Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Ecovative Design's EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging Meets Dell

When it was announced at Fortune Green a couple weeks ago that Ecovative Design's EcoCradle mushroom-based packaging was in a pilot program with Dell I thought this would be the perfect story for Earth Day.  So Happy Earth Day everyone!

The story of Ecovative's mushroom packaging is a neat one and just the type of thing I like to highlight on SISG.  The company is the brainchild of two RPI grads and is focused on eco-friendly solutions to packaging and insulation - two markets that need continued eco-innovation.

Ecovative's co-founder Eben Bayer @ Fortune Green

At the Fortune Green conference Dell announced they were eight months into a pilot program with Ecovative.  Their engineers had worked with Ecovative's to design a version of their EcoCradle mushroom packaging to secure Dell servers during shipment.  The final result was a EcoCradle material that incorporated local cotton waste from Austin, TX into the mushroom-based material.  The EcoCradle packaging supports servers which often weigh more than 100lbs.  The project is exciting for Ecovative and also shows Dell's continued commitment to reducing packaging waste.

Last year furniture company Steelcase began shipping products using EcoCradle packaging.  Steelcase is using EcoCradle packaging made of agricultural byproducts like seed husks and cotton burrs bound together by mushroom roots.

Co-founders Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre have been experimenting with applications for mushroom-based material since 2007 when they came up with an idea for home insulation as part of a studio course at RPI.

Moving forward look for EcoCradle packaging to expand into more consumer products.  The company is working on a wine bottle shipper and does custom work for clients.

Whole Living The Perfect Magazine for Earth Week (or any week)

If you're looking for an informational magazine with green oriented content and healthy whole living advise and articles to read during earth week (or any week) I'd suggest picking up the May issue of Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine.

The magazine features a spread on Heidi Swanson who has just come out with a new cookbook.  Its a great article. I have one of Heidi's other books and enjoy it - she writes on cooking and eating using natural whole food ingredients. I find her creativity inspirational and was pleased to find her in Whole Living this month.

I have to say I really enjoy Whole Living its developed into a very informative publication.  As always the magazine has articles focused on the body and exercise - which I find very practical. 

A Good Book for the Morning After Earth Day

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

Earth Day has always reminded me of New Years because each marks a passage of time and both generously provide us with a fresh start and clean slate.  The resolutions abound as we commit to shedding old bad habits and develop a long list of good, positive actions we plan to initiate or do even better in the year ahead.

As someone who has broken more than his share of New Years’ resolutions, I can tell you my failures have never been due to a lack of good intentions, but rather the tremendous amount of work and in some cases, sacrifice most meaningful resolutions require. I have discovered the tough way, New Years Eve is all about intentions but New Years Day is about follow through.

The importance of Green Influencers

Since the last Earth Day I have been fortunate to meet a number of people involved in sustainability, in one way or another. They range from scientists working on the next breakthrough in renewable fuels to people who earn a living by sorting through the waste of others in an effort to save and reuse our precious resources.

I have also come to realize that some people are hands on; “doers” and others are blessed in a far different but equally important way in that they are drivers or influencers of the green movement. People who, through their work and effort, have the opportunity and responsibility to impact many more lives than those they may personally touch on a face to face basis. One of the potentially most influential people I have met this last year is Graciela Tiscareno- Sato, the author of a soon to be published book titled Latinnovating: Green American Jobs and the Latinos Creating Them.

Difference Makers in Sustainability

Grace’s book is probably the first of its type to recognize the importance of Latino’s in the green movement both as willing participants but also as leaders and innovators. Certainly any large urban area demographics study or population projection will quickly confirm why Latino “buy in” to sustainability is so important. However, Grace profiles ten Latino owned companies and organizations that are leaders in their respective fields and are creating jobs at a time when we most need them.

In the interest of full disclosure I must gratefully acknowledge that one chapter of this book is focused on our company and the work we do, but others include:

• Rosamaria Caballero-Stafford, cofounder of Green Irene in NYC, NY
• Robert  Zardenata, Executive Director of La Causa in East LA, CA
• Sandra Artalejo, designer and owner of Sola Studios in Dallas, TX
• Luis Rojas, president and founder of Evergreen Energy Solutions
• Carmen Rad, President and co-founder – CR&A Custom Printing in LA, CA

Many Hands Make Light Work

Grace’s book proudly embraces our heritage and our past but more importantly looks into the future, focusing on the role all of our children must play in the necessary worldwide environmental solution.

I have gotten to know Grace over the course of the last year and I deeply respect her commitment to the green cause as she tirelessly races around the country, meeting and promoting her labor of love. The positive impact she potentially has goes far beyond Latinos, business, or even Latinos in business, because it reminds us that we all have something to contribute and how we have an obligation to do so.

It is great reading for Earth Day but especially for the day after when many of us have a difficult time resisting the inclination to revert back to old habits. Regardless of what our purpose is within the green community, we can all use some inspiration and examples of people for who sustainability is not a one day, yearly event.       

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.   

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

Also be sure to check out his blog Inside Sustainable Packaging

Garnier Teams up with Terracycle to Reduce Landfill Waste

Garnier, a L'Oreal brand has teamed up with Terracycle to reduce landfill waste by repurposing their product packaging. 

The two companies have formed the Personal Care Beauty Brigade which encourages schools and organizations to sign up and for each empty Garnier package they submit receive a donation.  

Terracycle will use the old Garnier packaging to make a variety of products.

 

Everyday Products Use More Efficient Sustainable Packaging

I always like to highlight everyday mainstream products whose packaging changes for the better in terms of design, sustainability or both. 

I know in the past SISG readers have had negative reactions to some of the conventional mainstream products I've featured in the this fashion.  The feeling is the products themselves should be better and more responsible.  While I agree with this overall position the fact of the matter is millions of mainstream products are sold daily in the US and I feel we should recognize efforts by large corporations to make changes in the right direction. 

With that it brings me to today's post at the start of Earth Week 2011.  Here are four products which have improved dramatically thanks to intelligent industrial design and the use of new more effective materials.  Through these improvements the company's who make the products have significantly reduced the use of plastics and dramatically improved their supply line efficiency.  All four of these products were recognized at the 2010 DuPont packaging awards for packaging innovation.

 

Fresh Step cat litter made by Clorox.  Switched to flexible bag from pail packaging reducing plastic use by 80%.  The flexible bag is able to handle the heavy weight of the product and features a number of innovations to make consumer use easier.

Scope Outlast mouthwash uses innovative industrial design in its new bottle to improve its appeal among younger shoppers.  Its design isn't just appealing the new bottle uses 20% less PET plastic and its cap and bottle provide structural support in the shipping box eliminating the need for corrugated inserts.

Always feminine products are packaged using a new continuous flow wrapping process which reduced the use of PE plastic by 25% and created significant efficiencies in the production warehouse.  Proctor & Gamble redesigned their packaging machinery to implement the new process.

Coca Cola introduced its PlantBottle which uses a mix of PET plastic that includes up to 30% plant-based material.  The PlantBottle offers the same qualities as their traditional PET plastic bottle.  The company claims they are working on expanding PlantBottle with their goal being a bottle made from 100% renewable materials.

Method Keeps Innovating with New Laundry Detergent Refill Pack

Method, the company that started the packaging revolution in the laundry detergent aisle is back at it again recently introducing a laundry detergent refill pouch which reduces packaging by 80%.

The new refill pouch contains enough detergent for 85 washes. 

Method's continuing packaging innovations demonstrate a clear desire by the company to lead in environmentally friendly product design.

S'well Reusable Water Bottle is Impressive

I've had the chance to try a whole host of reusable water bottles since SISG lauched back in 2007.  Let me say any reusable water bottle is better than buying bottled water - there is no dispute on that point. 

A reusable water bottle is at its core a simple item.  As the market has grown some have offered fancy interchangeble tops and colorful exterior designs.  

The S'well bottle was introduced late in 2010 and is the design of founder Sarah Krauss.  Sarah was kind enough to send me a bottle to check out and I have to say I was impressed.

I took the S'well bottle with me on a recent trip to Colorado that took me to Rocky Mountain National Park among other places. 

The S'well bottle resembles an old fashioned soda pop bottle in its shape and design.  I'll be honest when I first saw the S'well bottle the shape didn't appeal to me.  However after using it for a week both the shape and the functionality of the bottle stand out as superior to many of the others I've tried.

The most important feature of the 17oz stainless steel lined S'well is its ability to keep liquids hot or cold for many hours due to the fact its insulated.  If you are a water drinker this feature alone makes it worth considering. 

My S'well kept water cold for hours out in the field - I was amazed.  The cap is easy to put on and take off making accessing its contents a breeze.  Because the bottle is tall and slender it reduces bulk when stored in a pack.

I have nothing but praise for the S'well bottle.  If you're in the market for a new reusable bottle the S'well is worth a look.  Its available direct from S'well for about $35.

Sustainable is Good Drops GoDaddy

I want to apologize to readers for the brief downtime of SISG this weekend.  The downtime was a result of dropping Godaddy as my domain host and reestablishing service with another company.

I decided to drop the company on Friday several days after CEO Bob Parsons posted a video of himself shooting an elephant in Zimbabwe.   After the video was posted, Parsons proceeded to engage in a completely irresponsible campaign to justify his actions.

Parsons video and commentary show a person completely out of touch with reality and willing to use and manipulate issues like the extreme poverty and corruption in Zimbabwe to satisfy his own desires to hunt.

What Bob Parson's does not understand is that his shooting of a "problem" elephant as he describes is just part of much larger systemic problems of corruption and conservation challenges in an struggling country.  Parsons used this state of affairs to his benefit in order to have the opportunity to kill an elephant.

If anyone is interested there is an excellent interview with a leading conservationist in Zimbabwe further explaining why this whole thing is so wrong. 

This is also speculation among experts that the elephant Parsons killed was a female, not a male bull as he claimed.

In terms of hosting/domain companies there are many alternatives out there and switching isn't terribly complicated - expect a minor disruption of service. 

I also want to clarify a point Mr. Parsons has been making since late last week regarding the economic impact of his actions on his company.  He claims there is no negative impact.  Well I personally moved all of my domains from his company.  Much larger organizations like the humane society are moving hundreds of domains - so I don't think there is no economic impact.