| Material | Energy cost to produce $1,000 worth | Greenhouse gases produced | Amount recovered in 2007 | Landfill lifespan | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass containers | 6,944 kilowatt hours | 3,527 lbs. | 28% | 1 million years | Always recycle glass — otherwise your great- great-great grandkids might find a bottle you threw away. |
| Plastic containers (#1, #2, #5) | 3,889 kilowatt hours | 2,425 lbs. | 14% | 450 years | Reduce use of throwaways, and try to buy easily recyclable #1 and #2 plastics. |
| Plastic bags and film | 3,611 kilowatt hours | 2,270 lbs. | 10% | 500-1,000 years | Use canvas grocery bags; wrap sandwiches in napkins. |
| Polystyrene foam peanuts | 3,333 kilowatt hours | 2,078 lbs. | 7% | 500 years | Cushion fragile shipments with crumpled newspapers or magazines. Drop off excess foam packaging peanuts at your local FedEx or UPS store. |
| Coated and uncoated paper bags | 3,889 kilowatt hours | 2,381 lbs. | 37% | 1 month | Switch to reusable canvas bags, and always recycle paper bags. |
| Coated and laminated paper, including gift wrap, tissue, and butcher paper | 3,611 kilowatt hours | 2,151 lbs. | Negligible | 2-5 months | Wrap gifts in newspaper comics pages or reusable fabric wraps. |
| Corrugated cardboard | 4,444 kilowatt hours | 2,645 lbs. | 74% | 1-2 months | Buy packaging-free products. Reuse cardboard boxes and compost shredded cardboard. |
| Steel and aluminum cans, boxes, and other containers | 4,722 kilowatt hours | 3,262 lbs. | 54% | 200-400 years | Fill reusable container at the bulk bins, and always recycle steel and aluminum containers. |
Source: Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA), eiolca.net/copyright/index.html.
5 comments:
Excellent information - there’s a lot of doubt surrounding which methods/products are truly sustainable and which are just green washing. Check out our myth-busting video “What’s Your Big Green Lie?!” which gives a taste of the widespread ignorance of green issues including cloth versus disposable diapers at http://www.biggreenlies.com.
You spoke of how awful it would be for our great great grandchildren to find our unrecycled glass bottles. Did you consider that today we are thrilled to find our great great grandparent's unrecycled bottles?
Cindy Nei
Anonymous,
you are right. Can you imagine also when our great grandchildren will find not only our unrecycled bottles bot those of our great grandparents too!
Wow, it's great to have the facts laid out like that, thank you for this most informational post! My personal favourite alternative to plastic bags are Carebags, 100% reusable bulk food and produce bags. I love them because not only are longlasting, strong, and extremely versatile, you can buy, wash, and store your produce with this one bag! I've found it eliminates the both my plastic and vegetable waste, since my veggies stay fresh for so much longer.
Very good information. We just launched a new brand of plastic trash bags made from 100% recycled plastic and that are oxodegradble and recyclable: EconoGreen Plastics. This is a greener alternative to traditional plastic trash bags. Plus, they are as strong as standard plastic bags and they’re priced in the same range.
We are currently developing a new website for this product that should be live this week and should provide you with extensive information on the products. Meanwhile, I can send you samples for you to test as well as more information on the products.
Would you be interested in receiving them?
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