No more plastic bags for IKEA

Back in February I wrote about how Whole Foods was "greenwashing" their consumers with their 100% Recycled Paper Bag initiative.  Well, no "greenwashing" for IKEA. 

Back in March 2007, IKEA set a goal of reducing its US store's plastic bag consumption by 50%. Thats from 70 million to 35 million plastic bags. At that time IKEA began to offer its consumer the option of buying a reusable bag for $0.59 or a plastic bag for $0.05, with all proceeds the company received for the purchase of their plastic bags over the past year going to American Forests, a non-profit dedicated to conservation, to plant trees to restore forest and help reduce CO2 emissions. 

Now one year later and IKEA has discovered that their consumers are not interested in plastic bags.  Over 92% of IKEA shoppers preferred reusable or no bags at all.  So as a result, IKEA will not longer offer plastic bags to their consumers, as of October 1, 2008.  So it is reusable or nothing!

"The success of this program truly demonstrates that our customers care deeply about our global home and that we can all work together to be sustainable and environmentally responsible." said Pernille Spiers-Lopez, president, IKEA North America.

 

IKEA UK went plastic bag free in June 2007.  Leave it to the Europeans to be way ahead of us. IKEA Australia stopped in December 2007.  

Way to go IKEA! Now can you get your products to last more than a year?

Organic Produce Delivered to Your Door

So now that I am committed to buying only organic and locally grown foods, in addition to limiting my families intake of process foods, I noticed that shopping has become more difficult and more expensive.  

The main supermarkets near my house are Whole Foods and ShopRite.   Although Whole Foods is widely considered the market to purchase your organic fruits and vegetables, I have discovered that only a small percentage of the produce sold there actually is organic.  Just yesterday I went to pick up some fresh produce and hardly anything was organic -- grapes, berries, tomatoes, garlic and eggplant, to name a few -- all conventional industrial produce. 

So through a suggestion of a friend, I joined Door to Door Organics -- an organic produce delivery service.  They offer customers different size produce boxes depending on your needs from the Itty Bitty Box that contains 4 fruit types and 5 vegetable varieties for $25.00 per week to a Large Box for $60.00 that includes 5-6 fruit types and 9-10 vegetable varieties.  I decided that I should start with the Itty Bitty Box and so far it is perfect. Every Friday I get an email from the company telling me what fruits and veggies will be included in my box which will be delivered the following Wednesday.  I have the weekend to decide if I want to substitute anything from the box from a long list of choices they offer.  I can also add additional fruits and veggies to the box.  

So far I love it.  We have fresh organic fruits and veggies all week. The company also tries their best to include locally grown produce as much as possible in addition they reuse the boxes and packing to limited the amount of materials they use. 

Organic delivery services seem to be a growing market.  Door to Door Organic has four locations: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado and Ohio River Valley.  A quick Google search for "organic delivery services" came up with dozens of companies all over the country.  Prior to signing up for a service, I suggest that you check all the companies policies and if they strive to buy locally and deliver with the least impact to the environment.  I noticed that one company in Austin, TX called Greenling Organic Delivery provides its customers with a reusable plastic insulated box and New Root Organics in Seattle uses reusable rubbermaid containers with lids. 

No matter where you live you should be able to find a local service in your area. However, for those of you who live in warmer climates, the other options are food co-ops and local farmers markets. And for those who live in Manhattan, even if the weather is bad, there are farmers markets all over the city that sell locally grown and organic foods all year round.

The truth about Whole Foods "new" 100% recycled bag initiative

In January Whole Foods announced that it would stop offering its customers plastic bags by Earth Day 2008 (April 22).  While I initially commended the company for taking such a great initiative to reduce our landfills and stop clogging our waterways of plastic, they are now proudly offering their customers 100% recycling paper bags.   100% recycled? You mean the bags are made from the paper we put on our curbside?  

Whole Foods, let's be honest. Yes you are a great company, and sell great products, but this claim is deceptive to your consumer who think of you as the authority on everything good for you and the environment. 

As child of a printing family, the 100% recycled paper bags now offered at Whole Foods got me thinking. Growing up, I used to go to my dad's printing plant and see paper scraps left over from the printing process being sent back to be recycled. This was standard practice.  

So when I went food shopping recently at Whole Foods and saw the paper bags, I had to question it.  100% recycled, really?  What percentage is really from waste from the consumer? Or curbside recycling?

Well, according a Whole Foods public relations representative, the recycled fiber content is 40% post consumer and 60% post industrial (waste).  She stated, "we (Whole Foods) are excited to be moving away from any virgin fiber materials in our paper bags."

Post consumer? Post industrial?  What does that mean?  Well, listen-up.  

Post-consumer waste is paper that has been purchased and used by the consumer (you and me) and recycled by the municipal and private sector recycling system -- curbside recycling. What we the public accept has the definition of recycled.

Post-industrial waste is otherwise known as pre-consumer waste.  It is the reintroduction of manufacturing scrap (trimmings from paper production) back into the manufacturing process. Basically it is the paper made out of paper trimmings and scraps left over from the manufacturing process. Just like I saw in my dad's printing plant more than 20 years ago.  

Pre-consumer, or as Whole Foods calls it post-industrial, is used in the manufacturing industry and in the traditional sense, is not considered recycled. For decades, pre-consumer paper waste has been recycled.  The paper was never marked recycled because manufacturers never got credit for it. But in the 1980's when the demand for recycled paper began to rise, producers began to claim pre-consumer waste as recycled fiber.  However, there had been no change in their manufacturing practices.   

Paper grocery bags are customarily made of pre-consumer (post-industrial) recycled paper -- from 40-90% of the material.  So in reality, Whole Foods is not doing anything new.  It is basically a "green" public relations stunt to make them look better in the marketplace.   This is a practice known as "greenwashing" and as a committed environmentalist, I find it a bit offensive.

Forty percent post-consumer waste, that is it?  A company like Whole Foods who has based their entire brand and position in the marketplace as being better for you, better for the environment, can do better or a least be honest about their claims.  Nowhere on the bag does it reveal any of this information.  

Come on Whole Foods, give us the Whole Truth.

To learn more about federal guidelines for the use of environmental marketing claims go to the Federal Trade Commission site.

Aluminum Foil: Reynolds vs. Recycled

For years I have been recycling my aluminum foil and pans. I assumed that they were made from recycled aluminum. Then I noticed that Whole Foods sold recycled aluminum foil. So I did a little investigating to see what aluminum foil is made of and the difference between the well known Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil compared to If You Care recycled aluminum foil.

I discovered that aluminum, unlike plastics, can be recycled over and over again without loosing quality. In addition, mining bauxite, the basic building block of aluminum, is very taxing on the environment. Additionally, producing new aluminum consumes a lot of energy per pound. Recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy to produce.

According to the EPA, there is 3.3 million tons of aluminum in the municipal waste stream, a.k.a. the landfill. That is equal to almost 100 million soda cans or 20 million rolls of recycled aluminum foil.* That is a lot of BBQing.

Reynolds, as boasted on their website, is 98.5% aluminum and "contains no recycled materials." Alcoa, the makers of Reynolds Wrap foil, is the world's largest producer of aluminum. On the flip side, If You Care is made of 100% recycled material aluminum.

How does the recycled foil compare to non-recycled in the kitchen? Well, you can definitly tell the difference in feel right out of the box. The recycled foil is much thinner, however, for cooking it made no difference. You can still cover your food the same way.

So do I like it? Would I recommend it? Yes, I'd recommend it. Its not as sturdy as Reynolds Wrap, but it does the job. And for me, the most important thing is the long-term impact of my buying decisions on the environment. So am I willing to forgo a bit of tensile strength in my aluminum foil for a better world? Heck yes. And you should too.

Recycled aluminum foil can be purchased online or in most supermarkets like Whole Foods.

To read more go to Grist.

*Calculated by my husband who is not a math wiz.