Saving ourselves - Technology or Behavior

I am in the middle of an interesting project trying to determine the best type of packaging for shipping products.
The interesting dilemma at hand is how does one make the right decision when you are not comparing apples to apples?

So that you can quickly understand the challenge, I am going to simplify the issue.  Packaging #1 is a recycled paper envelop, while Packaging #2 is a recycled plastic envelop. Sounds similar? Not so much.

The interesting issue at hand is that while intuitively we want to stay away from plastic, the plastic option is actually more durable and seen as a better product. But ultimately this packaging, like so much packaging, ends up in the hands of individuals in our homes and we have limited ways of disposing of it well.

Most waste haulers across the USA don't want soft plastics; in fact only 5% of municipalities will accept it.  This is mostly because of how recycling is sorted in the facilities. Usually there are large conveyer belts that are sorting materials with giant magnets and optical scanners. In this system, soft plastics get caught up in machinery.  And the other issue is that because soft plastics are so light, if they get dirty - that dirt easily contaminates the ability for recycling to occur.

BUT, if there was a way to guarantee we could effectively recapture the large quantities of clean soft plastic, the technology exists to recycle it.

So back to our two options for packaging: Packaging #1 is paper and there for can be recycled (and people already know how to recycle it easily), or worst case scenario is in a landfill and will eventually biodegrade. Packaging #2 - could be recycled forever... but we don't currently have the systems to support that.

Separate bag for sorting soft plastics, next to our kitchen laundry bin

We are living in an interesting time  - where technology and human behavior are needed to work together in new ways to achieve the desired results. And that is part of the equation towards sustainability. All the great technology in the world will not allow us to create better systems, unless we change our behaviors to create those better systems.

So to start: recycle everything you can. And think about which of your systems you can develop -by changing your behavior - to support sustainable change.

Chemicals: Villains of the Natural World...or Not

Recently, something fascinating was brought to my attention by a speaker on biomimicry. Interested in what that means? Read on to learn more...

There is a common misconception. This misconception is that chemicals are man-made hazards that pollute and threaten an otherwise chemical-free natural world.

Chemical [kem-i-kuh l] (noun)
1. a substance produced by or used in a chemical process.
2. of or relating to, used in, or produced by chemistry

Chemistry? Remember chemistry class? The science class that tried to teach you about the structure and property of substances and the changes they go through. And the Periodic Table of the Elements! Everyone knows that. But most of those elements didn't seem so evil...Carbon, Oxygen...the building blocks of life are contained in that colorful table.

So maybe chemicals aren't pure evil. Certainly combinations of them can be harmful to the health of living things - but chemicals are the building blocks of everything - natural and not.

There is this perception that the word "chemical" is evil, yet nature offers some incredible natural chemical solutions to very real world problems. Seashells inspiring self-assembling in nanotechnology. Plants inspiring biodegradable plastics made from CO2. Peacocks and butterflies inspiring color with light instead of pigments.

If we are going to truly understand chemistry enough to make real change - we need to stop villainizing chemicals and look to understand them instead. Biologists are being invited to the design table. Taking inspiration from nature to design for a sustainable future.

"Learning about the natural world is one thing. Learning from the natural world, that's the switch. That's the profound switch." -Janine Beynus, Biomimicry
Learn more at biomimicry.net
http://biomimicry.net/inspiring/

Sustainable Living TMI

Ok I am warning you right now - this is probably Too Much Information about me for some of you.  But I wanted to talk about one of my bad behaviors that I finally found a sustainable solution to.  Here it is... SHAVING!

I have been shaving my legs since I was in high school - that was a few years ago so the amount of disposable razors, their plastic composite and all the packaging has added up. At first I figured - well a razor isn't that big so the environmental impact must be small, right?  But then over time I learned of this concept called embodied impact - which is the impact of everything it took to make that product and to dispose of it.  Now that little razor compounded by 20 years of using and disposing was adding up.

It wasn't until I went to Palm Springs about a year ago with some friends and the gentleman of the group wanted to visit a shaving store. (? they have whole stores dedicated to shaving? well you always learn something new) There I saw a steel razor where you just switch out the blade when it is dull, limited waste and no packaging.  The store staff answered by questions about - yes women can use these razors they aren't just for the guys and what to look for in a good razor.

Well as I have mentioned time and time again - change takes time and I finally bought my steel razor!  I am so excited. I tried it out and it works amazingly. But in full transparency I did nick myself twice and it takes some getting used to.  I am so happy to have nicely shaven legs and know that I didn't create a ton of packaging and plastic waste. (Plastic in our waste stream is pretty bad.)

And the nice bonus - it is a cheaper investment.  For instance to replace the "head" of my  old razor with new blades it cost me $13 for 4. I was also due to get a new handle since I the old one was getting pretty gross - that would have put me back another $20.
My new Merkur steel razor was $34 and a box of 10 blades is $7.  Think a year from now - if I use 2 blades a month I will have saved. $27.60.

It is fun when sustainability efforts save you money!  Happy Shaving all.

Once you know, why do we convince ourselves otherwise?

I have gone back and been reading my old sustainability books.  The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist by Ray Anderson, and others.  And I read their observations on our impacts of business and human existence on the planet and am shocked by what we are doing.
But I have read these books before, I knew these impacts years ago, why does it keep shocking me?  I think in part because of the life I live I am quite removed from the visual impact of 2,562 tons of solid waste in a year from one company.  There are thousands of companies across the world, of course of various sizes, but we don't see all of the numbers added up together in daily life.

So while I know that driving my car, using water, gas, and creating waste are things I do on a small scale every day - what if I were to see this as a sum?  All totalled up would I see my impact differently and make the needed changes?
I think this would help dramatically - as I don't think it is a big deal to use my little Toyota Matrix every day for trips under 20 miles.  Heck it isn't like I am commuting 60 miles in an SUV?  But that there is the piece we have to be wary of, we can justify ourselves of anything.  And guess what - my lifestyle, my consumption, the waste I generate all have a place in that adding up of the world's impact.

What activists are trying to get at, is for ALL of us to think about the details of our impacts and make improvements.  It isn't about doing less so others can do more... it is about taking that responsibility and saying my life is adding to a really big number of global impacts and what can I do to lessen that.