Here are today’s Friday Favourites – have a great weekend.

• Soccer World Cup and Nike’s recycled plastic jerseys – an estimated 13 million plastic bottles prevent from going to landfill – even New Zealand is wearing them.
• M&S Plan A leading the way on sustainable business – looking to extend the amount of clothing being recycled from 2 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes.
• Fake Plastic Fish discovers some biodegradable/compostable products are not so much.
• Loving the green design content from the  blog Re-nest especially this post.
• Creative paper recycling.
• Another clothing store is recycling its clothes here.

And don’t forget if you have old whiteware tomorrow is the national Fisher and Paykel whiteware recycling day.The first 50 people through the gates will receive a $150 voucher towards some new (more energy efficient no doubt) whiteware. Below are the details for Christchurch:

Fisher & Paykel Whiteware Recycling Day Christchurch details

Source: Flickr Trippykel

From the Ministry for the Environment site: approx 600,000 units of whiteware are sold each year, over half are imported into New Zealand. MfE estimates that whiteware could represent between 48,000 and 56,000 tonnes of waste per year (out of the estimated 80,000 tonnes of e-waste). Some is sold by second hand stores, some is recovered, crushed and parts recycled and others go straight to landfill leaching hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, brominated flame retardants and CFCs (in pre 1995 refrigerators). The MfE states that most whiteware is not ending up in landfill but being recycled (especially steel components) and that there are two Product Stewardship Schemes currently in operation by Fisher and Paykel and Electrolux.

More information on whiteware and a Product Stewardship Programme here.

Scoop article on the most energy efficient refrigerator from Electrolux here with top 10 tips on buying an energy efficient fridge.

Practical Action: When looking to buy a new piece of whiteware ensure it is the most energy efficient one you can buy (check for the Energy Star labelling – the most energy efficient fridges and freezers will have a blue energy star label) and check with the dealer you buy from that they can take your old one and that it will be recycled.