BLOG IN A BOTTLE

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!

It’s almost Christmas time and here at the Friends of Glass we’re starting to think about what we will serve the family for our special dinner. One thing that is definitely off the menu is the chemical compound Bisphenol-A (BPA) which is found in many non-glass packaging materials.

It’s easy to avoid BPA – just use fresh ingredients wherever possible. And for those out of season treats, we will be using products that are packaged in glass jars and bottles. Sweet corn or garden peas take seconds to warm out of the jar and are almost as fresh and healthy as the day they were picked.

Too yummy to give

You can also try making your own accompaniments to the Christmas feast. Pack Nigella Lawson’s beetroot and ginger chutney into a Kilner jar and you have a delicious accompaniment to your Christmas roast, or a delightfully colourful gift for your food-loving friends.

While on the topic of Nigella, you should also try her delightful gingerbread stuffing. Much better than canned alternatives, it makes any Christmas bird sing! The bird will also need gravy, so why not try the US Breast Cancer Fund’s simple but yummy recipe? Vegetarians should substitute the meat stock with a suitable alternative and serve it with Simon Rimmer’s veggie Wellington.

And what do you think about a cream of mushroom soup, pumpkin pie or green bean casserole? And let’s not forget some homemade cranberry sauce. SafeMama shares her cooking tips & tricks on her blog.

There are loads of other yummy recipes on the Friends of Glass site and they are all BPA free! Why not add your suggestions?

Glass also adds class to the table!

Don’t forget the decorations – delicious healthy celebrations deserve an appropriate ‘glassy’ setting. Put out your best glassware and fill empty glass jars with a little sand and a candle to make a safe and cosy table decoration. Check the décor tips on Friends of Glass for even more inspiration. You can also add pictures of your festive tables to show us how glass adds class to your Christmas.

Looking forward to see your ideas

Craft breweries are popping up all over the place as beer connoisseurs seek tasty, locally produced alternatives to bland mass-market brews. For their part, brewers are seeking to craft a product from local organic ingredients that is more environmentally friendly and is better for you. Their aim is to create a sustainable local livelihood. However, increasing numbers of brewers are turning away from glass and choosing cans to package their brews.

One reason that is often cited is the light weight of cans. While weight is a consideration, the overall environmental impact of a packaging material should also be considered. And for brewers particularly, the effect of the packaging material on the taste and longevity of their products should be equally as important.

Let’s talk about taste first. Glass is the only packaging material that is exempt from the European Union’s regulations for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (known as REACH). REACH obliges industries to register any material or substance that might potentially be harmful for human health, and to duly inform citizens. Glass is also the only packaging material that has been rated Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration, a designation it has held since 1960.

Why? Because glass is the only packaging material that is completely safe for human beings over its entire lifecycle.

Unlike other packaging materials, glass has nothing to hide. Other materials require strip-mining to extract ores and need vast amounts of energy to process them. The main ingredient in glass is sand, a completely natural resource which is constantly being renewed by the action of the Earth’s oceans.

Most other packaging materials were only invented in the past 120 years. By contrast, the process for making glass has been around for more than 5,000 years, and it is relatively simple. And unlike other packaging materials, no toxic wastes are produced.

There is also a big difference at the end of the packaging material’s useful life. Most can be recycled, but their properties are compromised by the recycling process. This is known as downcycling, using a product to create a new product with reduced or inferior properties. However, glass can be recycled over and over again without losing its properties.

Almost every packaging material known to mankind is currently making the claim that it’s the greenest available. For consumers, those statements are sometimes difficult to verify. Thankfully regulators are starting to take note of these ‘greenwashing’ campaigns and are taking action against products that make claims which cannot be substantiated.There is no denying that other materials possess unique properties and they have a role to play in our world. But they often come at an enormous environmental and social cost. Is it really worth that cost to make beer lighter to carry?

We’re sure that when the first wheel was made, someone wondered out loud if it would work better if it was a hexagon shape. So it is with wine bottles. First we had plastic bottles, now someone has decided wine will be more environmentally friendly if it is delivered in paper bottles.

It’s a noble idea, but let’s just get one thing out of the way quickly – unlike glass and liquids, paper and liquids don’t mix well. That’s why the ‘paper bottle’ is actually lined with plastic. So your wine is not packaged in compostable paper, it’s really packaged in plastic which may contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) or other chemicals.

Glass is not a chemistry experiment

Glass wine bottles do not need plastic linings to keep their contents safe and drinkable. Unlike plastics, glass does not react with the contents of the bottle and no substances are leached into the wine. And in glass, the wine can stay fresh for many decades. A study by the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV) in Bordeaux, France, found that the flavour and chemical composition of white wine changed within six months of being packed into single- and multi-layer PET bottles, or a bag-in-a-box. In glass bottles, wine actually tastes like wine, not a chemistry experiment.

The paper bottle’s makers argue that their version is lighter than glass bottles and therefore it reduces emissions – particularly during transport. Paper is lighter than glass, even when it comes with a plastic lining. But weight is not the only issue consumers should consider. Research by UK-based resource efficiency experts WRAP (see Study Reveals Carbon Impact of Bottling Australian Wine in the UK in PET and Glass Bottles) showed that “… the higher CO₂ emissions arising for PET from manufacture offset much of the savings obtained from its low weight.”

When talking about weight and comparing materials, a number of parameters must be taken into account in order to compare like with like. For example, is the packaging locally produced? Is it fully and effectively recycled locally or exported to third-party countries for processing? What is the recycled content of the packaging? The list of parameters goes on and on. Simply claiming your material is the most environmentally friendly doesn’t make it so.

Glass is the consumer’s choice

Unlike plastic, glass is made from sand and other naturally occurring raw materials. It is produced in local glass factories, near to where it will be filled. Glass is also 100% and infinitely recyclable in an effective local bottle-to-bottle system. And talking about weight, glass is now much lighter and stronger than it was 20 years ago. New glass bottles weigh about 300 g, a saving of 40% in just two decades, and the industry is working hard to make them even lighter and stronger than ever before.

There’s also the matter of style. Can you really see yourself ordering wine in a paper bottle at a restaurant? Perhaps you can start by asking for plastic glasses next time you go out to see how it will feel. Glass adds class!

Switching from glass to plastics in the name of the environment makes glass the scapegoat. But it doesn’t necessarily reduce waste or the impact of packaging on the environment. By using arguments such as weight or breakability to define a ‘greener choice’, packaging decision makers are neglecting the bigger picture, and the voices of their consumers.

A recent independent survey of more than 8,000 consumers across 17 European countries found that 74% prefer glass as their packaging material (InSites, 2010). A clear majority (65%) choose glass because it best preserves the taste of the food or beverage it contains. And for special occasion beverages, 79% of respondents choose glass. This is one of the main reasons why wine producers pack their vintages in glass bottles.

But what do you think about buying your wine in paper bottles? Are they all they are cut out to be? Vote for your preferred type of wine bottle on Facebook and let us know:

• Plastic?
• Wine Box?
• Carton?
• Glass?
• Metal?

Benefit Cosmetics has released a new range of skincare products in unique glass packaging inspired by antique apothecary bottles. The b.right! collection includes a variety of essential daily products to keep your skin healthy and shining.

To ensure the range is immediately recognisable, each glass bottle is sprayed in a unique blue colour. The containers also feature notches that resemble water droplets and enable the bottle to be held safely. Cork-like caps complete the natural feel of the packaging.

What do you think of this packaging?

Stölzle Glass Group has created a uniquely coloured glass bottle for Glenfiddich’s 30 Year Old Single Malt scotch whisky. The colour was especially created by the manufacturer to reflect the whisky’s sherry, fig and dark chocolate flavours. Although distinctive, the bottle’s colour and design fit with other products in the Glenfiddich range.

The bottle is presented in a wooden box that has been specially created for this exceptional whisky.

Researchers in Antarctica have discovered 4 crates of glass whisky and brandy bottles left there by explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1908. Still full. Priorities, gents?

The New Zealand researches found the booty in a hut which Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott built during their 1907 and 1909 attempt to reach the South Pole, which was unsuccessful. Possibly because they didn’t drink the whisky, known by many to be a grand enabler (though not proven).

Whisky producers Whyte and Mackay will be analysing the grog – still perfectly preserved in the glass bottles – in an attempt to try and reproduce it.

More on Shackleton here.

Via DeMorgen (in Flemish).

A real mixed bag today, as we feature two more products that have been shortlisted for the Friends of Glass award for the most original and creative glass packing.

First it’s the turn of Tabasco Sauce, which, we’re told, is still presided over by a member of the same family whose ancestors invented the sauce back in 1868 – and presented in a simple, subtle small glass bottle. Obviously a staple of the cupboards of several of our nominees, a quick look on Twitter reveals it’s popular in all sizes, @brambleberry saying “I absolutely love the look of the Tabasco 1 gallon size http://bit.ly/6hP7k”

Meanwhile, another simple, yet particularly eye-catching product nominated several times is this Iskilde water (pictured) – no doubt reflecting the icy, refreshing feeling evoked by a long-secret Danish spring discovered in the highlands. Indeed, with the icy blue and clear look one can almost feel the -8 degree temperature of the “unusually cold spring”.

Vote below for your favourite.

Big news for packaging industry across the UK today as nominees for the UK Packaging Awards 2009 were announced, following a record number of entries to the industry’s top awards scheme. Set to be judged by some of the industry’s biggest hitters from supermarkets and brand owners, the companies vying for the ‘glass packaging award’ are…

Allied Glass Containers
Seaways Services UK
The Glenmorangie Company

Representing brands from the finest in alcoholic spirits to exquisite aromatherapy products, the three companies selected provide a huge range of packaging, both everyday and that little bit special. Meanwhile, Ardagh Glass were also representing some fine glasswork in the ‘best packaging of a new product’ category, having re-created the look and feel of a “Casserole Pot” for Aunt Bessie sauces to distinguish themselves from other brands.  Eye-catching on the shelf with the embossing of Aunt Bessie’s name, and the addition of pot handles to create authenticity, the nomination is testament to its distinctive look.

We’d like to extend our hearty congratulations to these leading-runners in glass packing, and wish them all the best for the awards, which will be announced in this year’s ceremony, to be held on 4 November at the Grosvenor House hotel in London’s Park Lane.

Well done chaps!