, bathroom and floor cleaning product in their new line, each color coded so consumers can easily identify which cleaner their grabbing.

The packaging is good.  The cleaners come in large durable highly recyclable #1 PET bottles with a very good spray top designed to last a long time.

The idea is consumers will continue to buy refill cartridges and reuse their original bottle.

IQ Clean has gone to great lengths to explain to consumer both through directions and visually on the packaging and their website how to use the refill cartridges.  I found the process extremely simple and easy to understand.

In the past a number of companies have tried the refill cartridge concept with varying degrees of success.  Most recently Arm & Hammer's Essentials cleaners come to mind.  The Arm & Hammer products which I covered on SISG demonstrated an innovative approach to greener packaging but weren't terribly well received by consumers over concerns of what was in the products and ease of use.

I found the IQ Clean products I tried to be both effective at their intended tasks and also pleasant to use.

US consumers can find the new IQ Clean products at many Hannaford grocery stores, SweetBay supermarkets in Florida and Spartan stores in Michigan.   The company is also working on relationships with major on line retailers so stay tuned.

The initial product which includes a full bottle of cleaner and one refill sells for $4.99.  Refill cartridges then sell for $1.99.

 

K-Cups Single Use Coffee Packaging Generate Significant Waste

 

Interesting story in the NYT last week regarding the increasingly popular single use coffee pods known as K-Cups for Keurig coffee machines.

K-Cups are designed to be single use servings of coffee and are small plastic containers filled with ground coffee which fit into single serving brewing sytems like the Keurig coffee machines.

As the machines have become more and more popular in the US - thanks to help from major retailers like QVC who often features the machines on television, questions have been raised over what to do about the packaging waste.

Single use packaging like the K-Cups results in tons and tons of used plastic K-Cups ending up in the trash system.  A major player in the K-Cup market is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters - a company I've covered extensively on SISG.  They have been leaders in more sustainable packaging in the coffee industry - with one big exception - the K-Cup.

The Times reported 80% of Green Mountain Coffee's $803 million in sales last year came from single use coffee pods and their brewing systems.  So obivously the K-Cup is big money for Green Mountain Coffee.

But Green Mountain has led the charge in re-configuring consumer store packed coffee - incorporating PLA into their packaging and working towards further sustainable improvements.  So why can't they devise a more sustainable method for their K-Cups?

According to the NYT the company is currently working on methods to make the whole K-Cup process more sustainable.  Options include the use of biodegradable packaging, recycling programs and making the cups reusable in some fashion.

We'll continue to follow this story.  I've always thought the whole single serving coffee concept was interesting except for the waste it generates.

Honest Kids Juice Pouch No High Fructose Corn Syrup

Honest Tea makers of Honest Kids juice pouches recently made a change to their juice pouch packaging that caused a stir.  The company added the words "no high fructose corn syrup" to the packaging of their popular juice pouches designed for kids.

The addition seems like a good thing right?  Well to many it was however the Coca Cola company who is a major investor in Honest Tea wasn't too happy.  Since the controversy developed the issue has been worked out and Honest Tea has kept the phrase on its kids juice packaging.

The issue focused attention on packaging and a number of mainstream media outlets picked up the story. 

Honest has always been a leader in more efficient and sustainable packaging - its good to see the company is also using its packaging to inform consumers about the contents of their product.

Toray Plastics Recognized for Work on SunChips Compostable Bag

Its always nice to talk about a local company on SISG.  Toray Plastics whose American division is based in North Kingston, Rhode Island was honored by Frito Lay earlier this year for their work on the innovative new compostable SunChips bag.

The new SunChips bag is something we've covered extensively and is being closely watched by the industry who are curious as to consumers reaction to the new bag.  

Toray produces the film used to make the PLA bag for Frito Lay.  They were presented with Frito Lay's 2009 Supplier of the Year award.