Corn a La Plastic - The Mistruth Of Biodegradable PLA

So you think you’re doing your part, purchasing your salad in a clear clamshell made with corn based plastic (PLA or Polylactic Acid).  Proponents of PLA say that they are a good alternative to petroleum based plastics because they (a) biodegrade and thus won’t last forever like normal plastic, and (b) are made from corn which is a renewable resource.


What the masses are not told is that corn based plastic requires an Industrial Composting Facility to heat the bioplastic to a high enough temperature in order for it to break down. Corn-based plastic will take just as long as regular plastic to break down in the landfills (very few things break down in landfills actually....) or on the curb of your sidewalk. Furthermore, since they look just like conventional plastic, they are often times thrown in with other recyclables, thus contaminating the recycling process and reducing its market value.

This recycling contamination issue has actually led to the banning of biodegradable plastic bags by the City of Toronto, which has plans to ban all biodegradable plastics in the future. 

So what should we do in the mean time?  Use a reusable container or bag, reduce wherever possible, and avoid any type of plastic would be my best bet.

Do you DIG your SIGG?

Two years ago, I purchased my first SIGG bottle, and absolutely adored it. Since then, I took it almost everywhere I went, and gifted it for friends on various occasions.

A growing number of concerned consumers, especially new parents began to turn away from plastic bottles and products that contain BPA, and replace them with stainless steel bottles that were BPA Free. BPA is a chemical with the ability to mimic hormones and several studies have linked BPA to weight gain, abnormalities that can lead to breast and prostate cancer, brain damage, abnormal organ development, and hyperactivity.

SIGG was a popular and recognized brand of safe BPA-free bottles. Or so it seemed, until a letter from SIGG's own Steve Wasik stated that their bottles contained BPA lining. This news came as a shock for all SIGG fans, including myself. Apparently, SIGG was never marketed as a "BPA-free" product but rather a product free from leaching. Wasik apologized in a letter for the lack of clarity about the original SIGG liner.

SIGG Company had known about ways their bottles were being perceived and marketed. They knew the increased in the demand of their products came from a false belief that they were BPA-free. However, they watched as the sales rocketed and did nothing to correct the misconception. SIGG had fooled us all.

SIGG is countering their greenwashing image by offering a voluntary exchange program. Your old SIGG bottles can be exchanged for their newly improved bottles with new EcoCare liner. To exchange, SIGG bottle owners must print out shipping label and return form available online, and bear the cost of shipping to a Brampton address.

This is a huge disappointment for consumers. it's difficult to say when the consumer confidence will recover but the exchange program is a good start. Even better if they had covered the shipping costs.

While I'm getting ready to exchange all 3 SIGG bottles at home, I can't see myself purchasing a SIGG product anytime soon. The damage is done....

Is P&G Really Future Friendly?

You might have seen this ad on TV lately: A girl, posing as a reporter with a camcorder, goes about her house and identifies “future friendly” products made by Proctor & Gamble, namely their Downy, Cascade, Bounty, and Tide brands. These products are proclaimed to be “future friendly” due to their decreased waste, energy use, and packaging. But are they really future friendly?

 

Individually, these initiatives to reduce waste, energy, and packaging are great, but the products themselves are far from being green (as a term “future friendly” would imply).

• Laundry detergents like Tide contain many toxic chemicals that are hazardous to the environment and to our health. 


• Fabric softeners like Downy are notorious for containing not-so-snuggly ingredients (like benzyl alcohol, limonene, ethyl acetate, pentane, chloroform, and more) that negatively impact the body through short and long-term use. 

  
  
• The quilted picker-upper Bounty paper towels may perhaps absorb better than others, but they’re still made from virgin fiber with no recycled content, and use a bleaching process to whiten the sheets. (For a good alternative, Grist.org has a great comparison between bounty and more “future friendly” brands)

  
  
• Dishwasher detergents like Cascade contain phosphates and chlorine. Phosphates can cause severe skin irritations, as well as harm to aquatic life. Chlorine bleach is harmful your health if handled or ingested, and can combine with carbon molecules to create organochlorines such as dioxin which is carcinogenic. (To see a list of detergents that contain phosphates and chlorine and some alternatives, see this article by naturemoms.com).

I would say that this is quite the greenwashing campaign put on by P&G; I just wish they put more effort into making their products truly future friendly.