DailyDirt: Saving The Planet By Using Better Packaging

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Jun 14th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Petroleum-based plastics have been getting a bit of bad publicity recently, as "greener" plastics made from renewable plant materials are becoming more cost effective. It also doesn't hurt that these new plant-plastics can perform about as well as traditional plastics in a variety of consumer packaging. Here are a few examples of some environmentally-friendly containers.

Pepsi has created a 100% plant-based plastic bottle, trumping Coke's environmentally friendly bottle that contains only 30% plant materials. The new Pepsi bottle will go into pilot production in 2012 -- right before the world ends, anyway. [url]
The first version of the biodegradable SunChip bag -- which was apparently unbearably noisy -- has been replaced by a new plant-based bag that isn't so loud. The real question, though, is when will they make a bag that you can just eat after you're done with the chips...? [url]
Coca-Cola has licensed its ("only 30% plant") PlantBottle bottles to Heinz for ketchup containers. So does that mean Pepsi will resell its 100% plant-based bottle for Hunt's ketchup bottles? [url]
To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: bioplastics, consumer packaging, petroleum, plastics
Companies: coca-cola, heinz, hunt's, pepsi

11 Comments

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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 14 Jun 2011 @ 5:19pm

Law Of Unintended Consequences
Research has shown that, when people feel good about themselves by committing some particularly moral act, they tend to compensate by lapses elsewhere.

In other words, make something more efficient or �green� to consume, and they will consume more of it.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 6:04pm

im curious how they got a chip bag up to 85dBs in the first place
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kyle clements (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:20pm

Re: Law Of Unintended Consequences
When you make mayonnaise with 50% less fat, I'm going to eat twice as much of it.

By all means, make better bottles, just don't tell me about it!
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Planet, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:54pm

"Saving The Planet By Using Better Packaging"

So you want to save the planet by doing less to destroy it, but you'll still be doing something to destroy it.

How about, instead of saving the planet, you do nothing to destroy it. The planet doesn't need humanity to save it, it just needs it to stop destroying it.
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Michael Ho (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 9:28pm

Re: Law Of Unintended Consequences
I don't think people are going to buy more soda than they normally would just because the bottles are more environmentally friendly... but maybe?
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Rekrul, 15 Jun 2011 @ 1:11am

All these 100% recyclable packages have one flaw: Humans. Many people will still throw them in the regular trash instead of recycling them.
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Christopher2 (profile), 15 Jun 2011 @ 2:59am

Biggest thing that would 'save the planet' would be to remove all the spurious packaging like those damned clamshells on electronics.

Those things are worthless and hard to recycle to boot.
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Jon B. (profile), 15 Jun 2011 @ 7:22am

Re:
We're not talking about recyclable stuff. We're talking about biodegradable stuff. Stuff that eventually turns back into fertilizer when thrown in the regular trash.
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Jon B. (profile), 15 Jun 2011 @ 7:23am

Re:
You first.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jun 2011 @ 1:31pm

I stopped buying Sunchips when they went to the new, crappy packaging. I'm glad to see that experiment failed.

I don't mind recycled packaging, decomposable packaging, or green packaging, although I grow a bit weary of the dotwhacks on the packaging extolling how virtuous the company is.

I do mind being forced to use an inferior product. Consumers are weary of 'guilt marketing'... a company can't say 'suffer through our product, it's the responsible thing to do.' Their green product has to be equal or better to the alternative, or it won't sell.
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Michael Ho (profile), 15 Jun 2011 @ 1:53pm

Re:
Actually, I wonder why chip makers don't partner with the folks behind disposable/reusable containers like Ziplock/Gladware/etc... then you could eat the chips and then keep a re-closable container for future snacks.
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