Archive for the ‘Recycling’ Category
This vinyl IS final: firm presses ashes into LPs
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Here's one of the most unusual plastics applications I've seen in a long time: A U.K. company called AndVinyly says it can press the ashes of deceased music lovers into vinyl records. Company founder Jason Leach tells Exclaim! that he...
Status of two voluntary bag reduction efforts
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Instead of resorting to bag taxes and bans, some communities and retailers have tried voluntary efforts to reduce bag consumption. Let's check on the status of two -- one small-scale effort, and one on a very large scale. On the...
UK firm making plastic from chewed gum?
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
A designer in the United Kingdom is developing a plan to collect and recycle chewed gum and turn it into a plastic that can be molded into new products. Gross, I know, but interesting. The designer is Anna Bullus, who,...
Bag ban is about politicians ‘micromanaging our lives’
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
The North County Times in Escondido, Calif., recently editorialized against the proposed California plastic bag ban with a column that blasted the legislative "nanny state" trend. "... if plastic grocery bags can be banned, what other popular consumer items will...
Enough with the ‘Recycled Island’
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Every so often, I come across a plastics-related idea that's so ridiculous that I try to ignore it, rather than sharing it with Plastics Blog readers. The "Recycled Island" is just such an idea. You may have seen stories on...
Point-counterpoint on California’s bag tax
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
The debate is heating up on a proposal in California that would ban some plastic grocery bags. Assembly Bill 1998 would ban grocery stores from giving out plastic bags and require customers to pay at least 5 cents for each...
Cascade is serious about sustainability
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
If your company is serious about sustainability, check out how injection molder Cascade Engineering Inc. treats the subject. The company puts out an annual "Triple Bottom Line" report, which measures its environmental and social goals -- something that's fairly unique...
Plastiki limps into Sydney
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
The Plastiki -- the all-recycled-PET catamaran that's been sailing across the Pacific Ocean since February -- has reached its destination in Sydney, Australia. The last 200 nautical miles of the 10,000-nautical-mile journey were made with the help of a tow,...
Jackson Browne: Humans are slobs
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne has long had a political streak, and today he made headlines in the U.K. for comments about bottled water. Browne has a column on the Daily Mail's website titled "I Blame bottled water for the oil spill!"...
Calif. bag maker says ‘Let’s bag the ban’
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Pete Grande, president and CEO of Command Packaging in Vernon, Calif., wrote a powerful defense of plastic bags in an op-ed column published today on the Los Angeles Times Web site. Headlined "The unintended consequences of a plastic bag ban,"...