Green Options

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.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed battery cells capable of charging in under a minute, an astonishing 100 times faster than a regular rechargable battery.

The breakthrough could revolutionize electric car battery technology and pave the way for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles in as little as two years.

The discovery came when MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder found out how to get a common lithium compound to release and take up lithium ions in a matter of seconds. According to Ceder, the compound, known as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), has a crystal structure that creates “perfectly sized tunnels for lithium to move through,” allowing the team to reach “ridiculously fast charging rates.”

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have suggested a plan to drastically reduce global warming, by painting the world white.  If implemented successfully, it would be the equivalent of taking the world’s 600 million cars off the road for 18 years.

Hashem Akbari and Surabi Meno, along with Art Rosenfeld, California Energy Commissioner and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, are so convinced that their idea will work, that they have proposed a “Cool World” plan that would use white roofs, and solar-reflective roofs of other colors, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help delay atmospheric heating effects.

In the not too distant past I called for an outright ban on using vinyl in any and all craft projects in Crafting Vs. Vinyl (Round 1). I then followed that up with Crafting Vs. Vinyl (Round 2) and explored some possible alternatives to the toxic plastic, but had no such luck on finding a substitute to clear vinyl, a material that is used in many crafting projects.

Gidget recently inquired about PEVA as a possible clear plastic alternative. I jumped at the chance to look into this plastic, which I had not heard of, to see about its potential for crafting and how it rates in relation to PVC.

Gidget pointed out that IKEA was selling clear plastic shower curtains and that they were made out of PEVA, not PVC. I happened to be at an IKEA the other day and was able to look over said shower curtain. Indeed, it said 100% PEVA. It was clear and light and flexible. The biggest difference that I noticed right away was its lack of smell! It was also thinner and a bit more cloudy (but still clear) than PVC, but still flexible and pliable enough to be run through with a needle and thread.

Scientists have created a new material that could dramatically increase the efficiency of solar cells, by literally capturing every color of the rainbow.

Whereas other materials only catch a small range of light frequencies, and therefore only a small fraction of the potential energy, the new invention is capable of absorbing all the energy contained in sunlight. According to team leader, Prof. Malcolm Chisolm, “There are other such hybrids out there, but the advantage of our material is that we can cover the entire range of the solar spectrum.”

Isn’t it nice to learn about a company that so admirably exceeds the goal of sales?

Don’t fall for the gold rush when scrutiny is required to honestly connect it to the green market.