Green Options » shipping

Bubbla Air-Inflated Packaging: A Safer, Greener Way to Ship

Justin Van Kleeck — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:00:20 +0000

Foam peanuts are the Devil. Evil incarnate. Darkness made visible. Senseless brutal waste embodied in a horde of impish, malevolent, noxious, toxic minions spilling out of boxes, bags, closets, basements, attics, trashcans, landfills. A wicked wind is blowing, and those infernal foam peanuts are riding it across the land, across the sea, across the Earth. They cannot die; they may be eternal.

Okay, so maybe foam peanuts and the other demons in the legion of packaging materials are not the creations of some sinister mad hatter, some oily oligarch, some short-sighted sorcerer’s apprentice, some wizard hiding in a city that is decidedly not emerald green. Nevertheless, the foam peanuts are steadily spreading with every package sent by air, sea, or ground. And this fact begs the question: Can they be stopped???

Take heart, my fellow Earthlings, for we do have an easy and eco-friendly way to say “YES!” to this question: Bubbla.

Although it may not have the name of a saving knight in shining green armor, Bubbla offers just about anyone–from large businesses shipping countless packages per day to the lone house dweller sending birthday gifts to family–a way to put a stop to the rampaging horde of foam peanuts. (Besides, how silly does “foam peanuts” sound?!)

Bubbla is an “on-demand” air-inflated packaging system produced for over 12 years now by Bubbla, Inc., a company in Canoga Park, California. (Believe it or not, the owner of Bubbla actually invented air-pillow packaging material, and the company owns four patents in this area. Obviously they know their stuff!)

Whenever you need some packaging material, you just make it using either the tabletop or freestanding Bubbla machine, both of which are easy to operate (with touch-screen controls), small (about 25” tall by 15” deep), and can be plugged in to a good old electric wall outlet. The machine quickly cranks out a supply of air-inflated packaging in one design or another (e.g., diamond wrap or long cells) to meet your demand. Make as much as you need, when you need. No fuss, no muss.

Read more of this story »

FGX: A Powerful Ally in the Fight to Ship Greener

Paul Smith — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:53:14 +0000

If you’re a company that’s looking for additional ways to green beyond the obvious, I suggest you look at how you ship internationally. Have you ever looked at where it goes? If not, do it soon. If it’s with one of the big three, It is far from a straight line. It first goes to a central hub. Even if that’s flying backwards further into the US. Then It goes overseas, but most likely to another hub. Then if it’s lucky, it gets to go to the intended destination.

UPS can talk all it wants about eliminating left turns on their driving routes, but if you’re adding 2-3 legs to the flight getting it there, that makes for a long, carbon intensive trip. And it doesn’t have to be that way.

Read more of this story »

Japan to Send their Ships Solar

Joshua S Hill — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:25:31 +0000

With the entire planet in a crazy attempt to make everything from transport to washing green, it comes as no real surprise to see another industry take up the challenge. And, as with a lot of things technological, Japan is leading the way.

Japan’s biggest shipping company – Nippon Yusen KK – is going to be working with Nippon Oil Corp to develop solar panels capable of partially powering their vessels.

Read more of this story »

Northwest Passage; Myth or Reality?

Amiel Blajchman — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:31:44 +0000

This year, for the first time in years, the Holy Grail of northern shipping will be a reality for a few weeks. With a Europe to Asia transit length that is 5000 nautical miles shorter than that of the Panama Canal (as well as deeper and wider, therefore accommodating super-tankers too big for the Panama Canal); the opening of the Northwest Passage may signal the start to a sovereignty fight in the Arctic that has nothing to do with oil, gas, or any other kind of mineral exploration.

Read more of this story »

Recycled paper at Starbucks, Citigroup and UPS - Where is it now?

Olga Orda — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:23:39 +0000

A few weeks back, I was writing about CO2-friendly supply chains and saw the hefty list of U.S. companies that the Environmental Defense Fund had helped switch to recycled content in a drive to reduce paper waste across the nation.

Now, paper is back under the public eye in fuller force than ever because of its significant climate change footprint.
“Paper is a tremendously resource-intensive product to produce,” explains project manager Victoria Mills, “and the decomposition of paper in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide.”

Read more of this story »

Oceans are Hurting: Thanks, Humans

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:55:59 +0000

Most of Earth might be covered with water, but the large population of bipedal animals that crowd the planet’s land masses is doing its best to leave its imprint on the oceans as well.

A new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) finds that humans have had a heavy impact on more than 40 percent of the world’s oceans. That’s an area of more than 55 million square miles, or more than 144 million square kilometers.

NOAA researchers combined data from about 17 different human activities — including fishing, fertilizer runoff, shipping and pollution — to generate a global map on how those factors are affecting the oceans.

The marine regions suffering the most include the East Coast of North America, the North Sea, the South and East China seas, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea and parts of the western Pacific. So far, the polar seas remain the least impacted (give climate change a little more time, though, and that could soon no longer be the case).

“The extent of human influence was probably more than any of us expected,” said Kenneth Casey, a co-author of the study, which will be published in tomorrow’s (Feb. 15) issue of Science.

In those areas, the ecosytems facing the greatest threats are coral reefs and seagrass beds, both of which are critical habitats or nursey grounds for fish, as well as coastal mangroves.

Maybe this latest study will help further weaken one of the arguments used by climate change deniers, the one that says humans are too puny to wreak large-scale damage to a planet the size of Earth. Puny, yes, but damaging? Without a doubt.

“Huh, it Works” says Captain of First Kite Powered Commercial Ship

mcmilker — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:24:44 +0000

The commercial vessel, MS Beluga SkySails, sets sail with 10,000 metric tons of freight using a computer-guided kite to harness powerful ocean winds and reduce fossil fuel usage.

Comments from the crew…

“Huh. It works.” Captain Lutz Heldt just nodded approval.

How Big is still Green?

Lee Welles — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:16:39 +0000

Like many of you, I’m very aware that what goes on my skin, in my hair and on my floors and countertops, also goes down the drain and into the world! I distinctly remember a moment, while congratulating myself for using a great, organic body care product, that I looked at the label and realized that bottle had traveled about 3000 miles! Then I squinted and saw that Unilever was distributing the product and I was no longer giving my money to the small, eco-friendly company that I thought I was!

This New York Times article has me again pondering the crossroads of eco-friendly products and economies of scale.

While I’m a big fan of the cleaning power of baking soda, vinegar, Borax and lemons …a decent homemade shampoo is still beyond me! It took me a while, but I found a skin care line that I like; not only because the ingrediants are simple and organic, but because the packaging is recycleble.

Read more of this story »

Kite-Powered Shipping

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:14:15 +0000

“A kite the size of a football field will provide most of the power for a German heavy freight ship set to launch in December.”

(More on this one at Planetsave)

Image source: ENN

First Ever Solar Crossing Of The Atlantic Ends In NYC

Michael dEstries — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:10:32 +0000

A catamaran equipped with solar panels has completed the first-ever solar transatlantic crossing. The Swiss team behind the feat, Transatlantic21, said the 14 meter boat produced 2,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy.

The boat traveled over 7,000 miles using the sun's energy to power an electric motor. Any surplus juice was stored in the on board batteries. The boat's skipper, Michael Thonney, declared that such an experiment proves alternatives exist and that nuclear power "is not the answer". From the article,

"This proves that in our modern society it is indeed possible to travel the world efficiently and still safeguard the environment,' said Michel Thonney. 'This has been a liberating journey and one which I believe will transform the way we approach travel on our oceans, seas and waterways."

According to research by the shipping industry and European academics, carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are double those of aviation and increasing at an alarming rate which will have a serious impact on global warming. The rise in emissions may be as much as 75% over the next 15-20 years! In attempting to avoid this, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation recently to curb emissions spewed by ships using diesel fuel. Other countries around the world have instituted similar restrictions.

A ship that can run on solar is a phenomenal feat, but obviously, catering that to a massive super tanker or cargo transport would be difficult. A transition to biofuels would be welcome, but even better would be developing transport that could pull hydrogen from the water to power a fuel cell. There could be an array of panels on board to assist with the production of the hydrogen. Simple, right? Yea, well, it's easy to speculate on technology that hasn't even been developed yet. Still, efficient shipping is something the world should be paying closer attention to. Oil will not be around forever and nuclear technology is still an unfavorable choice for commercial use. The future still appears as a giant question mark. Have any thoughts?

Hit the jump for more information!