What Does Biodegradable Mean?

Recently several stores, such as Target, have made their plastic gift cards out of biodegradable plastic (despite them costing 3x as much as regular plastic), and Innocent Drinks have tested a 100% biodegradable bottle. But what does biodegradable actually mean?

For something to be biodegradable it has to be a organic substance that can be broken down by microorganisms, a great example being a leaf. In the case of biodegradable plastic, which is usually made from petrochemical compounds, they often use a substance called Mirel which is a corn-based product. They describe biodegradable as “the degradation of material from naturally occurring microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi or algae over a period of time. Source: ASTM“.

For more information, check out the excellent Worldwise biodegradable article.

Donate To Charity Whilst You Search

Gavin, over at Green Options has a great article on the top 15 charity search engines.

This is done mainly by providing a portion of the advertising revenue they receive to charity or green projects. The sites he has listed are:

- Goodsearch
- Everyclick
- Searchgive
- Ripple
- Magic Taxi
- Search Kindly
- GoodTree
- Catch Tomorrow
- Lookie
- Rectifi
- Clicks For Cancer
- Charity Café
- Oblatoo
- The Green Spider
- ClicksCount

To find out how each site helps take a look at Green Options for more details. If you know of any others, please add them below.

Fun Green Roundup #7

Getting the message across
Advertising on huge, well-lit billboards might be the best way to sell something, unless that things about the environment. Groovy Green reported on a company in South Africa showing the way forward.

Energy saving help
21st Century Citizen (were you as lucky as me to get an advert for Snorg Tees: Groin Grabbingly Good Tees?) has a handy little guide to how much a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs save you over time. Which is nice.

Waxy problems
Got problems dealing with a lot of dripping wax? Come on, we all do don’t we? Welll some people do, I remember a bar that was in a crypt which was covered in wax. But they seemed to like it. Anyway, I digress. If you do have a wax problem then get this from Design Boom - it collects your dripping wax to use as a new candle. Alternatively put your candle in a jar or buy quality candles that don’t drip.

Dump your significant other - the green way
Vanessa at Green as a Thistle has done a handy guide to how to have an environmentally-friendly break up. From crying, writing letters to moving out. I would say print it out and keep it, but that wouldn’t be very eco-friendly, so bookmark it instead. And stop crying you wimp.

A punky return
And from humble Life Goggles itself, Punky Brewster makes an eco-comeback.

Green rap
And finally, Treehugger had this nice video below from Dr. Octagon - a rapper who raps about environmental issues. I can’t really expand on that much more, so enjoy.

 

Recycle Your Electronics This Christmas

Chances have it that this Christmas (Happy Christmas/Holidays everyone!!) you’ll receive a new phone/camera/mp3 player/TV/games console and your poor old one will be left with no home to go to.

A new website called BuyMyTronics will offer you a price for your unwanted (or broken) game console/handheld, any type of iPod and mobile/cell phones, although phones currently have to be working (a full list here). Their environmental aim is:

- To help to Reduce the number of new iPods that need to be manufactured by giving existing iPods a second life.
- To Reuse parts from old iPods that are not easily fixable.
- To Recycle the entire iPod when possible by repairing the broken components and giving it a second life.

What they do with the items isn’t clear, though they state they are “building a utopian society and sanctuary for electronics from around the globe” it’s more likely they fix and sell on where possible, or recycle valuable components for cash.

An Amazing Photo That Doesn’t Look Real

But it is real. It won the Shell Wildlife Photo of the Year. You can find out more about it here. It’s incredible and reminds me of those islands shaped like hearts, but this seems to be telling us something.

The North Pole Is Melting!

According to a Christmas email we received about a new video AtomFilms launched called The North Pole is Melting. The theme for this year’s Christmas/holiday season seems to be “Go Green” and this video is an animation of an elf singing about how global warming is affecting the North Pole and Santa (Al Gore seems to be even Santa’s only hope!).

Quite amusing at Christmas, you can preview the video below and visit AtomFilms if you want to see the whole thing. Have a great holiday everyone!

100 Ways To Save The Planet - The Next Generation #2

I really need to come up with a new title for this. I’ll probably just revert back to the original, short version. Anyhoo, you can find part 1 of this ‘next generation’ here or get the original 100 Ways eBook for free here. If you’ve read all them and are ready for more, here are another ten:

111. Don’t use deodorant. Well of course you can, but have a look at the ingredients as some things aren’t great for you or for the planet if they’re derived from petroleum. Anti-perspirants are the worst offenders so try a more natural alternative or go without, you never know, people might not notice!

112. Send e-cards instead of real ones. It’s much better for the environment, although you may not be the most popular person in the world. But if you don’t feel comfortable with that, request that when it’s your birthday/anniversary/wedding/Christmas/Easter etc you only get e-cards. Your friends might think it’s a good idea and it’s cheaper for them too.

113. Buy used nappies for your baby. Clean, reusable ones anyway. www.usednappies.co.uk is an auction site that specialises in, you’ve guessed it, nappies. Buying previously used nappies is better for the environment and I would have thought, cheaper too.

114. Quickly save a tonne of CO2. Well quickly find out how as www.saveatonne.com is a simple but informative one page website with ten easy steps for individuals to save a tonne of CO2 and advising people that you don’t have to dramatically change your routine to make dramatic changes to our environment. It’s got some great links on there to help too.

115. It’s a fact that heating and air conditioning aren’t going away. So if you are using one of the two (hopefully not both at the same time!) then try to do it in as efficient way as possible. A lady called Jessica Renda at www.cwheatcool.com sent in three tips for heating and cooling:
• Get an electric heat pump instead of oil or gas furnace.
• For air conditioning - make sure you are using the right type of freon (R410A) this is the new environmentally friendly freon - at least as friendly as it can get for now.
• Change your air filters - the more frequently you change your air filter the better the air flow to your system, which helps it to operate better. Think about it, how do you feel with a stuffed up nose? You get the point.
We certainly do Jessica.

116. Don’t buy new toys. And this isn’t just for kids either but for adults who like to collect figures or even someone who likes ornaments. They come with a huge amount of packaging. A lot of times just so you can see them on the shelf but are still secure. The plastic, cardboard, wire ties, polystyrene etc all add up and at Christmas the bin doesn’t stand a chance of coping. So buy toys from charity shops or second-hand. Or ask friends if you can have ones they’ve finished with.

117. Recycle your old CDs. I have loads sitting around at home, and at work even though I prefer photos being emailed, I’m always being sent them on CD. Luckily at work we can send them to a printer who recycles them and makes them into car headlight covers (the cases anyway). However what can you do at home? In the UK, Polymer Recycling recycle the cases, inserts and also the discs and have a handy diagram to tell you how they do it - click on the picture to visit the large version on the site.

In the US there’s a company called GreenDisk which picks up from recycling centres and businesses. But if you can’t find anywhere, be creative and use them as coasters or as decorations until you can find somewhere to get them recycled. And if you’ve only got CDs for music, do as number 63 in the list said - bypass the whole process and download your music.

118. Sleep green. Keetsa offer environmentally friendly mattresses and you can get organic cotton bedding at places like So Organic or made from bamboo at Nigel’s Eco Store.

119. Pick up litter. All these ways are aimed at making the world a better place to live and litter can turn a nice area into a dump very quickly. And I don’t mean you have to roam the streets, look in the local newspaper and you’ll see events organised by local groups - such as scouring the shore for trash or at your local park. Not only is litter unsightly, it can be dangerous for wildlife too.

120. Buy a real Christmas tree. Seems strange but it’s actually better for the environment than plastic ones. The production of PVC creatures by-products such as lead and after use will just be left in a landfill. Real trees are mostly grown in the country they’re bought from, while artificial trees are imported. The Soil Association has a list of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) producers. Or why not grow your own tree?

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