The "Ideal cup", Westpac bank and a bit more on packaging and a challenge

Yesterday evening I went to a seminar on smart packaging.  It was put together by a team from Wanaka Wastebusters.  A guest speaker from Westpac Bank spoke first, then the Wanaka Wastebusters team.  If there is one in your area in the future it would be worth registering (for free) and heading along. 

Image source: www.westpac.co.nz

WESTPAC BANK

I was very surprised to hear that Westpac Back were on a big drive to improve their practices and have made some really big inroads in the past 4 years and they continue their journey. They have been recognised for this through sustainable business awards, including being recognised by Dow Jones as the most sustainable bank worldwide.  I was impressed and am definitely going to consider changing to them for that reason when we review our mortgage later in the year. 

You can read more about Westpac Bank and their sustainability goals here.

Image source: http://www.smartpackaging.org.nz/

PACKAGING

Whether you are involved in packaging design or choice for a product or are purely a product consumer, if you know a little about packaging design you are in a better place to pressure the people that provide packaging. 

A number of products don't need packaging, but if they do we need to follow the principles of reduce the amount of packaging, design it for reuse and ensure at the end of its life it can be recycled.  

Closed loop recycling is the best - this is where the packaging is recycled into the same type of packaging.  Glass is an example of this.  Provided the glass is separated and uncontaminated this process can occur.  How the glass is collected for recycling affects this of course.  For those of you who remember the days of glass milk bottles, you will recall that before they were melted down and remade into new bottles they were collected and refilled many times.  A far more cyclic process then the current system.

Today our plastic milk bottles (produced from oil) are largely collected at kerbside for recycling, they are packaged up, shipped to China and downcycled into another product (which may or may not be recyclable).    

In Europe PET bottles (that is your Coca Cola bottles for example) are collected and refilled up to 17 times prior to being recycled -  a definite improvement on single use as it is in New Zealand, however this is still an oil based product (and oil as a resource is limited), and there still a product to dispose of at the end of the day. 

Paper of course is readily recyclable, but because it loss strength over time, it eventually needs to be disposed of.  However, because it is essentially a natural product it can be readily ans safely composted (provided no toxic print ink is used - many are vegetable based these days). 

They explained some definitions during the seminar.  I thought these would be useful to be recorded here:

• Bioplastics: Can be made from plants and/OR biodegrade at the end of life.  So you can't be sure that a product that states its a bioplastic is actually plant based.  It could be oil based and degradable which has significant issues in itself.

• Biodegradable - Capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms and therefore avoiding pollution - but the time frame could be anything from weeks to months to many 100's of years or more.

• Compostable - doesn't always mean its compostable at your home or in the system your town uses.  There are many different types of industrial composting.  Take for example Envirocomp who specialise in composting disposable nappies.  They can do it with their system, but it couldn't be done at the main Christchurch city composting plant nor at home.  So you need to ask the question - where can the product be composted, how is it composted, how long does it take and how likely is the packaging will actually make it to  the appropriate compost system in the first place.  Two examples here are potatopak which is compostable in your home compost bin and cafe prima coffee compostable coffee bags which can't be composted at home, but can be in some industrial composting plants.  Have a think about those products and whether they are likely to make it into the compost.  Remember that we don't want compostable things at landfill, as breakdown causing leaching and release of methane gas (which is captured at larger landfill sites but not the small ones and doesn't of course discount the leaching problem).

• Degradable plastic bags - we've already done this to death, but just to confirm, they have many problems.  All that has been done to this oil based plastic is that it has had additions added to it to make it weaker and therefore break into small fragments when exposed to heat and light.  These fragments then get into the soil/water and potentially contaminate it.  We don;t really know what happens next out in the environment and they certainly don't break down like they say they will in landfill.  Say NO to these bags and tell the businesses why, because they probably have no idea and thought they were a good option.  You may be interested in watching this Fair Go report on these bags.  

The questions you need to ask about packaging are:

1. Where does it come from?
2. What is the story around it? In terms of how is it produced, where and so on
3. What happens to it at the end of life? For example you might choose packaging that can be composted but it is only composted in a small number of areas in the country therefore it will mostly end at landfill or if it is a product purchased and eaten on the run and therefore will end up in a kerbside bin.  Talk to the people that work in composting and recycling to find out more. 

You can read more on Smart Packaging here.

Image source: www.idealcup.co.nz

IDEAL CUP

Quoted from the website "New Zealand's first reusable, 'barista grade' takeaway cup designed & manufactured right here in Aotearoa!" http://www.idealcup.co.nz/

There are lots of these now available but at the time of writing this is the only one designed and manufactured here in New Zealand, and while there is nothing essentially wrong with the others, the local design and made is of huge benefit to reducing its footprint.   

While reusable coffee cups can be recycled (or composted) depending on the cup and where you are based, because most of these are purchased and disposed of on the run they generally end up at landfill.  

CHALLENGE

I challenge you to make your workplace, home and leisure time disposable coffee cup free!   If you are a coffee drinker, purchase an "Ideal Cup" and support New Zealand - design, manufacturing, and play a part in reducing waste streams that  currently end up at landfill. 

Have a great weekend

Francesca

Wool

Image source

What has inspired the topic this week is a short segment I read in the latest 'Good' magazine about the biodegradable qualities of wool.  (Woolly Thinking, pg 66).

They mentioned that at the end of a wool garments life you can bury it (at the right depth as we know from last week) and it will be gone in a period of a few short months compared with a synthetic fabric which will still look the same many years later. 

Here is a link to a blog on Wool Fabric - it outlines the qualities of wool quite nicely and the reason why we should consider it over synthetic counterparts.  Wool may cost more, but in the long run it lasts much longer. 

Image source

Of course not all wool is equal, because if we look at the whole cycle of the fibre it would be ideal to satisfy ourselves that the farming practices for the sheep are humane and sustainable, right through to production of the garment and its eventual sale.  In addition that the dyes used are non-toxic and biodegradable.  However, just purchasing wool over synthetic is a great starting point to improving sustainability of the garments we purchase and wear. 

Next time you go to choose a garment  - consider natural fibres such as wool over synthetic fibres and if the information is available, choose NZ made, from NZ sourced fibre if possible and from a company with good credentials when it comes to sustainable practices. 

Perhaps next time you are involved with changing your workplace uniform, you could also consider these principles and see how many you boxes you can tick towards a sustainable long lasting fantastic looking uniform too!

Have a great weekend

Kind Regards
Francesca

At the end of life

Perhaps a morbid topic but it affects all of us - human or animal and at the end of life we should consider what happens to us and how we can have the lowest footprint as possible. 

What stimulated my thoughts on this subject, was an article in The Press Newspaper magazine "Weekend" last weekend.  It got me not only thinking about the instructions in my Will but also thoughts about how to deal with animals as part of my preparation of a talk for conference on our future.

There are 3 options for humans, although only the first 2 are currently widely available:

• Traditional Burial
• Cremation
• Natural Burial

Traditional burial involves embalming with toxic fluid - usually formaldehyde based, being buried in coffin that has probably been treated with toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde (eg. fibre board) at a depth of 6ft, which is an place in the soil where there are no worms or bacteria to cause breakdown.  It also involves taking a piece of earth forever, when pieces of land are scare and will get scarcer.  Cemeteries leach lots of toxic chemicals which need to be managed, including mercury from mercury fillings.  Of course the clothing and jewellery worn can also release toxic chemicals on eventual breakdown too.

Cremation still involves a coffin and embalming to allow the family to spend time with the body and for the funeral to be delayed while family arrive, often from far and wide.  While it doesn't involve the permanent taking of a small plot in most cases, cremation involves burning at high temperatures, resulting in the emission of toxic and greenhouse gases. 

Natural Burial is the emerging alternative in New Zealand, and is widely available in many countries overseas.  Choosing not to be embalmed, or embalmed with biodegradable fluids, meaning that the funeral needs to take place soon after death (around 4 days for the unembalmed body).

The coffin needs to be of natural no treated products such as wicker or untreated pine caskets and be lined with natural biodegradable fibres such as linen.   

Available in New Zealand, Image source: http://gbweekly.co.nz/2010/1/27/business-natural-burials-and-copy-lathe

Available in the US. Image source: 
http://natural-burial.typepad.com/coffins_and_urns/2009/11/arka-ecopod-recycled-paper-coffin.html

The person who has died needs to be wearing natural biodegradable clothing and no jewellery or trinkets to avoid toxic chemicals being released.  The burial occurs at a depth of 1 m - the place were bacteria and worms  can do their thing and return the body to the natural system.  Ideally native planting occurs over the burial site and eventually the whole area is allowed to regenerate to native bush.  After 10 years everything should be gone except the bones, and after another 10 years, the bones should be gone too.  The only reminder of who was there would be a GPS coordinate.  Reading about it made me feel quite good - that at the end of life I wouldn't be a burden to the earth if I did this. 

Click here or more information about natural burials in New Zealand

For animals there is cremation and there is burial.   We don't really distinguish between natural burial and traditional as we don't embalm. From my experience cremation is the option we seem to favour, however perhaps its is a proper natural burial that we should be catering for.  

Natural burial is unlikely to be possible for every person to achieve in their own back yard due to small second sizes, older owners and also the need of some clients to carry the ashes with them as they move around.  But some quality education about the pros of natural burial, some provision for natural burial plots for animals, whether that be on the property of the veterinary clinic (which may work well for large rural veterinary clinics), or some other area (perhaps the council could provide it or it could be an income stream for a life style block) combined with some attention to detail such as what we bury the animal with (caskets/collars, soft toys and so firth), the depth of burial, and what we plant over our pet would allow us to ensure the burial was as natural and with as lower footprint as possible. 

Source: Weekend Magazine, Fairfax media.  4th and 5th May 2012.  Article called: Natural Options by Tracey Cooper. 

Washing and Drying

This week, after our dryer broke down a couple of weeks ago (and I admit my weakness to this piece of machinery), I decided to take a close look at what I was doing and why.  This thought process can be applied to both your veterinary workplace and also to your home to improve your energy efficiency quite simply as well has having the effect of nice fresh smelling washing, that has been sanitised in the sun!

The new portable washing line

Firstly my washing line is in the wrong place - its too hard to get to and in autumn/winter its only in sun for 2-4 hours a day.  Initially I thought - I am just going to put a washing line across the top of our patio - one that can be hidden but NO - my husband was not having that, so we have compromised and I have purchased a portable collapsible washing line that mimics a "hills hoist".  Rather than using the stand supplied with it, which is a bit light weight, I put it in our heavy umbrella stand.  This can be dragged around the sunny patio as needed and gets sun nearly all day even in mid winter.  it can then be collapsed and easily put way.   It's not so great for sheets and towels, but if I stagger the washing of them it will work, or I can still put them on the original washing line.  The other thing I can do with this line is bring it inside overnight to finish nearly dry washing in front of the fire. 

Secondly I looked at the time of day I washed.  I was putting washing on at dinner time/kids bedtime and it finished at a time I was still up, so rather than wait until the morning, I'd just pop it in the dryer, so now  I put the wash to go on late at night, when the forecast is good the next day, then it can be hung out before work and ready to come in at days end.  

Thirdly I looked at the washing I was doing.   I am now far more careful to check over the kids clothes and not just put them in the wash for the sake of it, so less washing is building up.  I am also finding that the recent clothes that I have purchased from NZ clothing manufacturers actually don't seem to need washing as much.

Clothes dryer - now seldom used

Yes we did purchase another dryer - second hand, reconditioned but it has 2 features which make it a little more efficient.  One is that it sense the load for dryness and 2 is that it has reverse tumbling which improves the drying as the sheets especially do not get in a knot.  The good news is  that I haven't actually needed to use it yet!  And now we will not use it for totally wet washing.  We will now use it to finish off washing that is nearly dry and needed quickly, rather than for wet washing to get it completely dry.

In terms of your veterinary clinic situation some things to think about:

1. Look at the materials you are using for bedding and on surgery tables.  Change from towels for example which are heavy in the washing machine so you can't fit as much in and are hard to dry to something like polar fleece which is recycled, easy to wash, can get loads in the machine and it comes out nearly dry
2. Investigate where you are drying your clinic washing.  Could the washing line be moved to a more effective place?  Do you just need to install a washing line or replace it with one that is a better design?
3. If there is no space to dry it outside, could someone at work take a washed load home and hang it on their line?
4. If you are using a commercial firm to wash and dry your clinic bedding and so on investigate the company you use.   Are they energy and water efficient?  How far is it being transported?  Is there a more efficient,  local option?

I haven't really touched on the actual washing of the loads here -where oif course more efficiencies can be made by:

1. Using a water efficient washing machine - when you need a new machine make sure you select on water and power efficiency. 
2. Washing only full loads - even if your machine does half loads, it still takes the same amount of time so uses the same amount of electricity.  
3. Selection of the washing machine liquid or powder - beware of green-wash here.  You will probably need to dig deeper than what is on the packet to find out if it is truly safe and 100% biodegradable.  You should also look at the ethos of the company.  No point choosing a product that meets the criteria, but also produces other products that aren't, or one that produces a lot of toxic waste making the product.  Keep re-evaluating your choice here as other options become available. 
4. Collecting the waste grey water  - provided the washing powder/liquid you are using is environmentally friendly, this can be used on clinic gardens or used to run through your toilet system, saving water. 

Have a great weekend

Kind Regards
Francesca

Biodegradable plastics

I thought I'd touch back on this topic again this week, as I have learnt some more on biodegradable plastics.

Basically it accelerates the breakdown to years rather than hundreds of years but it still exists as microfragments.,  its just not the same visual contaminant as other plastics.  However it is still a major problem.  

This article provides a nice description of the difference between biodegradable plastics (made from petrochemicals and bioplastics.   

So biodegradable plastics are not the answer and we need to be looking for alternatives to these products where a cyclic process can be created.  In the mean time, say no to plastic bags, take your reusable shopping bags and where possible choose alternatives that are truly biodegradable to safe byproducts that can be used again or where there is a collection system for them to go back into use again.  

For those that are really interested in the topic of packaging, there is a series of free seminars this month on smart packaging which you may be interested in registering for.  Click here for more details.  They are being held around the country. 

Have a great weekend
Francesca

PS As you would already know from reading the links above, the plastic bag in my compost bin, remains as it was.  

Chocolate

Since its Easter and there is an abundance of chocolate I thought I'd post a very short and sweet posting today regarding Fair Trade chocolate or in particular the cocoa .  

A sustainable future is as much about the social aspects, as the environmental aspects.  

Read this link re: Fair Trade chocolate

So while you are out buying chocolate please consider the chocolate you are buying and try where possible to purchase fair trade chocolate.  

In terms of fair trade on other commodities, check out the Fair Trade website  - as well as cocoa; bananas, coffee, cotton and sugar are all common things we access that we should try to source Fair Trade products.  

Have a very Happy Easter.  See you all after the break.

Kind Regards
Francesca

Transport......................have a think about your choices

A little late this week on the blog!  I've just finished a 4 days stint on the Christchurch Year 2 distance veterinary nursing block course.  First time we've run that one in Christchurch for a few years - great to have it back!  

This week just some food for thought on transport.  The motivation for this topic was speaking with one of our lecturers, Steph Mann this morning and she said that she has started driving her daughter to school each day on her carriage.......maybe just like our grandma's went to school!

The road Steph lives on is too busy for her daughter to safely bike to school but Steph was feeling increasingly uncomfortable about doing the drive twice a day for pick up and drop off so she decided to take her daughter to school in style.  Not only does she save carbon emissions and get out in the fresh air, she also gives the children enjoyment at school as they rush to meet the pony and carriage. 

I personally have started biking to work on a Monday (this is the only day I work away from home most weeks).  I bike the 14 km each way to the veterinary clinic I work in every Monday, rather than driving.   A couple of weeks back I did take the car because it was raining, but the frustration I experienced being stuck in traffic will make me think twice again before not biking.  I can bike that 14 km faster than I can drive it!  And not only that but I am getting fitter and saving fuel therefore money and carbon emissions. 

Each day at my local school I am constantly astonished at the number of kids driven to school from a relatively short distance away  - there must be a better way. 

Am I saying this is what you should all be doing?  No definitely not, but the message is we should examine our transport methods.  We have blogged on this topic before, but I thought it was a good time to mention it again.

1. Could I walk? or bike? or ride my horse?
2. Do I really need to make the trip?
3. Could I save the jobs up and do them all at one time in a few days?
4. Do I have to drive all the way across town for that activity/haircut etc or is there a local alternative?  - I recently started getting my haircut locally rather than driving 40 odd minutes.  Saves time, money, petrol, carbon emissions all in 1 easy step!!
5. If there aren't local alternatives - is there a need in the community that we could meet by setting up the activity/service?
6. Are there other people near me that are making the same trip - could we share?
7. Is there public transport I could use?

At the polytechnic we are asked to ask the following four questions for everything we are doing.  I think they could equally be applied to anything we do:

1. Why is this being done?
2. Does it need to be done at all?
3. Why is it being done in this particular way?
4. Could it be done better?

 I look forward to your thoughts and comments!!

Have a great week

Francesca