I have been blogging about alternatives to plastic for almost two years and I have hardly ever mentioned hemp. It’s not because I haven’t looked into it as an alternative material. It’s partly because the body of information online is sullied with the unfocused ramblings of stoned slackers. It’s mostly because I sometimes publish unfocused ramblings and I don’t want my mom or anyone else to incorrectly assume that I am a stoned slacker.

Hemp was actually displaced by other natural fibers before plastics like nylon and polyester were invented. During the Industrial Revolution materials like wood pulp, cotton, jute and manila were found to be more suitable for large scale mechanized production of paper, textiles, rope and other products. Technological advances also meant that rope ceased to be as vital to commerce as it once was. When the US government used a tax law to prohibit hemp and marijuana in the 1930s, there was no strong lobby to oppose the move.

Hemp does have some unique attributes. It is fast growing and dense. This means that herbicides are not required for hemp production. The length and strength of its bast fibers are actually a significant stumbling block because they make it difficult or impossible to retrofit existing processing facilities. Canada has fostered a fledgling hemp industry since the 90s and the biggest problem has been the risk of oversupplying the market for the fiber. Basically, production is infinitely scalable while processing and market demand are not.

Hemp should be part of the solution to the plastic problem, but my opinion is that it won’t be anytime soon because of logistics and more obviously because it is illegal to grow it in the USA.

There are some good hemp products on the retail market including reusable shopping bags. The information on this organic hemp products website suggests that many hemp products are made in China where they are processed using toxic chemicals and manufactured using unfair labor practices.

Update: I went back to this topic this afternoon and found a few websites belonging to large technologically advanced hemp processors. They make some pretty interesting products including auto components. With all the recent concerns about plastic auto parts off-gassing into the interior of new cars, hemp might find a niche in this industry.

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Heather Timmons of the NYT recently went to a plastics convention in India and came away with some choice words from the people whose livelihood depends on the market for plastic shopping bags.

“Politicians have gone overboard. Our industry is facing a problem and we have to fight.” – Arvind M. Mehta, president of the Plastindia Foundation

The plastics industry is fighting back against efforts to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic shopping bags. Lobbyists have managed to convince various levels of government in the US and elsewhere to table bag bans and bag taxes. They also want to influence public opinion. PlasticsIndustry.org has a page devoted to dispelling what it terms as myths related to plastic bags. I am going to devote one blog post to each of the ten myth-busting efforts.

I don’t have that much to say about this one. The wording of the myth is kinda silly. As far as the facts go, compostable plastic is a completely different substance. I think you can essentially call San Francisco’s law a ban on plastic bags. Sources like AP, the NYT and MSNBC call it a ban.

I will hand it to the plastics industry, their arguments are effectively spurring many government into inaction.

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First things first, I think that the vast majority of the 44% of Americans and 30% of Canadians that own dogs shouldn’t. That is simply too many dogs. Many of them are left alone all day and develop separation anxiety. Many of them are purchased for children who quickly lose interest in their companion. In my opinion, the best alternative to using a plastic bag to pick up dog poop is to never get a dog in the first place. If Barack Obama hadn’t made a promise to his kids, I would have been busily advocating for a pet free White House. I just recently had a talk with my kids explaining that we were definitely not getting a dog. When my kids were much younger, we did own a black lab-like mutt that came from the SPCA. Buddy lived a great life with us until his epilepsy became untenable and I made the decision to have him put down. When I lived out in the country, it never crossed my mind to pick up after him.

Not picking up after your dog at all is an alternative to using plastic bags. If you live out in the country this might be the logical choice. If you live in a community with strict laws and/or entrenched social norms related to dog poop it might be a bad choice.

If you have a dog already and have a legal, moral and/or social obligation to pick up dog feces, you can get biodegradable poop bags. They are made from corn and degrade completely in just a couple of weeks. I can think of one thing that would make this product better. The compostable plastic industry should come to some kind of consensus about labeling so that their product won’t be confused with regular plastic. I know some people who used to get really mad when dog walkers would toss a plastic bag of poop in their municipal compost bin. The workers would see the plastic and refuse to empty the bin. I think these black compostable bags would cause the same problem.

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Green used to mean money.

More recently, green has come to mean environmentally responsible.

Once enough consumers started shopping with the environment in mind, there is an ever increasing overlap. Companies are falling all over themselves appealing to concerned consumers.

The term Greenwashing is about 20 years old and these days it appears that the majority of marketing is guilty of this practice. Some of it is easy to recognize, like British Petroleum’s transformation to Beyond Petroleum.

Other misleading or irrelevant marketing may fool even the smart people. I am still undecided about the hosting company that professes to use solar and wind power. I am not naming it because of my indecision. I bought their marketing hook line and sinker and I even joined an affiliate program because I planned to talk it up on my blog. When I sat down to do the serious research on the company, I found a lot of negative word of mouth. They are either a very mediocre web hosting company that decided to greenwash as a way to attract a niche market OR a legitimately green web hosting company that is tragically lacking in customer service and reliability. Either way, I am not recommending them.

I think that one of the catch 22s of green marketing is the fact that many environmentally conscious individuals are skeptical of ALL marketing. If you create a product that sells itself by virtue of its greenness, you have it made. Otherwise, you have to market to people very carefully.

The FTC has some pretty clear policies when it comes Environmental Marketing Claims. Other agencies and organizations have some very strict rules and auditing procedures for companies that want to call their products organic.

Organic is practically a brand. It is instantly recognized as a good thing and it has a lot of brand loyalty. This is a good thing for people with something truly organic to sell. Unfortunately, there is a lot of counterfeit Organic on the market. That’s where third party auditing and certifying comes in. It is an added cost and inconvenience for business, but it is necessary.

Scot Case, president of Terra Choice Environmental Marketing Inc., recently told a journalist that buyers need to do their homework and check out a company’s environmental track record when it comes to green products.

Sources for this post:Palm Beach Post, FTC Website

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I look for news about plastic reduction regularly. Today Fox is talking about how ConAgra, the makers of many different brands of TV dinners is making a change to recycled trays. This should result in 8 million fewer pounds of trash.

Convincing consumers to stop buying these convenience meals would have a much bigger impact. Making meals from scratch is almost always cheaper and more nutritious than a TV dinner. There is this thing called a sandwich that can be created, stored and consumed without the use of plastic.

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This blog is about reducing our personal consumption of plastic. So far, it has been a hodgepodge of old ideas and new ideas. Old ideas can make a lot of sense, most of the time. Plastic has only become a ubiquitous part of our lives in the last few generations. Before that, other materials were doing just fine at meeting our needs… or were they?

You need to be very cautious about antique items that contain dangerous materials like lead and mercury. I would suggest a ‘better safe than sorry” approach with regards to old cookware, utensils and serving dishes. Even decorative antiques can pose health risks. Looking into the issue of lead poisoning was very depressing for me. I did not know that a proposed ban on lead paint went before the US House of Representatives in 1910 and that it took 68 years before the Consumer Product Safety Commission eventually banned it. Over 4000 tonnes of lead paint had been slapped on walls and toys and various other things in the interim.

I wonder if the push and pull related to chemicals leaching from plastic drinking containers will drag on that long? Actually, I am certain that it will not. Things move faster in the information age. Several companies removed products containing Bisphenol A as soon as the issue started making headlines. Interestingly, I think the scandal about lead in products made in China may has sensitized the media and consumers in such a way as to catalyze the reaction to Bisphenol A.

Another depressing issue involves the modern low watt light bulb. Al Gore et al. want to ban incandescent light bulbs in homes. The present alternative is a CFL that contains mercury. They also contain more plastic than a typical incandescent bulb.

Proponents of these efficient bulbs say that the fact that they contain more hazardous materials and the fact that they take more energy to produce are more than offset by the energy savings. I am worried about the environmental impact of their production because they are presently made in China. I am also worried about the mercury. There have been advances, with some bulbs having 1/5 the amount of mercury of typical CFLs.

I have personal experience with cheap CFLs that did not have the long life that is touted by their promoters. The answer might be higher standards. Right now, they are trying to compete with standard light bulbs. When legislation kicks in this will be less of an issue.

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First off, I want to welcome a new blog to my blogroll… Plastic Bag Watch is a very focussed blog dealing primarily with banning campaigns throughout the UK. Here is a neat map that he used to show many of these campaigns:

View Larger Map

The most interesting post on this blog for me was a commentary on EU laws standing in the way of outright bans of plastic bags. I myself am quite perturbed that the EU is forcing Malta to stop requiring local beverage companies to use returnable glass. This will be a step backwards as far as I am concerned as the businesses will undoubtedly go for the cheaper plastic. This will only add to the already prevalent problem of litter.

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Bisphenol A is a chemical that is present in small quantities in liquids that are bottled using plastic. It is presently under scrutiny because of health risks, especially for children. The province of Ontario in Canada is studying the issue and a province wide ban is not off the table. Some private companies that are branded as green are not waiting for government action. MEC pulled plastic drinking bottles off the shelves long ago and Lululemon Athletica Inc. has acrylic bottles made without Bisphenol A arriving in 2008 to replace the plastic bottles that they are selling now. They have not taken bottles off the shelves. While studies are linking the chemical to problems such as infertility and cancer, manufacturers and retailers counter that consumers would never be exposed to dangerous levels of the toxin through normal use of their products. I’m having a feeling of deja vu … remmber the lead in the miniblinds last century?

Source:Canadianpress.google.com

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I have to admit that I lack insight with regards to the socio-economics and culture of this part of the World. I read the Wikipedia entry for Kerala and I am now fascinated with the place. The law related to plastic bags and food containers has a totally different rationale then other laws that I have discussed.

This state in India has had an epidemic of viral disease and scientists have pointed to mosquitoes as a major vector. One of the major breeding areas for these insects has been found to be in the shelter of discarded plastic containers. A new law is very broad reaching and severe. It will be interesting to see how effective the law can curb plastic use regardless of the reasoning. I hope that the law will help reduce disease.

News item: NewsPostIndia.com

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Authors of a respected book on infant care have come out against plastic baby bottles in the most recent edition of Baby 411.

There concern is largely related to studies on the effects of low levels of Bisphenol A on developing humans. The first year or two of a human beings life produces a lot of plastic waste. Much of it is created in the name of convenience.

I have a few tips for parents, but I want to preface them by saying that it has been over a decade since I have been up to my elbows in infant care.

Breastfeeding is good in so many ways. If you have reasons why you don’t plan to breastfeed, examine them carefully to see if they are valid.

Glass bottles are not perfect, there is a risk of injury in the unlikely event of breakage. When you think about how much childproofing goes into a baby’s environment though, there might not be anything hard to bang a bottle against.

If you find that your best option is to use plastic bottles go here to find advice on how to minimize your child’s exposure to the harmful chemical.

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