BS: 'corntainers' are good news

Subject: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: dianavan
Date: 10 Oct 04 - 09:56 PM

Finally, some good news. Capers, a local natural foods store, has started using a container made from corn that is biodegradable. They look just like clear plastic. They are made in Nebraska. Now this is a step in the right direction. If you do not have them in your area, start asking for them.

As one young woman said, "Rock and roll!

Maybe now they can figure out how to make cars out of it."

d

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 04 - 12:22 AM

This is very cool.

They already know how to make cars out of it. They've known how to make plastic from non-petroleum based plant matter for decades. But the petroleum industry was able to provide the raw material for the production of plastic more cheaply than the alternative sources (corn, soybeans, etc.) for a long time, so nobody paid much attention to the alternatives until fairly recently.

Of course, pretty much nobody in the US was factoring in the hidden costs (paid by US taxpayers, not by the petroleum industry) inherent in securing oil supplies (wars, supporting puppet regimes, etc.) in other parts of the world until fairly recently either. So petroleum has probably been a lot more expensive as a raw material for plastic than we thought back in older and seemingly simpler days.

I don't know what the rest of the world's excuse is.

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: Peace
Date: 11 Oct 04 - 12:53 AM

Good post, D. I am hoping that stores will begin to get away from plastic shopping bags. They were for a while, but it seems as though people have given up trying to save this place. Almost like we want to use it all up before the next generation can have any. I wonder how much of a role media plays in that little scenario?

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Oct 04 - 02:00 PM

What's wrong with brown paper bags?

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 04 - 02:12 PM

They were saying, not too long ago, McGrath, here in the US at least, that paper bags take up a lot more room in the landfills than plastic. I tend to save paper bags and use them for other things, plastic as well, actually. But it got to be a bit confusing for people to try to figure out which kind of bag was worse for the enviornment. If the corn bags are bio-degradable, I might consider putting them in my compost pile or using them for mulch.

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: dianavan
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 01:23 AM

McGrath - Nothing wrong with brown paper bags except they are made of trees. They do compost eventually but then who know what chemicals they contain.

Vancouver has a very successful (and cost effective) recycling program. Householders separate their garbage - paper, paper products, plastic and glass. The city picks it up and actually makes a profit recycling it. They will also pick-up yard waste (leaves, branches, etc.) and compost it for you. The schools recycle juice boxes. This is not new and participation is very high. Why don't other cities use Vancouver as a model? Just lazy I guess.

Carol C. - Apparently corntainers do take a little longer to break down and garden composting is not recommended. The store that uses them suggests that you wash them and bring them back.

d

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: open mike
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 01:37 AM

hurray for those cornhuskers...

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 01:49 AM

This is good news. I spent one summer up in Juneau Alaska teaching a bunch of kids drama, and our course study encompassed a host of different enviornmental issues, as it happened soon after the Exxon Valdis disaster.

One of the childrens' mothers, after the classes ended, came up to me and said her child had been made so aware of the amount of trash accumulated by the family (I had them bring in a weeks' worth of packaging from everything the family had used and discarded) that she no longer let her take plastic bags from the grocery, but came shopping prepared with their own carrier bags.

Another parent told me her child didn't want to go to McDonalds anymore because of their use of styrofoam. She was shaking her head and smiling as she said this, as if it was the first time (and I have a feeling it was) that her son of 13 had shown any interest in anything other than himself in his life.

Both of these discussions were so heartening to me. The younger generation is open and willing to see and understand the necessity of change. But they need the adults to show them the way.

If we have any responsibility to the continuation of this planet we have so sorely missused, it'ss in the teaching of our young along with being our own best examples.

Recycle, Reuse, Remember!!!

OK, sermon over. Now I'll chomp on some corn containers..

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 08:26 PM

The thing that annoys me (well, one of them) is when you buy something so solidly wrapped up in plastic you have to use a hammer and chisel to get it open. Or at least a strong pair of scissors.

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: dianavan
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 08:49 PM

Especially hardware, McGrath!

I get so annoyed when I have to buy nails and screws in blister paks. Packaging plays a big role in what I purchase and where I purchase. When you begin recycling, you start looking at the packages as utter waste. Once you start separating your garbage, you become so much more aware of how much you generate and you begin to cut down whenver you can.

d

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: GUEST,peedeecee
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 08:53 PM

I enjoyed the post above about the school children, as it reminded me that my husband and I, who are avid, fanatical, nagging recyclers, got started on it by our daughter, when she was 11, and came home from school full of information on recycling.

We are now down to one plastic shopping bag of garbage per week. Everything else gets recycled, and that just makes sense, doesn't it?

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: Sorcha
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 09:22 PM

I just buy what I can find out here in the Toolies and only recycle the beer cans. I know Iz bad.

Subject: RE: BS: 'corntainers' are good news
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Oct 04 - 09:38 PM

Sometimes the cost of the packaging is more than the cost of the product. Many years ago, at a food co-op I used to belong to, another co-op member brought in a bay leaf can she had bought at a regular grocery store (now empty of bay leaves). First she weighed the empty can. Then she put as many bay leaves into it as would fit. Then she weighed the can again to find out how much product she was buying and how much she should pay. The price was figured by number of cents per ounce. The can weighed the same amount empty as it did full. The cost of the product at the original grocery store was probably mostly the cost of the can and the cost of transporting the can.

Not buying over-packaged products is definitely another good way to help save resources.