BLOG IN A BOTTLE

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?  :-)

Packaging which showcases a product’s sustainability credentials is more likely to attract the attention of consumers according to research from The Big Picture, a UK-based design research agency. The Big Picture found that shopper’s reject products with more rational designs, even if they do have the best environmental credentials.

Based on a series of in-depth interviews with consumers, the agency found that consumers judged products negatively if they perceived them as having unnecessary packaging or using materials which are not friendly to the environment. In these cases, consumers were not influenced by recycle-friendly logos or other claims on the packaging.

The research got us wondering what factors influence you when you are making a purchase decision? Is price or the packaging material more important? Do you read all of the environmental information on a label, or do you simply select products based on your perception of the packaging material? Let us know what you think by voting on the Friends of Glass Facebook page!

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.

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

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?

On 1 January 2010, Vancouver resident Taina Uitto made a pledge to live her life without plastic for the next year. Uitto documented her efforts on her Plastic Manners blog, even photographing the non-recyclable materials she acquired each month (here you can see her collection for February 2010).

Although it was not easy to give up plastics totally for a year, Uitto continues to refuse them. She also encourages others to make the effort, an initiative that the Friends of Glass wholeheartedly support. We know of at least five good reasons to choose glass any day!

To give people a taste of what is involved, Uitto started the Day Without Plastic blog – encouraging people to give up plastics for just one day on either World Ocean Day (8 June) or International Coastal Cleanup Day (19 September). Now environmental blogging site Re-Nest is challenge everyone to give up plastics for a month.

Re-Nest have published a list of three steps almost anyone can follow. One is a step that Uitto took at the beginning of her life without plastic: making an inventory of the plastics already in your home. The inventory helps you to understand where you can replace plastics with more sustainable materials such as glass.

So do you think that you could give up plastic for a day, a month, or even a year? Can you make a sustainable switch to glass or convince others to glass up their lives?

Why not make your pledge on the Friends of Glass Facebook page and share your tips! Because glass truly has nothing to hide!

J. D. Russo is a 14 year old student who believes that it is time to stop making people aware of the environment, and time to make them care instead. In this short, powerful video, Russo outlines why he believes that change needs to start with consumers, not legislation.

Do you agree with Russo? Why not share your opinion on the Friends of Glass Facebook page.

Let’s make that change all together!

Making your own salt might be something that you would never consider doing, but it is an incredibly simple process. Not Without Salt is a blog dedicated to all things salty, and they provide some very simple anyone can follow to make your own salt.

First you need to gather some sea water – glass bottles are ideal for the purpose. When you get home, filter the water through at least four layers of fine muslin or cotton cloth to remove any impurities. You should be left with clean (but salty!) water.

Gently boil the water until it is all evaporated. To save energy, you can also place the solution in the biggest and shallowest dish you can find. Put it in a sunny place and allow the water to evaporate naturally. It will take longer, but your salt crystals will be larger. Once all of the water is evaporated, you have salt that is ready to use. Store it in a sealed glass container and use as needed.

The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) has released details of its first complete cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA) of glass for packaging. The LCA reaffirms the environmental benefits of container glass recycling.

The cradle-to-cradle scope of the study covers the entire life cycle of the product, including the environmental cost of recycling used glass to create new glass. The study confirms that using recycled glass (cullet) to make new glass reduces both energy use and carbon emissions. “In creating more recycling awareness and working to improve recycled glass collection, the industry is helping boost the cullet content in manufacturing,” explains Joseph Cattaneo, President of the Glass Packaging Institute. “The study shows increased cullet helps reducing energy emissions, conserve raw materials, extend the life of glass manufacturing furnaces, and save energy.”

While other industries claim that the transportation of glass bottles has a bigger environmental impact because of the weight of the containers, a key finding of the LCA dismisses this claim. The transportation of raw materials and cullet used in glass production represents less than 4 to 5% of the total energy used to produce container glass.

For more a copy of the study and more information, please visit the Glass Packaging Institute’s dedicated LCA page.