Plant a Sneaker and Watch it Grow!

What do you do with your old sneakers? The maker of these shoes ask that you not throw them out but bury them in your back yard.

OAT takes biodegradable to the next level presenting not only a biodegradable shoe but one that will sprout a tree when planted. Dutch shoe company OAT debuted the first fully biodegradable shoe at Amsterdam's Green Fashion Awards and took second place. Made from canvas and cork, the materials are fully biodegradable.  Tree seeds are packed into the lining material so the idea is that when buried deep in the soil, a tree will emerge.

The Green Debate-Glass or Plastic?

There's a debate going on in the packaging world regarding whether glass or plastic is the better "Green" option.  Not just plastic but PET.  PET is wholeheartedly competing for glass business touting, "Anything you can do, I can do better"!

For a long time glass has been considered to be the better enviro-choice for your packaging options.  Glass is made from sand and can be recycled infinitely without affecting the quality of the product.  It's been in the recycling stream for ages and can be recycled and made into another bottle again. Same as it was before.  What people don't realize is that there are few glass manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and therefore it will likely not be made into a bottle again.  A good reason for this is even if a glass facility would like to purchase said recycled glass material, it is very heavy and uses much fuel to transport, oftentimes, defeating the purpose of sustainability.

PET on the other hand is very lightweight and therefore uses much less fuel to transport.  PET is just as common in the recycling stream and as of recently can also be purified to be suitable for food contact once again. PET is offered in as many if not in more colors than glass and is more cost effective. While glass is not a suitable choice for many bathroom packages as it can shatter and pose a risk for injury, PET is nearly shatterproof and therefore is the safer option for the consumer and reduces loss for the manufacturer. Though improvements are being made, PET will still break down and lose quality as it repeats its round in the recycling stream and must be downcycled. For instance, what was once a milk bottle is now a plastic park bench.  There are also barrier issues when it comes to plastic.  Some products can permeate or break down the plastic and PET will melt at high temperatures, making it useless for many sauces and juices that are hot-filled.  There are some Hot-Fill PET offerings, but options are limited and minimums are high. 

Many foods simply taste better from glass.

So what have we learned today? Clearly, there's no definite answer here and it seems to be entirely situational.  What is good in glass is not always good in plastic so perhaps they'll both always have their moment to shine.

Impressive "Can Do" packaging of 2010

Every month I come across packaging that’s received accolades for being pretty but I’m not interested only in looks…I judge on their special talents.  I’m interested in the most innovative, trick pony packaging.  Designers were busy in 2010 thinking of ways packaging could do more for you.  Some solve problems while others simply look to entertain….

Heinz Dip & Squeeze

Heinz tomato ketchup badly needed a redesign the moment it unveiled its original packet packaging in 1968.  The new design allows the user to pull back the film to dip or tear the tab to squeeze onto your food.  The package also contains three times as much ketchup as its predecessor. 

Thoughtful Spaghetti Packaging

Designed by Packaging student Neal Fletcher, this spaghetti package looks to assist in portion control.  Open one flap or all six to pour the desired amount of noodles into the pot. Less waste and the package can be re-used.

Greenbox Pizza Box

Designed by Eco Incorporated, the Green Box Pizza Box is perforated to create four serving plates.  The box then breaks down into a smaller box for leftovers eliminating the problem of smashing a giant pizza box with two pieces of pizza into your refrigerator.

Heatswell Coffee Cup

Scott Amron’s insulated coffee cup eliminates the need for a cup sleeve.  Pouring a hot liquid into the cup activates the blue mid-section to swell into a thick, cloth-like insulated grip band.  It's non-toxic, recyclable and biodegradable!

Tuned Pale Ale

As if drinking didn't already inspire amateur musical spontaneity, Tuned Pale Ale encourages it. Graphics designed on the label tell the user to drink more to play different notes.  Run your bottle cap along the parallel ridges molded into the side of the bottle and you have percussion.  Turn the wooden carton over and it doubles as a drum.  Get your friends together and you can start a band.


GGRP's Promotional Phonograph

GGRP’s brilliant album sleeve transforms itself into a miniature record player. Insert the complimentary 45rpm on the pin and spin with a pencil (or any pointed object). The folded corrugate amplifies the sound. The below video should give you a better idea of how it works:

Baby Carrots | Eat 'Em Like Junk Food | Extreme

Extreme Baby Carrots

We all know baby carrots. The cute little cocktail carrot served at a party next to cuts of broccoli and cherry tomatoes? Perhaps the neglected snack in your kids lunchbox.  No one expected baby carrots to be shot out of a machine gun as bullets into the mouth of a man riding a shopping cart over a cliff ending in a grand explosion!  It's all part of the new 'eat em like junk food' marketing campaign to make carrots a coveted snack.  With three new commercials and "extreme" junk food packaging the goal is to get people to grab them with the same enthusiasm they might a potato chip bag.  Oh, and Baby Carrots? There's an app for that.

Bioplastic? Where does it go?

Should I recycle it? Should I just throw it away? Send it to the compost site? Perhaps just bury it in my back yard? There's some buzz in the plastic packaging world about Bioplastics, PLA and the such. It's this new material that's made from renewable resources such as sugar, starch (potato, pea and corn), lactic acid, among other things. The real benefit, as far as I'm concerned is that it's made from renewable sources and cuts out the fossil fuels. It also decomposes….that's a good one. From the marketing standpoint, put biodegradable on the label and you've got gold! Let's face it, everyone's marketing Green these days and that can mean many things. Lighter weight packaging, biodegradable packaging, packaging that collapses to use less space in the landfill but I digress. There's a lot of question as to what the consumer is supposed to do when they need to dispose of this container made from bioplastic. Because it is so closely resembles plastic, they may be tempted to throw it in the recycling bin. Perhaps, because it claims to be biodegradable, some may think if they don't have their own compost bin, they should just throw it in the trash bin. Because there are so many different kinds of bioplastics, made from different materials, perhaps even blended with regular plastic (commonly Polypropylene) the rate of compost varies and can have very different results. There will need to be a new system for disposing this new animal. The consumer has made giant steps in the way they dispose of their waste. They sort their recycling, make trips to the compost site and litter is scarce. Humans can adapt, however until the systems are put into place, a helpful instructional label should suffice.

Here is one very helpful site http://www.worldcentric.org/biocompostables/bioplastics