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Thursday, October 28th, 2010 by SophieR
O-I is a big company. Huge in fact. It is the leading manufacturer of glass products in the World. With 22,000 employees across 21 countries, it’s scope covers the majority of the globe.
The glass products have been designed for the food and beverage industry – to maintain the purity and flavour of the product within. The success of the company since it formed in 1903 has largely been credited to the fact that the Owens’ invented the automatic bottlemaking machine. This meant that production could increase and bottles of all shapes and capacity could be made. Something as simple as the shape of a bottle has so intricately worked its way into marketing, think Coca Cola, perfume, cosmetics – the shape of the packaging is almost as important and symbolic as the contents.
O-I have taken some leading steps in sustainability and resource responsibility as well. The company responded to the pressure that was being placed on the manufacturing industry to report on the life cycle of products. So O-I started the Life Cycle Assessment that demonstrated exactly what occurred from he extraction of raw materials to the reuse or recycling of the container. As with all LCA studies, O-I could then calculate the carbon emissions generated by each phase in a product’s life cycle.
This is the first assessment process in the industry that reports stage by stage carbon impacts – as there is little regulation requiring companies to fully report emissions.
The major achievement of the O-I life cycle assessment is that it takes into account remainder of the product’s life cycle – the transportation of finished products to distributors and retailers, use by consumers and reuse, recycling or disposal of material.
The benefits of having a life cycle assessment, is that O-I can now amend any practices at any given production or distribution phase – therefore making each phase far more efficient and environmentally friendly. For example, by establishing that recycling glass uses less energy than producing glass from raw materials, O-I was able to generate enough savings to completely offset the emissions produced by our finished goods transportation.
To read more about Owens Illinois, visit the website here. http://www.o-i.com/home.aspx
O-I is a big company. Huge in fact. It is the leading manufacturer of glass products in the World. With 22,000 employees across 21 countries, it’s scope covers the majority of the globe.
The glass products have been designed for the food and beverage industry – to maintain the purity and flavour of the product within. The success of the company since it formed in 1903 has largely been credited to the fact that the Owens’ invented the automatic bottlemaking machine. This meant that production could increase and bottles of all shapes and capacity could be made. Something as simple as the shape of a bottle has so intricately worked its way into marketing, think Coca Cola, perfume, cosmetics – the shape of the packaging is almost as important and symbolic as the contents.
O-I have taken some leading steps in sustainability and resource responsibility as well. The company responded to the pressure that was being placed on the manufacturing industry to report on the life cycle of products. So O-I started the Life Cycle Assessment that demonstrated exactly what occurred from he extraction of raw materials to the reuse or recycling of the container. As with all LCA studies, O-I could then calculate the carbon emissions generated by each phase in a product’s life cycle.
This is the first assessment process in the industry that reports stage by stage carbon impacts – as there is little regulation requiring companies to fully report emissions.
The major achievement of the O-I life cycle assessment is that it takes into account remainder of the product’s life cycle – the transportation of finished products to distributors and retailers, use by consumers and reuse, recycling or disposal of material.
The benefits of having a life cycle assessment, is that O-I can now amend any practices at any given production or distribution phase – therefore making each phase far more efficient and environmentally friendly. For example, by establishing that recycling glass uses less energy than producing glass from raw materials, O-I was able to generate enough savings to completely offset the emissions produced by our finished goods transportation.
To read more about Owens Illinois, visit the website here.
Tags: glass, recycling
Posted in Business & Sustainability, General, Other Sustainable Initiatives, Sustainability Resources, Waste Management | No Comments »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010 by Admin
Spring has definitely sprung. Some of us are suffering from hayfever, the daffodils are definitely up and it is feeling warmer (although changeable with a cold wintry blast coming through today). Friday favourites will be taking a break for a few weeks so enjoy these links and our past Friday Favourties until October.
- Bill McKibben talks to David Letterman here (via Good USA)
- Love this video from Toronto Chuck and Vince wanting your electronic waste (also via Good USA).
- MfE has announced another project that they are funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund – this one is all about turning sewage waste into a usable product. More Here.
- Love this innovative idea for regulating the temperature inside buildings especially offices and saving energy – green curtains from Kyocera.
- We have all known this for a while and eat we still occasionally eat one – Artist Sally Davies has photographed a McDonalds hamburger for 137 days and found it doesn’t age (via Good USA)
- Need more inspiration to take small steps to create a big impact – check out these great Glee videos – the Glee cast doing there thing and promoting important environmental and social messages. We love the battery recycling one and the library video.
- The Monterey Bay Acquarium in the U.S has developed a climate change video with the voice over from the great John Cleese.
- Localised waste management is one solution to the problem and Dunedin City Council is starting is recycling in public places this weekend at the Otago Farmers Market. There will be three stations each with an organics bin, recycling bin and non-recyclables bin (via Scoop).
- Satellite eye View – great photos of our home here (via the Guardian).
Have a great waste free weekend.
Photo Source via Derek’s Blog here.
Tags: 350, Bill McKibben, climate change, David Letterman, Dunedin City Council, earth, ewaste, Glee, green curtains, McDonalds, mfe, recycling, satellite, Waste Minimisation fund
Posted in Friday favourites | No Comments »
Thursday, August 19th, 2010 by Admin
 How to recycle your White and Yellow Pages We have just had our new 2010/2011 White and Yellow Pages dropped off today and I thought it would be useful to highlight how they have said you can recycle your old phone books. This is useful information for those who are not so sure what they should do. For those with less than 4 books you can put them straight into the Yellow top recycling bin. For those with between 4 and 50 books you can drop off a local transfer stations or eco depots. Any more than that and you can either directly drop off at an Eco Depot or contact a paper recycler directly. Not putting more than four phone books in your recycling bin will be most likely because they will be too heavy.
Good on the Yellow pages for providing this information. The next step would be to provide an opt out service for those of us who are happy to use the internet and reduce the amount of paper used to make phone books and phone books are made from recycled paper not from virgin pulp.
There are a couple of other ideas for what to do with old phone books on the Oily Rag website (scroll down to ‘P’).
Tags: eco depot, paper, phone books, recycling, transfer station, White Pages, Yellow Pages
Posted in Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010 by Admin
 Total ChCh Rubbish Sent to Landfill 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 Have you seen the new Waste Statistics page on the Christchurch City Council website?
The web page shows the following for the 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 year*:
- Organics collected from kerbside green bins – that’s a mix of garden waste and kitchen waste – approx 8kg per person per month (average) or approx 47,000 tonnes. It all goes here.
- Mixed recyclables collected from kerbside yellow bins – an average of approx 4kg paper and cardboard per person per month, approx 0.25kg of metals per person per month, approx 3kg of glass per person per month and approx 500g of plastic per person per month (on average). That’s a total of approx 41,000 tonnes of mixed recyclables collected for the year to June 30 2010. Mixed recyclables get processed here.
- The amount of rubbish collected from the red kerbside bins was approx 8kg per person per month or approx 37,000 tonnes total for the year.
- Both the amount of organics and recyclables are up but so is rubbish (from kerbside) – we are still producing more rubbish that is not recovered.
- But the total amount of total rubbish sent to Kate Valley Landfill (from kerbside wheelie bins, transfer stations and private and commercial waste operators) has dropped again this year to approx 170,000 tonnes down from 220,000 tonnes in 2009. This is great new but means we will need to update the waste counter on our website!
- Another important point to note from the waste statistics page is that it states that the Council will be carrying out a survey into the specifics of the waste still being disposed of as rubbish at transfer stations or going into the red wheelie bin. This will be important information as the more we now about what people are throwing away the more education can be tailored or new solutions found.
If you live outside of Christchurch in any of the other Canterbury districts contact your local district council for more information on the waste produced and going to landfill from your area or check out their websites:
- Timaru District’s waste here.
- Selwyn District’s waste here.
- Waimakariri District’s waste here.
- Ashburton District’s waste here.
- Hurunui District’s waste here.
- MacKenzie District’s waste here.
- Kaikoura Districts’ waste here.
*All numbers are approximations based on reading the CCC graphs from the webpage not actual numbers.
Tags: CCC, Christchurch City Council, district councils, Kate Valley Landfill, organics, recycling, rubbish, waste
Posted in Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 by Admin
Last week I posted about reducing waste to landfill through better work waste management systems and asked our readers to send in their new/innovative/creative waste management systems in their offices. My sister-in law happened across the blog post (cos’ she follows us on Twitter here too) and sent in the above photos and the following comment:
“At my workplace we have recently implemented a strategy which Crown Research Institutes have been doing for a while. In your office you get a large cardboard tray for recycling and a tiny wee box for rubbish. Then you have to empty these yourselves at one of the depots. Unfortunately we don’t currently have a strategy for organics, so the depots only have landfill, glass/plastic, and paper/cardboard. The cleaners no longer empty bins in our offices and only empty these larger communal bins.”
Thanks Nicola. This is a great example of in-office waste managment.
Tags: cardboard, diverting waste from landfill, glass, landfill, office, organics, paper, photos, plastic, recycling, rubbish, Waste Management
Posted in Business & Sustainability, Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action | No Comments »
Monday, July 26th, 2010 by Admin
 Simon Williams Our latest Green Collar Job Q&A is with Simon Williams. Now, we haven’t actually met (or interacted) with Simon (yet) but we have with Sue Coutts (from Wanaka Wastebusters) who passed on the Green Collar Job Q&A to a few of the people who work for Wastebusters and Simon is one of them. He is the Enviroschools Facilitator, Zero Waste Educator and graphic designer at Wanaka Wastebusters.
Education for sustainability is Simon’s thing. For the last 3 – 4 years he has facilitated EfS within the Lakes District of Aotearoa, New Zealand, with the local early childhood, primary, high schools, youth groups & community. He delivers the Enviroschools and Zero Waste Education programmes with passion, energy and commitment. Simon loves working at Wanaka Wastebusters, the dynamic and energetic way of working really suits. When he’s not immersed in EfS he uses his graphic design and photography skills to promote sustainable living to his community.
Simon is part of a growing number of people who are using their skills to further sustainable living ideals – thanks Simon for your answers!
1. What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
I try to minimise my waste, am conscious of home energy consumption, I buy quality products that I expect to last a long time.
2. How do you live more sustainably at work?
Print as little as possible, recycle and compost my waste, make the most of travelling, using the least amount of energy possible, promote sustainable practices to many people I work with.
3. What do you think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
That more, big and economic growth are best.
4. What makes you smile?
snowboarding, amongst many other things, and the colour yellow.
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People talking using only clichés and power terms, it tells me they don’t fully understand what they are talking about and it’s so ambiguous….grrrrrrrrrrrrr
6. What is your favourite colour and why?
White because it is a combination of every colour…….then yellow because it makes me smile
7. Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
2nd pipe at Treble cone……it’s so much fun
8. What’s your connection to SIFT?
I don’t have one
9. Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
I’ve had many favourite teachers, the ones who inspire me to change the way I think and question my staid opinions
10. What do you want to leave behind?
Inspiration
11. What do you think the future will bring?
Fun and lots of smiles on top of many heart wrenching tears
12. Who is someone you really admire and why?
Richard Feynman – One of the world greatest thinkers with the ability to communicate amazingly complex things with everyone in a fun and engaging fashion.
13. What is happening outside your window right now?
I don’t have a window right now.
14. What is your favourite breakfast?
Full English
15. What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Don’t talk to me in clichés
Tags: education, enviroschools, Green Collar Job, recycling, sustainability, sustainable living, Wanaka Wastebusters
Posted in Green Collar Jobs Q&A, Sustainability in Action | No Comments »
Friday, July 23rd, 2010 by Admin
Furniture is being moved around today in the office including the massive board table we bought last year being moved upstairs. Thanks to one of our trustees Dixon McIvor and his band of strong lifters! Hope they go okay moving the massive bits of glass! And the really early daffodils bought earlier in the week are still letting off a very spring fragrance and provide great loveliness throughout our working day as well!
A few great links have come our way over the past week:
Have a wonderful waste free weekend.
Tags: Bloomsbury life, Boris Johnson, carbon neutral, coat hangerse, gorilla gardening, Joanna Lumley, network, newspaper, Re-nest, recycling, reuse, Rubbish Free, waste free
Posted in Friday favourites | No Comments »
Monday, July 19th, 2010 by Admin
 Martha Stewart Living Test Kitchen Waste Station While catching up on some blog reading over the weekend I spied the above inspiring yet simple waste station in the test kitchen of Martha Stewart Living Omnidmedia in New York via Martha Stewart’s blog. You can just see that there are more bins on the other side as well. I love the Landfill sign “This is quit-zies no take backs” and that they have a bin for the chickens!
What is great about this waste station is that it works within the function of that particular work space – the test kitchen; it includes a bin for organic waste (for the chickens) as well as the other types of waste recycling or recovery. Not only does the signage fit with the MSL brand but it is also super simple and easy to see what goes where.
When it comes to reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill from businesses and organisations it is interesting to note two things: 1) Anecdotal research* suggests that household waste accounts for about 3.8% of all waste to landfill (the rest is commercial and industrial and construction and demolition) and 2) for some reason those who recycle at home may not necessarily recycle at work. This shows that our next step to reduce waste to landfill needs to come in the commercial and industrial and construction and demolition areas. And the first easy step is to set up easy and efficient waste management in your own business. For some this might mean they have access to council provided bins or bags for others this will mean hiring bins from independent waste management businesses. Know the types of waste you produce and what the best way is to 1) reduce it and 2) to recycle it.
Promote the benefits to reducing waste and installing an efficient waste management system to ensure buy in from all levels of the oraganisation. There will be benefits to the bottom line with cost savings for procurement (buying less paper) and waste managment (reducing to a smaller bin). Make it relevant to your staff, easy to use and understand and possibly a little fun with some good signage. Lots of internal communications on the hows and whys is important.
It is also good to consider all types of workers in your business and organisation and how they produce waste. If you have people that spend most of their time on the road install a couple of small bags in their vehicles to take the rubbish. Office bound workers can walk a short distance to a centralised waste station on each floor or house the waste station in the cafeteria or work kitchen. It is also important that those who empty the waste bins understand the importance of ensuring the right waste goes into the right bin that is collected by your council – don’t forget to talk to the cleaners too. You could even promote this to your customers, suppliers and visitors. Work with suppliers to reduce packaging, work with customers to move to less packaging for your own product or service and promote the waste management system to visitors so they know what to do with the waste they might bring with them (like lunch packaging!).
Recognition and awareness of the waste your business or organisation produces, reducing that waste and then moving to a long term efficient waste system will have benefits for the environment, for the bottom line and for your brand value.
Here are some other waste station ideas:
 MSL recycling centre  Recycling Frame from Matteria Shop via BLtd  Re-Nest Recycling Station  Recycle Bins from Lowes  The SIFT Office Waste System - Organics, Landfill, Recycling I have noticed that a lot of the links I have included are American based. There are some great New Zealand companies around that provide different bins for different uses for waste management and even just suping up some old cardboard boxes will do the trick. For Cantabrians try Agpac who stock Urba bins. You can get an organics bin like the one in the SIFT photo as well as great stackable bins for all your different waste streams.
We would love to see any creative or just plain practical office or business recycling. Send us your photos and we will post them here on the SIFT blog.
Images: MSL Recycling Centre, Matteria Shop Frame, Re-Nest Recycling Station, Lowes.
*From Richard Lloyd at Becon
Tags: agpac, commercial, construction, demolition, industrial, landfill, Martha Stewart Living, office, Re-nest, recycling, waste station
Posted in Pratical Action, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 16th, 2010 by Admin
 Bicycles for Recycling at Resource Recycling (ChCh) These weeks are flying by – soon we will be talking about how to have a waste free Christmas and summer holiday and feeling the heat rather than the cold! But, in the meantime here are some cheery mid-Winter links for your Friday.
- How to make your own magazine files – genius from Re-Nest.
- A treehugger article by Fred Pearce on the growing problem of consumption not population here.
- A possible solution to textiles waste from NYC here.
- Ideas for recycling old linen here.
- Green Investment Bank proposed for the UK reported by the Guardian here.
- New Waste Facilities Survey from the MfE here.
Have a Waste Free Weekend.
Tags: consumption, diverting waste from landfill, Friday favourites, green investment, landfill, linen, Re-nest, recycling, SIFT, the Guardian, Tree Hugger, waste
Posted in Friday favourites | No Comments »
Friday, July 9th, 2010 by Admin
 Levis Denim Insulation Source: Cool Hunting Here is the round up of favourite/interesting links we have found this week:
Have a lovely waste free weekend.
Tags: Fake Plastic Fish, Friday favourites, green buses, Green Party, Hungry Planet, landfill, Levis, plastic, recycling, Rubbish Free, SIFT, Time, UNTHA, Westpac
Posted in Friday favourites | No Comments »
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