Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Ikea to Begin Phasing Out Incandescent Light Bulbs in U.S. Stores August 1

IKEA will begin voluntarily phasing out incandescent light bulbs in its US stores beginning August 1.  The Swedish company hopes to completely eliminate incandescent bulbs by January 1, 2011.

The aggressive IKEA US store phase out program exemplifies IKEA’s strong commitment to helping their customers live an everyday sustainable life. IKEA will be the first US retailer to completely phase out incandescent light bulbs.

“IKEA is committed to integrating sustainability into all IKEA strategies and practices in the entire product life cycle. We also believe our customers are looking for every day environmentally responsible solutions for themselves. Eliminating incandescents is a simple way to lead the charge for IKEA customers to use energy saving light bulbs, thus reducing energy consumption and reducing the amount of greenhouses gases. It’s a little step with a big impact on our planet,” commented Mike Ward, US IKEA President.

The IKEA phase out will come in advance of the federal legislation that will begin to phase out incandescent light bulbs in 2012. IKEA is taking the lead before this new legislation takes effect.IKEA customers will have a good choice of other effective energy saving bulbs. 

While the compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) is the most popular bulb, IKEA also offers a range of LED lamps which are 70% more efficient than using incandescent bulbs. IKEA Halogen lamps which consume 30% less energy are also a great ‘white light’ alternative.

And beginning fall, 2010, IKEA will offer a halogen bulb which can be used in a standard light socket. This is called a retro-fit halogen bulb.

IKEA also offers solar powered lamps including their SUNNAN desk lamp and their ‘SOLIG’ range of outdoor lights.

Marcal Packaging to Include Environmental Fact Panel

Marcal Manufacturing, the nation's number one maker of household paper goods from 100 percent recycled paper, has introduced new packaging highlighting environmental facts critical to its products' manufacturing process. 

The new panel is a nutrition facts-style Environmental Facts panel and now gets fron placement on every Marcal® Small Steps® package, clearly detailing information like recycled paper content (100%), how much chlorine bleach was used for whitening (zero %) and use of chemical-based additives like fragrances and dyes (zero %).

The refreshed packaging has completed a nationwide rollout to grocery, drug, convenience and other major retail outlets.  Marcal's panel is a first for the U.S. household paper goods category, dominated by consumer packaged goods giants that use virgin fiber from freshly killed trees to manufacture nearly all of their paper towels, bath tissue, facial tissue and napkins. 

The Environmental Facts panel spearheads Marcal's Right to Know initiative, geared to help consumers navigate green product claims and manufacturing practices. 

Introduced on Earth Day 2010, the Bill encourages healthy skepticism about not just claims, but the premium prices often attached to green products.  It's part of a larger Marcal Movement, inviting consumers to take small steps making a big difference for the planet, and help save millions of trees by simply purchasing products with 100 percent recycled paper content.

"The Environmental Facts panel grew out of our discussions with consumers, who are consistently shocked to learn 98 percent of household paper goods are made by cutting down trees, even with today's blue bin recycling," said MJ Jolda, Marcal's Senior Vice President of Marketing.  "It helped us realize shoppers wanting to make better choices need better information."

Jolda said she welcomes input from other manufacturers, toward developing an industry standard.  "We view the panel as a work in progress," she said.  "Evolving it to work optimally for consumers and industry is in the environmental consumerism movement's best interests, and ours, as a 100 percent recycled brand."

For more information check out Marcal's Small Steps Facebook page

Dell Bamboo Compostable Packaging

Computer giant Dell has made some big steps in the area of sustainable packaging introducing bamboo based secondary packaging for some of its most popular computer products.

Dell's Michelle Mosmeyer told SISG, "We use bamboo packaging to cradle Dell Mini 10 netbooks, the new Dell Streak tablet, and about half of our Inspiron notebooks."  She said products with the new packaging are currently shipping globally.

The new packaging was announced late last year and has started to appear across several Dell product lines.  The packaging is made from at least 25% post consumer recycled content.  The company choose bamboo as a base material because of its ability to rapidly regrow and its durability. 

As part of Dell's packaging initiative the company has posted detailed information on this packaging and future packaging plans.  Read more about Dell's new packaging at their website

Coca-Cola's PlantBottle Recognized at DuPont Packaging Awards

 

Coca-Cola's PlantBottle received high honors at the 22nd annual, global DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. The Company’s PlantBottle packaging earned a gold award, out of more than 160 global entrants in the overall program, for its demonstrated breakthrough packaging innovation.

Made of up to 30 percent plant-based material, PlantBottle packaging is a natural step toward the Bottle of the Future. It is the first of its kind – beverage packaging made from renewable sources that is 100 percent recyclable, like traditional PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic. 

PlantBottle packaging can be recycled in the existing commercial recycling infrastructure which is a highly significant innovation.  

SEE our previous coverage of PlantBottle

Launched in Denmark in December 2009, PlantBottle packaging is now available in a variety of pack sizes in the Company’s sparkling and still beverage portfolio in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and Norway. This innovative sustainable packaging is a key example of how the Company has continuously evolved its packaging over the years. The Company has maintained its high-quality performance while improving its environmental impact.

Through the development of this innovative PlantBottle packaging, The Coca-Cola Company is able to reduce its reliance on nonrenewable resources. Preliminary research indicates that the carbon footprint of PlantBottle packaging is an improvement over that of traditional PET bottles.

Dr. Shell Huang, Director, Packaging Research, The Coca-Cola Company says her team is already working on the next generation PlantBottle packaging, "We are working with R&D partners to advance next generation technologies to allow us to produce future generations of PlantBottle packaging. Our ultimate vision is to develop recyclable plastic bottles made from 100 percent renewable materials.