Eco-Savy wishes you a Happy Valentines Day!!
If you are unsure about what to get that special someone, try checking out our eco-store.
We have a whole list of great eco-gift ideas for Valentines Day (click here)
Our eco-store also has other eco-products for the home (kitchen, bathroom), personal care products, baby products etc.
Seems like every company today is coming out with their own version of the “plant-bottle”. However, it is important to know that not all “bio-based” plastic is biodegradable. There are major differences between compostable, bio-based, biodegradable, and oxo-biodegradable labels (refer to “Green Labels” section of this website).
There is a new material on the market being used in all sorts of products called Ecoflex (tradename) and it comes from Germany. Although this plastic is considered biodegradable, it is made from petroleum (oil) based resin. However, this plastic will biodegrade when immersed in a commercial composting system (according to ASTM D6400 testing standard). On the contrary, when looking at Coca-Cola’s Plant Bottle which is made from 20% renewable materials (i.e. starch), it is not considered biodegradable or compostable…just recyclable. Thus it is important not to get caught up in the marketing of these products and learn to look at the labels and try to understand “why is this biodegradable?” or ask yourself “how much of this product contains renewable materials?”
Look for this label on plastics to see if they are compostable or not.
Want to learn more about all the different types of labels and requirements of them? Go to Eco-savy’s Green Label section by clicking here .
The results of a recent study conducted by TerraChoice, a sustainability and marketing consulting company, show a 73% increase in green products when compared to 2009. However, the problem we are still facing is “green washing”. Green washing is defined as the act of misleading consumers about the environmental practices a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
TerraChoice surveyed 5296 products in the U.S. and Canada which make environmental claims. They visited 19 retail stores in Canada and 15 in the United States total and found that ~4.5% of all products were “sin-free” of green-washing. This means that 95.5 % of consumer products which claim to be green are still guilty of at least one of the sins of green-washing. If you are unsure of the “sins of green washing” click here.
source: http://terrachoice.com/share/blog/
Do you ever worry about that giant list of chemicals at the back of your personal care/cosmetic products? Sometimes it seems like the chemical ingredients list just keeps getting longer and longer. However, the more you compare the lists on the back of products, the more you will find that there are similarities between the chemicals used. The one to look out for is p-hydroxybenzoic acid, otherwise called “paraben”!
Green plastics, Bioplastics, Sustainable Materials, Renewable Content, Oxo-biodegradable, Compostable, Biodegradable….it can all be a little confusing and overwhelming at times navigating our way through the grocery store today.
Here is a short quiz to see how much you know about bioplastics?
1) All bioplastics are made from plants? True or False
2) All recyclable plastics are made from petroleum? True or False
3) All bioplastics can be composted? True or False
Learn what to look for on the labels in Eco-Savy’s “Eco-Tips” section. Click here
Answers: False ; False ; False
