Shopping for jeans can promote sustainability in manufacturing.
Eco-friendly, sustainability, recyclability; all of these are words that describe what an Ordinary Environmentalist looks for when they make purchases. When it comes to clothes however, it is a bit difficult to make purchase decisions that are environmentally mindful, without going to fringe stores and buying 100% organic hemp t-shirts.
Levi’s® is launching a new line called WaterLess jeans this month. They figured out that they could save a lot of water usage by changing their manufacturing process. With this line of jeans, they are using ozone within their ‘softening’ stage to help reduce water usage.
OK…. what does that mean? According to Levi's website, that saves from 28-96% of water consumption, saving about 16M liters of water for this new spring season line. That is a lot of water – and that is for one product line, in one fashion season.
I am not, as an Ordinary Environmentalist, going to purchase jeans exclusively based on their environmental impact; I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.
I will however consider them, and as with any product with sustainable practices, it may be the tipping point for me to purchase it over other similar products.
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Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Caps Off!
What you may not know about recycling plastic bottle caps.
Is the rumor true that bottle caps from water and shampoo bottles are recyclable? The answer is yes, however if you are putting them in your recycle bin, they are probably not being recycled.
Paul Kallevig, Customer Service Representative from Allied Waste in Eden Prairie MN told me that I can put the caps in my recycle bin, and “Though they are not recyclable, they are made out of a chemical that floats when it is melted. Once the plastic is melted down they skim off the contaminants off the top.” That waste plastic is then thrown away. This explains why many recycle/waste haulers allow caps to be included in your recycling bin. Bad news is that it means those caps - or the melted globs are ending up in landfills.
The good news is that plastic #5 caps can actually be recycled by bringing them to any U.S. Aveda Salons. Just make sure they are clean and store them in a bag until you are ready to take them to the local Salon. Aveda is an environmentally conscious beauty products and services company and they utilize this recycled plastic into their product packaging.
Aveda has provided a handy reference sheet on what caps can be recycled. You can bring in any #5 rigid caps with threaded necks from shampoo, water, milk, detergent, flip top, and pharmaceutical bottles. Don’t include plastic pumps or non-ridged lids from things like yogurt and margarine lids. You will be surprised at how much plastic this adds up to in your household.
Aveda also has a school caps recycling program that looks easy for a group or individual student to introduce into their school.
If you want to see what one amazing, 11-year old student has done, check out his website dedicated to recycling plastic caps at: RecycleCaps.Webs.com
Now, just find your local Aveda Location, and incorporate an occasional stop during your regular errands.
Hats (or caps) off to Aveda for their sustainability initiative, and for every Ordinary Environmentalist who takes this little step to a better world.
Is the rumor true that bottle caps from water and shampoo bottles are recyclable? The answer is yes, however if you are putting them in your recycle bin, they are probably not being recycled.
Paul Kallevig, Customer Service Representative from Allied Waste in Eden Prairie MN told me that I can put the caps in my recycle bin, and “Though they are not recyclable, they are made out of a chemical that floats when it is melted. Once the plastic is melted down they skim off the contaminants off the top.” That waste plastic is then thrown away. This explains why many recycle/waste haulers allow caps to be included in your recycling bin. Bad news is that it means those caps - or the melted globs are ending up in landfills.
The good news is that plastic #5 caps can actually be recycled by bringing them to any U.S. Aveda Salons. Just make sure they are clean and store them in a bag until you are ready to take them to the local Salon. Aveda is an environmentally conscious beauty products and services company and they utilize this recycled plastic into their product packaging.
Aveda has provided a handy reference sheet on what caps can be recycled. You can bring in any #5 rigid caps with threaded necks from shampoo, water, milk, detergent, flip top, and pharmaceutical bottles. Don’t include plastic pumps or non-ridged lids from things like yogurt and margarine lids. You will be surprised at how much plastic this adds up to in your household.
Aveda also has a school caps recycling program that looks easy for a group or individual student to introduce into their school.
If you want to see what one amazing, 11-year old student has done, check out his website dedicated to recycling plastic caps at: RecycleCaps.Webs.com
Now, just find your local Aveda Location, and incorporate an occasional stop during your regular errands.
Hats (or caps) off to Aveda for their sustainability initiative, and for every Ordinary Environmentalist who takes this little step to a better world.
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