BLOG IN A BOTTLE

Since February 2010, Kansas City couple Zach Noland and his girlfriend Meghan Sundermeier have been attempting to live a zero-waste lifestyle. And to date they have been very successful. One of the easiest ways they have found to reduce their waste is to take their own glass jars and reusable cloth sacks to their local whole foods store. The couple simply fill the reusable containers with the products they need. They also buy their milk in glass bottles which can be returned and refilled.

The glass jars and cloth sacks also provide handy containers around the home. Noland’s cupboards hold cloth sacks and glass jars filled with dry goods and cereal. There are no cans, plastic bags or other packaging in sight. Glass containers are also reused in the refrigerator to hold leftovers. In a typical week, the couple produce less than a handful of waste which must be disposed of in the rubbish.
Noland and Sundermeier were inspired to try a zero-waste lifestyle by Béa Johnson who runs the Zero Waste Home blog. Johnson’s blog contains a wealth of tips and recipes for anyone interested in reducing their waste. They include buying in bulk, shopping at local farmers’ markets, and using natural cleaning products such as baking soda and vinegar.

Johnson believes that to successfully live a zero-waste lifestyle you need to follow the 4R’s approach: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle only as a last resort. Of these, Sundermeier believes refusing excess packaging is the most important: “You have to refuse. That is the most important strategy. Refuse, refuse, refuse.”

Glass is the greenest packaging material according to a report by Chloé Hecketsweiler which was published in the French magazine L’Expansion late in 2011. Using five criteria (raw material cost, carbon footprint, recycling rates, impact on health and cost to consumers) Hecketsweiler sought to quantify which packaging material was the greenest using data relating the French market. Over all five criteria, glass packaging scores 17/25, well ahead of plastics at 13/25.

Glass Ahead in Recycling

On average, every French person adds 86 kilograms of household packaging to the waste stream each year. When comparing plastic and glass, Hecketsweiler notes that 75% of glass packaging containers are recycled in France, but that just 20% of plastic containers find their way to recycling centres. Hecketsweiler believes consumers find it easy to recycle glass as it simply needs to be sorted into clear and coloured glass. By comparison, there are many different types of plastic and it is impossible to treat each type in the same way.

Glass Reduces Emissions

Hecketsweiler notes that less energy is used and less CO₂ is emitted if recycled glass is used to create new glass. However, she bases her emissions calculation on the use of 100% virgin materials and does not take into account the major progress manufacturers have already made to reduce the weight of bottles.

A European Life Cycle Assessment for glass bottle production shows that, on average, every tonne of recycled glass saves 670 kg of CO₂. Increasing the amount of recycled glass in the furnace by 10% decreases energy use by 3%. When glass is recycled, there is no need to produce, process and transport the virgin raw materials or to transport them, so less fuel is used. Glass bottles can now be produced with up to 100% recycled content – infinitely. This is certainly not the case for plastics.

Glass is Healthy

An area where glass shines is in terms of its health properties. Bisphenol-A (BPA), a component of many plastics, has been found to disrupt the hormone system of human beings. Plastics can also contain phthalates or antimony. Baby bottles containing BPA have already been banned in the EU, and toxicologists have also raised concerns over the effects of phthalates and antimony. By contrast, glass is 100% inert – a major advantage for consumers.

Glass Protects Vital Resources

In terms of the expense of raw materials, Hecketsweiler points out that glass is made of natural ingredients which are found in abundance in nature. Glass container production efficiently uses resources and does not depend on oil. If renewable energy is available and secure, glass can be produced without the need for any fossil fuels.

By contrast, plastic is derived from oil. Around two kilograms of oil is required to produce one kilogram of PET plastic. Overall, the manufacture of plastics absorbs 4% of the world’s limited supplies of oil.

Glass Represents Real Value

While glass comes out ahead of plastics in most areas, the one area in which Hecketsweiler believes plastic can compete is price. However, her survey only covered two products in one French supermarket. As European consumers already know, most products are priced the same despite the packaging material used.

It is true that high quality products are often packaged in glass because it is the most reliable material in terms of taste preservation. Glass also guarantees a much longer shelf-life for the product, helping to reduce food waste in the supermarket and at home. That has to be good for both your purse and the planet!

UK supermarkets are misleading consumers over pricing according to an episode of the BBC’s Panorama programme aired in December. Panorama found that consumers were being charged more for larger ‘value packs’ than the equivalent in smaller packaging. For example, the BBC found a one kilogram pack of margarine spread cost £3.20 at one supermarket, more than double the cost of two 500 gram packs at £1.50 each. At another supermarket, the same 500 gram packages were £1 each, compared to a cost of £3.70 for the one kilogram ‘value’ pack.

All of the supermarkets interviewed denied deliberately misleading consumers. However, the BBC found 17 examples of this type of pricing within 13 kilometres of the presenter’s home.

The findings make the Friends of Glass wonder about the supermarkets’ claims that glass is more expensive than other packaging materials. Many UK supermarkets are forcing manufacturers to switch to plastics, citing the additional environmental cost of transporting glass. However, they simply ignore the total emissions over the lifecycle of each packaging material. When these are taken into account, glass is far ahead of the competition.

The supermarkets are also ignoring the opinions of their customers. A survey carried out by InSites and published in May 2011 found that glass remains the consumers’ preference for food and drinks. In the UK alone, the survey found that 64% of respondents choose glass packaging for a special occasion beverage. When asked why they prefer glass, 38% of UK consumers mentioned that glass preserves the taste of the food or drink better than other materials. Longevity of the packaged product was cited as a reason for choosing glass by 30% of UK consumers, while 29% mentioned that their favourite brands were in glass packaging.

Is glass packaging also your number one? Then let’s pass a clear message to manufacturers and supermarkets that glass packaging needs to come back and stay for good. Because it’s up to all of us to question policies and raise awareness on this issue. So time to send out some letters. Are you in?  :-)

Beatson Clark, a UK-based producer of glass packaging solutions, has launched a new website which showcases the health and environmental benefits of glass. The site is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to know more about how glass is produced and its environmental impact.

For Beatson Clark’s customers, the site showcases the glass bottle and jar solutions available. The company also offers a design service for clients who require glass packaging that will stand-out from the competition.

“Consumer demand for products packaged in glass is growing,” explains Charlotte Taylor, Marketing Manager for Beatson Clark. “With glass being 100% infinitely recyclable and totally inert, it is a healthy and sustainable product that helps to minimise the effect of packaging on the environment. We wanted our new website to illustrate these advantages so consumers and brand owners are more aware of just how remarkable glass is as a packaging form.”

One of the joys of the festive season is the array of yummy food that we get to try. But have you ever worried that your bin is as full as you are? UK website Love Food, Hate Waste estimates that 7.2 million tonnes of food are wasted each year in the UK alone. Reducing that to zero would save as much carbon dioxide as removing one in five cars off the country’s roads. The problem is so bad that the European Union’s Agriculture Committee has called on member countries to halve food waste by 2025.

One of the easiest things we can all do to reduce our food waste is to buy foodstuffs in glass. Why? Well firstly, glass containers are usually easy to reseal. You can just use as much as you need, refrigerating the leftovers until you need them. Glass is also impermeable to air, ensuring that any food you store in the glass container will be kept fresh for longer.

Websites such as Love Food, Hate Waste offer some fantastic tips for using up leftovers, especially at this time of the year. Why not try out their portion planner which makes an end to so much guesswork simply by suggesting how much to cook.  The True to Taste gallery on the Friends of Glass website also has lots of recipes you can try with leftovers. You can also submit your own suggestions via the Friends of Glass website or the True to Taste tab on our Facebook page.

“Anyone can do anything with a million dollars. Look at Disney. But it takes more than money to make something out of nothing, and look at the fun I have doing it,” Grandma Prisbrey.

Despite her hard life, it is easy to suspect that Tressa ‘Grandma’ Prisbrey must have been a lot of fun. In 1956, at the age of 60, Prisbrey began to construct a structure to house her collection of pencils in Simi Valley California. Made of glass bottles which she found at the local dump, the small building she constructed eventually housed more than 17,000 pencils.

That was just the beginning. Over the following three years Prisbrey constructed another 12 colourful bottle houses to contain her various collections (including one containing dolls’ heads). The result is now known as Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village. Prisbrey continued constructing with empty bottles, adding walls, wishing wells, sculptures and planters.

Grandma Prisbrey was enormously proud of the Bottle Village and happily escorted visitors on tours. She also began to find recognition as an artist and her works featured in a number of exhibitions. The Village remained Grandma Prisbrey’s home until 1982, when at the age of 86 she moved to live with her daughter.

In the early 1980s, the Village was declared a Californian state landmark. However, in early 1994 the Village was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake which caused serious damage. Despite being added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1996, funding for repairs has been limited and the future of the village remains uncertain. Yet it remains as a testament to the courage and willpower of an amazing lady who made something truly beautiful with nothing more than recycled glass.

If you’re around California over the holidays we recommend it as a must-see. Maybe you will hear Grandma Prisbrey whistling as the wind passes over the open bottles!

Canadian skin-care company Cocoon Apothecary makes “… skin and body care products that are as good for your skin as they are for the Earth”. The company’s delicate products are packaged in amber glass bottles to protect them from light and contamination. Glass was chosen as it keeps the products fresh and safe, and it is easy to recycle or reuse.

With customers across North America, Cocoon needed packaging that would protect the bottles during transit. However, founder Jessica Burman was conscious that the packaging should have as light an impact on the Earth as her products. The result is a paper tube that is made from 95% post-consumer paper.

The tubes have a luxurious linen feel, but they are 100% biodegradable, making them ideal for recycling or composting. As they mainly contain recycled paper, the tubes do not contribute to deforestation. Vegetable inks are used to print the labels, ensuring that no toxic substances are leached as the tube degrades. The ethical thinking behind the tubes really stands out and makes them true Friends of Glass!

Yoplait’s Saveur d’Autrefois  is a range of high quality artisanal yoghurts. Until recently the yoghurts were packaged in stoneware pots. However, an eco-design and life cycle analysis of the Saveur d’Autrefois brand found that the stoneware pot had a negative impact on the environment. Although it was popular with consumers and reflected the homemade and luxury aspects of the brand, the pot could not be recycled.

Yoplait began to search for an alternative packaging material that reflected the quality of the product, would keep it fresh and healthy, and that could be recycled. Naturally they selected glass!

Since October, the entire Saveur d’Autrefois range has been made available in painted glass pots which are fully recyclable. At the moment the glass pots are only available in France but we hope to see them in other European countries soon. Let us know if you spotted the glass jars already somewhere via our Friends of Glass Facebook page.

Thank you Yoplait for making a clear choice for glass!

Glass is Life™ is a global marketing campaign which was started in 2011 by the world’s leading glass packaging producer: Owens-Illinois, Inc. (O-I). Like the Friends of Glass, Glass is Life™ focuses the conversation on glass packaging and reminds people that glass is the purest, most natural and widely-preferred packaging container.

The Glass is Life™ website features some great video testimonials from ‘Glass Advocates’ including brand owners, CEOs, chefs, mums, environmentalists and designers. In their own way, each Advocate outlines the taste, health and sustainability benefits of glass. You can also join the Glass is Life™ conversation from the website and even download your own piece of virtual glass art. You can also get involved through the Glass is Life™ Facebook page.

The campaign was recently rewarded with an award for Best Integrated Campaign by BtoB Magazine. We from Friends of Glass were thrilled to hear about this great news and wish our colleagues from Glass is Life™ all the best with their upcoming campaigns and actions.

Just like Glass is Life™, we believe the future of packaging lies in the use of glass. Not only in terms of sustainability and recyclability, but also when we talk about food preservation and our health.

We see it as our mission not only to inform people about the dangers of certain packaging materials, but also to offer them a clear solution, namely glass.

Therefore we believe in a more practical approach. On our channels you not only find  great recipes and decor tips you can use on a daily basis, we also provide useful recycling and health tips and even a page where you can request a bottle bank to be installed in your area. There are also games where you can make music (from our German Friends) or pass a bottle to a friend.

In short, glass has so much to offer whether we’re talking about design, art, health, recyclability or sustainability. We, together with Glass is Life™, already believe in the future of glass and have made it our challenge to make this world a glassy place. Are you in?

It’s the European Week for Waste Reduction and the EU and member states are using the occasion to promote a range of sustainable waste reduction initiatives. These include actions to reduce paper and food waste and encouraging the development of products that can be repaired or reused.

Another theme in 2011 focuses on reducing the amount of packaging which goes into the waste stream. This is an area where glass packaging shines as it’s clearly not garbage if it is recycled correctly. You can find lots of information about glass recycling on the Friends of Glass site and test your recycling skills with our bottle bank test!

With the Week for Waste Reduction, the EU aims to create a pan-European action community. To gauge whether the initiative is a success, the community will monitor the amount of garbage going to landfill. The goal is to develop actions that will change people’s behaviour and make a real reduction in garbage.

One of the easiest things we can all do to reduce our garbage is to take out the packaging material! Some people might think glass is heavy, but have you ever considered the fact that glass can make your dustbin lighter?  Instead of including glass in your rubbish and making your dust-bin heavy, take it to your local bottle bank. And if you don’t have a bottle bank in your area, why not request one through the Friends of Glass site?

Below is a cute video that the Week for Waste Reduction team prepared to remind us about the need to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill