Green Options

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

On April 21, 2009 Drinking With Benefits held their latest open house event at the State and Allen Lounge in downtown Dallas.

The goal of Drinking With Benefits is to “develop an awareness and call to action for local communities through businesses that implement the ideals of an eco-friendly community, thereby creating an active ‘go green’ network of lounges, bar and nightclubs”. Part of their education and advocacy outreach is recognition by Drinking With Benefits of those businesses who recycle their waste—in particular glass, which has the most connection to the patrons of these businesses.

As part of their program Drinking With Benefits needs to get their message out by identifying the bars that are members of their organization. Enter the Dakota Burl plaque from Norwood. This plaque is made entirely of sunflower husks and when laser etched really looks very elegant. Each new member of Drinking With Benefits is now presented with a Dakota Burl plaque to place in their establishment to show their participation in the program and to help promote it. That was part of the reason for the April 21st event.

Terri Bly, president of The Nature of Beauty, raves about ecoSkin’s earth-friendly, ultra-comfortable yet highly fashionable clothing line. Made from 100% biodegradable and renewable fabrics, this ground-breaking company is taking eco-friendly clothing to a new level of chic.

Jiangqiao Bamboo and Wood hails from China’s Jiangxi province, where bamboo resources are plentiful. Though the company began as a flooring company, they are now diversifying their production to include the latest in green design: bamboo keyboards.

In recent years, bamboo - a rapidly regenerating material - has gained popularity as a sturdy, sustainable alternative to wood flooring. Currently, China produces 200,000 cubic meters annually of bamboo plywood.

However, the history of bamboo’s use as an interior and even exterior material goes back way before sustainable buildings became trendy. Native to much of South and Southwest China, bamboo was first used to make paper, calligraphy brushes, and musical instruments thousands of years ago. For well over a century, it has been crafted into a range of household articles including chairs, baskets, mats, cutlery, and cabinets.

Bamboo - which is actually a grass - can be harvested after only four to six years of growth, much shorter than the 30-60 years required for comparable wood species. Replanting is not necessary, as bamboo regenerates on its own; and the speed at which it does so means it offers excellent erosion control.

Jiangqiao, which began manufacturing the green keyboards last October, has already received orders for 40,000 finished units, and is China’s sole producer of bamboo keyboards.

There were a few great eco shoe companies at the beginning of this decade that sadly fizzled out. Perhaps there were a variety of reasons, but obtaining sustainable and recycled materials at a feasible cost was a biggie.

Not only are “green” resources more available today, there are authenticity and certification programs, as well as trace systems that track from field to retailer. Simple Shoes is a business with deserved admiration for establishing sustainable material suppliers through a combination of programs. They appropriately describe themselves as a “nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.”

Last month press releases were distributed about bamboo textiles. All were in relation to the Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) announcements that textile manufacturers, importers and retailers are soon required to comply with the country’s Textile Labeling Act (TLA) and the Textile Labeling and Advertising Regulations (TLAR).

The CCB is an independent agency that contributes to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choices. The CCB published Guidance on Labeling Textile Articles Derived from Bamboo to assist the textile supply chain to deal with new compliance in Canada.

Terri Bly, president of The Nature of Beauty (www.natureofbeauty.com), raves about eco-friendly clothing line, HT Naturals.

Bamboo is getting a lot of hype lately as an Earth-friendly fabric. Is it everything it’s cracked up to be?

[Creative Commons photo by Joi]

This question has been nagging me lately, so I did a little bit of digging. It looks like there are some upsides and some downsides to bamboo fabric. Let’s start with the bad news first and talk about the good news last.

The new nonwoven material umbrella with all bamboo shaft from Debco looks and acts like any other umbrella out there.

These bamboo solutions work both as retail/lobby displays and for those Ecopreneurists doing the trade show route. They also work well for spas as the signage is “softer” than traditional aluminum or steel displays.

According to the Hanoi-based Prosperity Initiative, a shift toward more bamboo production by small scale farmers in Vietnam could bring 750,000 people out of poverty by 2020. It could also help circumvent worldwide demand for timber as a building material.

Due to its many benefits, bamboo has been touted as an environmental miracle crop. It’s a significant carbon sink, it grows fast, is more termite-resistant than timber, and can be used for everything from food to clothing material to scaffolding for building construction.

But are environmentalists being bamboozled? Despite its benefits, increased bamboo production could raise a lot of concerns too.

Shown here is a winning green building design for Bird Island, a private and gated residential park in the center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which peacefully shares the environment with many local and migratory birds.  The Bird Island Green Homes Competition had a challenge for eight of the world’s top architects to try and create eco-friendly living spaces. Global firm Graft Lab submitted plans for Bird Island rendered above. Inhabitat mentions that Bird Island will also be constructed with a fabulous “grey water recycling system that channels water from sinks and showers back to the plumbing”. This eco-resort design is admirably aiming for zero-waste.