packing a zero waste lunch

Those great green people over on Sustainable is Good have a nifty article on how to pack a zero waste lunch! I've been thinking more and more about how to use less and less (it's hard!) and I think this makes wonderful sense!

"Bringing lunch with you to school or work is a great way to eat better and save money. While there are many benefits to packing your own lunch there is one major environmental concern: single use disposable packaging generates significant amounts of waste.

The Center for American Progress (CAP) just ran a great short piece on how to green up your child's school lunch. CAP estimates each average school-age child who has mostly single serving packaged items in their lunch generates 67 pounds of waste each school year. CAP suggests packaging a zero-waste lunch.

Here’s the basic things to remember:

+ Reuse your beverage container. Use a thermos or a reusable water bottle to carry liquids.

+ Pack a reusable lunch bag. Using the same lunch bag every day creates no waste and is an affordable one-time purchase. You can probably even reuse a bag you already have.

+ Buy in bulk. Buy family-sized packages of cookies, crackers, and chips, rather than individually packaged snacks, and then pack the desired amount each day.

+ Use reusable containers for food. (Such as Tupperware.) This is great for transporting leftovers.

+ Rinse out old food containers. Reuse old food packaging to avoid throwing it out.

+ Bring your fork from home. Remembering to pack reusable utensils will prevent wasting hundreds of plastic forks, knives, and spoons every year. You can also keep a set of washable cloth napkins on hand to prevent unnecessary use of paper ones.

It’s almost always easier, and cheaper, to replace disposable packaging items with reusable materials. And they’ll save you less trips to the store in the long run, as well as money on things such as plastic and paper bags."

100%

Sustainable Is Good takes note of method's latest switch to 100% post consumer recycled packaging! (Go method!)

"San Francisco based Method has converted three of its U.S. product lines covering nine SKUs to 100% post consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles from Amcor PET Packaging.

The conversions, which affect 28, 25 and 12 ounce bottles, are thought to represent the first 100% post consumer recycled (PCR) applications in the United States for household cleaning products. The company had previously been using 100% virgin PET resin for these bottles.

By converting to 100% PCR on the 28-ounce bottle the carbon footprint was reduced by a significant 60 percent or 63.14 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per thousand containers produced. When the same bottle was produced in virgin PET, emissions were 104.67 kg CO2e per thousand.

Method Products was founded in 1999 on a strong environmental platform which includes the use of biodegradable ingredients in its formulations and “most readily” recyclable packaging for its containers. The introduction of Method’s 100% PCR bottles, once again, redefines the cleaning products category with an even stronger sustainability position.

The product lines affected are method’s 28-ounce All Purpose Cleaners (lavender, pink grapefruit and cucumber) and daily shower spray (ylang ylang); 25-ounce floor cleaners (lemon ginger and wood for good), and 12-ounce surface cleaners (daily granite, stainless steel and wood for good polishes).

Method's rPET Packaging Success in the UK lead to similar development in US
“Because we had been successful with 100% PCR bottles in the U.K., we wanted to explore what could be done in the U.S.,” explains Jason Crouch, director of procurement, method.

However, unlike the European supply infrastructure which is more vertically integrated, obtaining a consistent supply of PCR flake suitable for blow molding PET bottles has not been established in the United States.

“When method came to us last year on this project, we were hoping to get to 50% PCR content. In our trials, we tested 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. That’s when we discovered that 100% PCR content was not out of the question, but we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us before we could be confident that the bottles meeting all of the criteria could be produced at commercial rates,” says Greg Rosati, business director, personal care, Amcor.

The first challenge was finding a suitable supply source. This meant identifying a company that could source a supply stream with the right characteristics and be able to repelletize the flake so that it could be used to produce bottles.

“Ideally, you want the original PET bottles not to have been commingled with any other plastic type. The best source from a material purity standpoint is PET carbonated soft drink bottles that have been collected from a deposit-based program. Second best are bottles that have been curbside collected,” Rosati says..."

Head on over to Sustainable Is Good to read the rest!

method smarty dish!

That Nathan! He's so lucky, why he's always got the latest method news! The sneak peeks! How does he do it? He must be given cart blanche to all of method's deep, dark secrets!

Well, no I'm not. It's hard work, folks! While I do have my connections (Yay to you!), really it's all about a lot of digging and hunting (not unlike pigs finding tasty truffles buried deep in the ground! Yeah, I thought that was a weird analogy, too. But just go with it.) I'm still working on my method privileg-ability! (I think it's going to require more sucking up. Hey, I'm up for that, more sucking up, coming up! That's a lot of ups!) Take this OH so sneak peek that Rider Thompson at Sustainable Is Good (oh Rider, how did you do it?) just posted, beating ole' method lust! Well, no matter how it got done, I'm excited! Because the dish cubes, they are'a back! Read on!

"A bit of exciting breaking news from San Francisco-based Method. The company is bringing back their popular dish cubes this fall in a newly designed and formulated product that is going to be better than ever.

An exact launch date is not known but Sustainable is Good Products has confirmed the popular dish cubes are coming back as a product named Method Smarty Dish.

The new dishwasher detergent doses, as Method calls them will be available in two formulations, Pink Grapefruit (like before) and Go Naked (free of dyes and perfumes).

Smarty Dish will resemble their previous incarnation in concept but not in shape. The new products are more tablet like in shape - allowing them to fit all standard sized dishwasher dispensers without any trouble.

We've been testing some samples of both the new Pink Grapefruit and Go Naked Smarty Dish this past week and we LOVE THEM!

They contain no toxic chemicals, no bleach, no phosphates just naturally derived biodegradable ingredients. They come in pre-measured doses or tabs so they are ultra convenient - plus you're never using too much dishwasher detergent which eliminates unnecessary waste.

The Pink Grapefruit scent is pleasant , not over powering like some dishwasher detergents we've tested in the past. The scent provides a subtle citrus scent while the dish washer is running - very nice. And the Go Naked version is obviously fragrance free for those who prefer a scentless option.

Cleaning: no dishwasher detergent can be good if it doesn't do a solid job at its primary task of cleaning. Smarty Dish does an excellent job.

In our tests both the Pink Grapefruit and Go Naked versions left our dishes clean and our glasses streak free. We were highly impressed.

Method is taking an admirable and very smart step by bringing back their dishwasher detergent.

There is increased attention on the harmfulness of phosphates which many conventional dishwashing products contain. They cause major problems with algae overgrowth in waterways which has devastating effects on fish and plants. Washington state just passed a bill banning phosphates in dish detergent by 2010 and other states are likely to follow.

What Does it Look Like, How Much and Where Can I Get it?
The packaging for the new Smarty Dish is cube shaped which is going to make for easy effective storage. The packaging is made from 25% recycled plastic and is 100% recyclable itself.

The products themselves are oval tablet shaped doses the Pink Grapefruit is light pink in color and the Go Naked is mostly white with a faint yellow color to it.

A cube of 20 Smarty Dish doses will retail for $6 US - though like a lot of Method products we expect them to be available for less at major retailers like Target.

Smarty Dish will debut this Fall so keep your eyes out for them, they're a real winner."


OH man, he's been testing samples... That's fine, that's fine. Uhm, excuse me while I go cry in the corner for a little bit, ok? (Who do you know, Rider? WHO?! Ha ha!)

Alright, all done! Man, I wish they'd brought back the lavender ones, I loved those. But no matter what, dish cubes are back, baby!

method's personal care packaging

Rider Thompson over on Sustainable Is Good continues his look into the new method personal care line (it's weird to say new when discussing the latest personal care line, as a new-new one is due in a few short months!) His focus is on the great "quilted" packaging:

"San Francisco-based Method's new natural personal care collection features packaging that gives the line its own unique identity.

The collection consists of three products: body wash, creamy hand wash and a body bar.

The collection's hand and body wash are packaged in #2 HDPE plastic bottles which feature a quilted pattern design. The square quilted pattern is also present in the body bar.

The quilted design holds the line together visually making it easily identifiable on store shelves and in consumers minds.

The packaging was designed in-house by Method's own design team.

“The quilted look for the natural moisturizing personal care line is designed to connote the soft moisturizing formula within the bottles,” said Method's Rachel Goldberg.

“The designer also considered the existing décor of bathrooms, which are usually tiled. They were designed to be decorative but in a subtle, sophisticated way.”

The hand wash packaging is square and features an easily removable label allowing consumers to have the packaging blend in with their own home environment

Method's Director of Marketing, Katie Molinari told Sustainable is Good the removable label was purposely incorporated into the creamy hand wash packaging. “We don't believe that a logo needs to, or should be, a prominent feature in a home care product,” said Molinari.

“We design our products for the home and treat them as accessories to compliment someone's personal style. We hope people will recognize Method products by their unique design rather than a logo or label.”

When the label is removed the packaging is only distinguishable as a Method product by an embossed “m” on the side of the bottle.

Molinari added the body wash packaging is made from 25% recycled HDPE plastic.

Sustainable is Good was unable to obtain information from Method on who is producing the packaging. A previous incarnation of Method's body wash was produced by Amcor."

Rider also recently wrote up a short piece on the new body wash, from the same line. Thanks Rider!

I'm sorta curious about this line. I'm wondering if it will remain, after the new Marine Naturals line makes it's debut this fall (I've heard in August.) Or is this line simply a stop-gap between bloq, and the new line? Time will tell!

PS - I've noticed something interesting on the method home site. It APPEARS that the white tea scent might be discontinued. The creamy hand wash is no longer available on their site in white tea (unless it's missing in error); but also, if you select by scents, olive leaf and almond flower highlight; but white tea shows nothing when you select that scent. I'll let you know when I learn more.

bamboo for you

It's links day over here at method lust! Hey, I can't be prolific ALL the time, now can I? Please, don't answer that.

Sustainable Is Good has a great article out today covering the new method omop bamboo packaging. Which by the way, I knew they were doing for the actual mops, but have yet to see the cool new packages for the microfiber pads and such (seen in the photo above.) Great news!

"San Francisco-based Method has revamped the packaging for its popular Omop floor sweeper starter kit and Omop microfiber accessory pads. The new packaging is a significant departure from current industry standards and a real attention grabber sitting on store shelves.

Made specifically for Method from a combination of paper and bamboo the new brown packaging has an attractive unfinished quality to it - totally unique next to other products packaged in clear clamshells with bright labeling.

The packaging has a minimal quality to it that alone provides it a creative advantage - you want to look at the packaging, touch it and find out what is in it..."

Check out the rest of the article over at Sustainable Is Good!