Green Options » recycled plastic

T.O.T.E. by Urban Junket: Your Laptop’s New BFF

Terri Bly — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:57:01 +0000

Business Travel. Nothing about it implies fashionable or fun. For me, it has always meant carting around either a drab grey laptop backpack for long trips or my utilitarian, generic black laptop-friendly briefcase for shorter stints. Sexy.

So when these new Laptop bags from Minneapolis-based Urban Junket arrived at our Ecotique/Nature of Beauty shop yesterday, my heart did a little dance of joy. Dost mine eyes deceive me? Could someone have actually designed a laptop bag that is sturdy, stylish and eco-friendly?! I rubbed my eyes to make sure the sleek black bag wasn’t just a sleep-deprived hallucination, and when I opened them again, Emily was pulling out the same bag but in a gorgeous ruby red. I quickly shoved her aside and grabbed the red bag like I was at one of those designer wedding dress sample sales you hear about, and took off, shouting “Mine! Mine!”

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Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in 3 Months

Cate Nelson — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:16:42 +0000

Plastic bags, the bane of human existence.

They were also a huge annoyance to Daniel Burd, who said that they’d come pouring out of the closet every time he did chores.

One day, I got tired of it and I wanted to know what other people are doing with these plastic bags.

So he did what any teen would do. He experimented with bacteria and decomposed a plastic bag in 3 months, winning top prize in the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa.

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5 Products to Green in Your Everyday Life

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:33:29 +0000

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg occasionally writes posts on new, innovative green products (see Five Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV and Five More Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV). Rather than try to steal his thunder, this post looks at some basic, simple, green products that can make your everyday life many times greener.

Staying away from the topics of food and transportation, which are probably the biggest daily products you could green, here is a list of products you use everyday.

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Melissa Brand’s New Sexy Gold Gladiator Sandal (Made from Recycled Plastic)

Lucille Chi — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:11:02 +0000

Last year we shared our admiration for Brazilian shoe maker Melissa and the evolution of their footwear designs and this year their recycled plastic shoes never looked so good!

“The environmentally sensitive sandal is ethically made in Brazil in a closed loop system so there is no waste. The Gladiator is made from recycled MEFLEX plastic and provides amazing comfort for your battle weary feet.”

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Sears Goes Green - Suits Made From Recycled Bottles to Hit the Racks in May

Brenda Keener — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:08:53 +0000

Department store giant Sears is jumping on the green bandwagon by announcing plans to offer “green” clothing in May - suits made from recycled PET bottles with NO petroleum used in the manufacturing process. Made in partnership with the US arm of Japan based Teijin Fibers Limited, each suit will be 54% recycled polyester, 42% wool, and 4% spandex, and will be fully machine washable.

The jackets and slacks will be sold as separates under the Sears Covington Perfect brand, and will retail for $175 and $75, respectively. It will be quite interesting to see if this spawns a new trend in green fashions, or if it will be a throwback to the polyester “leisure suits” of the 70s!

Another interesting point is that it takes 25 PET bottles to make one suit. Every 100 suits sold will keep 2500 bottles from hitting the landfills! These suits are looking better already…

New from Gaiam Green Home: Thai Artisan Crafted, Reversible, All-Weather Mat Contest

Lucille Chi — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:03:42 +0000

Last season we gave away an earth friendly yoga mat from Gaiam. Now we are back with a contest to win this recycled plastic, floral patterned, reversible all-weather floor mat.

This truly is a product that gives back:

“Make any room, whether indoors or out, that much more inviting. Our recycled plastic floor mats are handcrafted by Thai artisans who receive a fair wage for their craft. Made entirely from spent soda bottles, the durable multicolored polypropylene strands stand up to foot traffic in mudrooms, kitchens, or anywhere else there are plenty of comings and goings.” Made with love in Thailand.

Win this Free Floral Floor Mat ~

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Recycled Tires: Where Bottles Feared to Tread

Lisa Wojnovich — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:03:12 +0000

A Japanese company has come up with yet another use for old plastic bottles. Earlier this month, Teijin Fibers Ltd. announced that they are now supplying recycled polyester fibers to Toyo Tire & Rubber for use as cords in a new line of automobile tire marketed for use on environmentally conscious passenger cars.

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Recycled Chopsticks May Solve Japan’s Waste Woes

Lisa Wojnovich — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:42:19 +0000

The last time you went to a Japanese restaurant, did you use your chopsticks? Maybe, maybe not. But if they were on the table, they got thrown away after you’d paid your bill and walked out the door, and most likely you thought nothing of it.

In the U.S., disposable wooden chopsticks are not very common — except in the occasional restaurant serving some type of Asian cuisine — but in Japan, they throw away 68.5 million pairs of disposable, wooden chopsticks every day. That’s 25 billion pairs (and 100,000 tons of wood) literally up in smoke in Japanese incinerators every year.

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Recycled Plastic Outperforms Wood, Steel and Concrete Alternatives

Reenita Malhotra — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:55:02 +0000

i-plas , a UK based company has invented a building material known as i-plas, from recycled plastic that would otherwise be destined for landfill, to produce products which outperform the traditional alternatives of wood, steel and concrete.

According to the company, recycled composite plastic helps reduce carbon emissions, conserves oil and is extremely cost effective. The recycled composite profile has a wood like appearance, its surface is contoured giving it better slip resistance as well as visual appeal.

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Recycled Plastic Chair Design for Nice House Plants or Outdoor Garden Furniture

Lucille Chi — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:36:52 +0000

This chair design takes healing house-plants to a whole new level. It is the “Let’s grow some balls! ” seat by Doreen Westphal who presented this object in april at the Salone Internazionale de Mobile as part of the Tuttobene (www.tuttobene.nl) exhibition in the Via Tortona. Their blog post explains:

“Let´s grow some balls! is a combination of lounge chair and plant container from recycled plastic. The design is a spontaneous and yes; very direct reaction on the ‘tegenlicht’ documentary here in Holland which introduced the cradle2cradle production principle. Let’s grow some balls! is a call to us designers to take more responsibility for the things we make.”

The shape changes every time, depending on the plants grown inside the ball. Some examples include the mediteranian herbal garden, tulips or exotic plants,

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Welcome to Trashionable Muncie

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:11:43 +0000

Pretty cool: the Muncie (Indiana) Sanitary District plans to use a $5,000 state green grant to outfit its employees in fleece jackets made from recycled soda bottles. Tres chic y vert, n’est-ce pas?

Photo courtesy of David Monniaux via Wikimedia Commons