GreenWare™ Compostable Corn Cups.

03/22/2010 in green living. Leave a Comment
Tags: Add new tag, Biodegradation, Biopolymer, Business, Compost, Fabri-Kal, Water

So here I am, waiting to take part in a focus group and Im looking at my cup of water trying to decipher where exactly these cups they use come from.

The company that makes these cups is Fabri-Kal. (A Kalamazoo, Michigan based operation) The reason these cups caught me eye is because they say right on them, that they are 100% compostable and theyre made from corn.

But its not just cups they make! Fabri-Kal has an entire line of products dedicated to keeping it green for consumers. Ranging from cups to portion containers.

Here is a look at what Greenware^® is:

Greenware^® is:

• A line of disposable cups, lids and portion containers made from Ingeo™ biopolymer, a PLA resin derived entirely from plants – not petroleum
• Made from plant sources that are domestically-grown and annually renewable
• 100% compostable in actively managed industrial facilities, where available (click here for their compost facility locator)

For more info on Fabri-Kal’s Greenware^®, you can check them out HERE. They have a pretty comprehensive FAQ section and tons of free literature on the products, and how to get some for your own use.

Urban Biofilter Project Plants Bamboo Forests to Clean up Brownfields

03/15/2010 in green living. Leave a Comment

Urban Biofilter creates bamboo forests on brownfields that are fed with wastewater. The harvested Bamboo then creates income in areas that are otherwise neglected through sustainable bamboo harvesting and timber production.

A few more things you should know about bamboo are that bamboo is literally the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Depending on soil and climate conditions, bamboo can grow up to .5 – 1 foot a day. This makes bamboo an amazing renewable resource. One plant can be harvested many times without killing the plant.

A full bamboo grove can release 35% more oxygen than other trees.

Since it is a pioneering plant and can be grown in soil damaged by overgrazing and poor agriculture. Proper harvesting does not kill the bamboo plant, so topsoil is held in place, because of its dense litter on the forest floor it feeds topsoil, restoring healthy agricultural lands for generations to come.

Also, because of its wide spread root system and large canopy, bamboo greatly reduces rain run off, prevents massive soil erosion and keeps twice as much water in the watershed. Bamboo helps mitigate water pollution due to its high nitrogen consumption, making it a solution for excess nutrient uptake of waste water from manufacturing, livestock farming and sewage treatment.

Planting more bamboo to fill open spaces within cities could be hugely beneficial to our environment. Including the quality of the air we breathe.

Making the change.

03/07/2010 in green living. Leave a Comment

When starting to ‘Go Green’ one of the most troubling questions is always, “How”.

Here at chromagreen, we have a few answers that may help you in your first steps to making that change happen.

3 Things To Leave Behind

1. Disposable Goods – As this excellent graphic of a plastic spoon puts it: “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a place where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring it home, is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.” We’d like to see less disposable, junk items and more long-lasting, quality items in our consumer stream.

2. This Year’s Model – Of anything, really. From an updated cell phones to new clothes, much of what we buy during the year we don’t really need, or if we do, we can usually find it used. Buying new stuff is something we can do a lot less of and be much happier for it. Last Year’s Model suits us just fine.

3. Meat for Every Meal - Cutting way back on meat consumption drastically reduces your carbon footprint. Using the weekday vegetarian plan helps you easily reduce how much meat you consume, which will boost your health and your budget.

3 Things We Want More Of

Food is the most important part of our lives because we simply can’t live without it. Unfortunately, food in our society is also getting to a point where it’s tough to live because of it, so the first two things in our list of what we want more of has to do with food – the good stuff.

1. Affordable Local Organic Food – If we’re taking the positive step to leave behind pre-made foods, let’s keep the good forward momentum going buy replacing it with local food. The 100-mile diet is a version of this, but simply doing the bulk of your shopping at farmers’ markets will make a big impact.

2. Humanely Raised Meat Availability – Cutting meat consumption is a great step towards a greener planet. But what meat we do consume is usually raised in not only an environmentally harmful manner, but it’s also simply cruel. Humanely raised meat is tough to find - not everyone has a Polyface Farm nearby. We would love to see more availability of humanely raised meat so that when we do consume it, it’s healthier and we’re all happier.

3. Less Is More - From buying fewer things to buying only the best quality items that will last the rest of our lives, we want to see less be the new more. We’re getting there, though the economy has been a primary driver rather than a conscious mind-shift away from mindless consuming. Getting to that mind set and realizing that “more” does not equal happiness is vital to a sustainable world.

We hope this helps, and look foward to you joining us in making the change a global event.

Thanks to Planet Green for the original article.