I’m often accused of being peppy, positive and even worst, optimistic. And, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But today, I’m sorry to say, I fell into a place of deep sadness. I literally screamed something like, “Are we crazy?! Are we desperately trying to kill all species, including our own?” All that after opening my box of eco cleaning products. Who would have thought that a delivery that should have been met with a saving-the-planet-one-squirt-of-dish-soap at a time squeal of enthusiasm would be met with utter dismay.
Living a busy life in New York City often leads to last minute, almost-out-of-toilet-paper like crises. When all else fails (and since I’m not willing to sacrifice my don’t-destroy-mother-nature standards for an impulse buy) I shop online for such essentials. I couldn’t have been happier last night when I logged on to soap.com to buy my favorite Seventh Generation toilet paper, Ecos laundry detergent and Ecover dish soap.
However, when the boxes greeted me at home this evening, I was immediately suspicious. I could barely wrap my arms around one of them, and by the time I wrestled it up the stairs and tore it open, all I found was a package of Seventh Generation recycled paper towels surrounded by twice its volume of inflatable plastic protectant. Now what, I must ask, is going to bludgeon my paper towels to oblivion that so much plastic protectant is needed? But what really hit my heart was a note on the edge of the blow up packaging that told me to visit a website, fillair.com, for information on how to recycle. Curious and die hard in my quest to recycle, I did. I was welcomed with this:
To recycle Fill-Air®, Fill-Air® RF and Rapid Fill® material, please do the following:
Deflate (by poking a hole in the bag) and flatten the bags.
Fold the flattened material and place it inside an appropriate sized envelope or small carton.
Affix the appropriate postage to the shipping envelope or carton.
Address the envelope or carton to:
Ameri-Pak, In
Sealed Air Recycle Center 477 South Woods Dr. Fountain Inn, South Carolina 29644 Tel: +1-800-982-6197
Upon receipt of the material, it will be ground up and re-pelletized, so it can be used to make a variety of products from trash bags to automotive parts, which can also be recycled.
I’m truly happy this company has put recycling on its radar. Yet, I’m still befuddled as to why a company serious about recycling wouldn’t make it just a little bit easier. No one I know would seriously deflate the packaging, buy a large envelope, pay the postage and ship some plastic bags off to a company in Fountain Inn, South Carolina.
Instead, dear soap.com, biodegradable peanuts abound. Old packaging material from vendors can be reused once again. And easiest of all, you can simply use less packaging. I didn’t order packaging, so I’d like to return it. Landfill- and hassle- free.
(Photos, compliments of SeaOtter22 (top and bottom) and Journ (center).
Love shoes & waste not ALL in ONE! Old sturdy shipping pallets are put to good use indoors or out.
(Thanks to storagegeek for this great idea!)
(via mothernaturenetwork)
Fashion is glitz and glamour with ganache, right? Sexy razor-thin stilettos, catwalks lined with cheek-boned models, garments that come with complimentary doses of new persona. What’s not to lust or even love?
Let’s leap from the runway and just say it: The Trash! Yes, the covetable fashion world generates A LOT of waste. Now don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Fashion. It’s just that the industry needs a BIG makeover. For now, let’s just start with the basics.
FASHION STATS 101 (I wish that was a Math credit in High School):
• 12 Million Tons of textile waste is generated each year in just North America alone
• 5% of Landfill Space is filled with textiles
• 700 Gallons of fresh water are needed to make just 1 basic cotton T-shirt
• 20% of Industrial Fresh Water pollution is produced by textile dyeing & treatments
• 10% of the total, global carbon impact is out-put by the textile industry
(These are just a small handful of saddening fashion stats.)
While that’s probably a lot more than we wanted to know about our dresses, trousers and socks, it is reality. So, what’s to be done? Some relief comes knowing that a lot of improvement is already under way. Among the committed conscientious, fast fashion is slowing down, overall consumption is being reduced, fashion is being reused and recycled, and sustainable, more ecological materials and treatments are being applied. And since it takes each of us to change the world, if you’re still reading, the fashion (and still fashionable) future is already glimmering brighter. Which is why this conversation is simply the start. Check back here for more solutions, inspiration and conscious clarity.
Thanks for being the change!
* And, many thanks to Guilded State for inspiration & to Anne Gillespie for the Stats! Anne hails from Textile Exchange, an admirable non-profit that helps accelerate and implement sustainability throughout the textile value chain.)
(Images courtesy of the fabulous contributors to Flickr!)
