Comments on: ECO2 — Environmental Boogaloo http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/ Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Patty http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-575 Patty Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:09:33 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-575 Yes, reduce is the best! After that reuse, then recycle. And yes, recycling does use resources (including water) but a LOT less than using virgin raw materials. All the plastic reclaimers in the US reclaim and reuse their water (they can't afford not to). It is an urban myth that plastics must be downcycled. A PET water bottle can (and is) turned back into PET water bottles—not all of them... many PET bottles are turned into fiber (polyester fiber) and used to make products that would have required virgin resources (e.g., sleeping bag fiberfill, ski jacket fiberfill, carpet). Oxy-biodegradable plastic is a SHAM. Why put all the energy into making plastic only to have it break apart when your done with it? It is far better to recycle it!!! Yes, reduce is the best! After that reuse, then recycle. And yes, recycling does use resources (including water) but a LOT less than using virgin raw materials. All the plastic reclaimers in the US reclaim and reuse their water (they can’t afford not to). It is an urban myth that plastics must be downcycled. A PET water bottle can (and is) turned back into PET water bottles—not all of them… many PET bottles are turned into fiber (polyester fiber) and used to make products that would have required virgin resources (e.g., sleeping bag fiberfill, ski jacket fiberfill, carpet).

Oxy-biodegradable plastic is a SHAM. Why put all the energy into making plastic only to have it break apart when your done with it? It is far better to recycle it!!!

]]> By: Patty http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16921 Patty Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:09:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16921 Yes, reduce is the best! After that reuse, then recycle. And yes, recycling does use resources (including water) but a LOT less than using virgin raw materials. All the plastic reclaimers in the US reclaim and reuse their water (they can't afford not to). It is an urban myth that plastics must be downcycled. A PET water bottle can (and is) turned back into PET water bottles—not all of them... many PET bottles are turned into fiber (polyester fiber) and used to make products that would have required virgin resources (e.g., sleeping bag fiberfill, ski jacket fiberfill, carpet). Oxy-biodegradable plastic is a SHAM. Why put all the energy into making plastic only to have it break apart when your done with it? It is far better to recycle it!!! Yes, reduce is the best! After that reuse, then recycle. And yes, recycling does use resources (including water) but a LOT less than using virgin raw materials. All the plastic reclaimers in the US reclaim and reuse their water (they can’t afford not to). It is an urban myth that plastics must be downcycled. A PET water bottle can (and is) turned back into PET water bottles—not all of them… many PET bottles are turned into fiber (polyester fiber) and used to make products that would have required virgin resources (e.g., sleeping bag fiberfill, ski jacket fiberfill, carpet).

Oxy-biodegradable plastic is a SHAM. Why put all the energy into making plastic only to have it break apart when your done with it? It is far better to recycle it!!!

]]> By: Julie http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-574 Julie Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:49:18 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-574 What cannot be said enough, is that Reduce is way more important than recycling. We have to stop buying garbage. A product comes packed in plastic? just don't buy it. It will cut a lot of junk food from your diet. Bring your own bags (for groceries and produce) to the store. Simply stop carrying branded plastic bags around. You are not being paid for the free advertising, and end up being the one to blame for the waste and the pollution. The plastic industry had its chance and blew it by calling toxic waste "disposable" and disguising it with the recycling symbol. Plastic is not disposable, and if reprocessed it ends up being downcycled into products meant to eventually go to landfills. What cannot be said enough, is that Reduce is way more important than recycling. We have to stop buying garbage. A product comes packed in plastic? just don’t buy it. It will cut a lot of junk food from your diet. Bring your own bags (for groceries and produce) to the store. Simply stop carrying branded plastic bags around. You are not being paid for the free advertising, and end up being the one to blame for the waste and the pollution. The plastic industry had its chance and blew it by calling toxic waste “disposable” and disguising it with the recycling symbol. Plastic is not disposable, and if reprocessed it ends up being downcycled into products meant to eventually go to landfills.

]]> By: Julie http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16920 Julie Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:49:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16920 What cannot be said enough, is that Reduce is way more important than recycling. We have to stop buying garbage. A product comes packed in plastic? just don't buy it. It will cut a lot of junk food from your diet. Bring your own bags (for groceries and produce) to the store. Simply stop carrying branded plastic bags around. You are not being paid for the free advertising, and end up being the one to blame for the waste and the pollution. The plastic industry had its chance and blew it by calling toxic waste "disposable" and disguising it with the recycling symbol. Plastic is not disposable, and if reprocessed it ends up being downcycled into products meant to eventually go to landfills. What cannot be said enough, is that Reduce is way more important than recycling. We have to stop buying garbage. A product comes packed in plastic? just don’t buy it. It will cut a lot of junk food from your diet. Bring your own bags (for groceries and produce) to the store. Simply stop carrying branded plastic bags around. You are not being paid for the free advertising, and end up being the one to blame for the waste and the pollution. The plastic industry had its chance and blew it by calling toxic waste “disposable” and disguising it with the recycling symbol. Plastic is not disposable, and if reprocessed it ends up being downcycled into products meant to eventually go to landfills.

]]> By: Michael http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-573 Michael Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:42:43 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-573 Ordinary recycled plastic is not degradable and will lie around in the environment for hundreds of years. Oxo-biodegradable plastic, complying with American Standard 6954 is not expensive, and contains an additive which makes it degrade, then totally biodegrade on land or sea, in whatever time is required, leaving no fragments or harmful residues. It is made from a by-product of oil refining which would otherwise be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make it. Plastics made from crops are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a serious greenhouse gas) in landfill. It is wrong to use land to grow plastic and to drive up the cost of food for the poorest people. Ordinary recycled plastic is not degradable and will lie around in the environment for hundreds of years.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic, complying with American Standard 6954 is not expensive, and contains an additive which makes it degrade, then totally biodegrade on land or sea, in whatever time is required, leaving no fragments or harmful residues. It is made from a by-product of oil refining which would otherwise be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make it.

Plastics made from crops are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a serious greenhouse gas) in landfill. It is wrong to use land to grow plastic and to drive up the cost of food for the poorest people.

]]> By: Michael http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16919 Michael Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:42:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/01/eco2-environmental-boogaloo/#comment-16919 Ordinary recycled plastic is not degradable and will lie around in the environment for hundreds of years. Oxo-biodegradable plastic, complying with American Standard 6954 is not expensive, and contains an additive which makes it degrade, then totally biodegrade on land or sea, in whatever time is required, leaving no fragments or harmful residues. It is made from a by-product of oil refining which would otherwise be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make it. Plastics made from crops are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a serious greenhouse gas) in landfill. It is wrong to use land to grow plastic and to drive up the cost of food for the poorest people. Ordinary recycled plastic is not degradable and will lie around in the environment for hundreds of years.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic, complying with American Standard 6954 is not expensive, and contains an additive which makes it degrade, then totally biodegrade on land or sea, in whatever time is required, leaving no fragments or harmful residues. It is made from a by-product of oil refining which would otherwise be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make it.

Plastics made from crops are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a serious greenhouse gas) in landfill. It is wrong to use land to grow plastic and to drive up the cost of food for the poorest people.

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