Packaging for the new MyKirei by Kao brand of vegan-friendly, plant-based personal-care products takes its cues from the Japanese Kirei sensibility, which favors sustainability as well as beauty, cleanliness, simplicity, and balance. Delicate graphics decorate the package, which looks like a rigid pump bottle but is, in fact, made from flexible packaging.   MyKirei brand owner Kao USA, based in Cincinnati, says the packaging design uses up to 50% less plastic than traditional bottles. The MyKirei containers have channels on the periphery that are filled with air to make the package rigid. Product is then filled into the package. Kao designed this package in-house; but Packaging Digest has seen similar formats from Procter & Gamble and Aeroflex.   The water-tight package design prevents product contamination, even when the products are used in the shower. The design also lets consumers extract nearly all the product without removing the pump from the container.   Kao is collaborating with TerraCycle on a program that lets consumers recycle MyKirei containers and pumps when the product is gone.   The first wave of MyKirei products comprises three products: shampoo, conditioner, and hand wash. Starting on April 22, 2020 (the 50th anniversary of Earth Day), the products will be sold exclusively on Amazon for $18 each.   Ken Adams, director, package development, at Kao Brands, answers questions from Packaging Digest about the package.     Please describe the air-fill process. Adams: The package is filled with air with an air tube made of the same material prior to liquid filling and is cut and sealed in this process.   What changes were required on the packaging line to handle this package? Adams: The package requires a completely new type of packaging line.   How does the package design enable consumers to use nearly every drop of product in the bottle? Adams: The inner pouch is separate from the outer pouch, so as product is dispensed, the inner pouch collapses inward, dispensing all product and leaving “almost” nothing in the package.   Is the pump inserted by the consumer after buying the package? Adams: We will sell the package with a pump that the consumer buys the first time; after the first purchase the consumer can purchase a package with no pump and use the original [pump] many times over.   The package and pump are both recyclable through TerraCycle. Can the bottles be recycled via curbside recycling, alternatively? Adams: Not at this time, which is why we have partnered with TerraCycle. We are also offering refills as another option to cut down on waste.   Does the package provide instructions for recycling via TerraCycle? Adams: Yes, the information will be on the packaging, on our website, and directly on the Amazon page.   Was this package designed specifically for the ecommerce channel? Adams: It was designed to reduce the amount of plastic of a traditional bottle and pump, but there are other benefits. This was not specific to the ecommerce channel.   Were there any special packaging needs for the ecommerce channel, and if so, how does this package address them? Adams: Actually, because of the attached pump, a secondary shipping package is required.   Does the packaging tell consumers that it has 50% less plastic than other bottles? Adams: Yes, this will be on the package.   How are the bottles decorated? Adams: The film that the package is made from is directly printed on.   What plastic(s) are the bottle and pump made from? Adams: Multiple materials.

IT IS AN invisible, deadly menace. It’s causing almost unfathomable economic destruction. We knew it was coming, but were caught woefully unprepared. It tricked nations into blaming one another—the US being the primary antagonist—instead of working together to stop it.   It is the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and it is climate change. The two are intimately linked: As you’d expect, emissions have fallen as people drive less and industries grind to a halt. But dig deeper into how the pandemic is influencing the climate, and surprising and often counterintuitive dynamics begin to emerge. This is your guide to those complexities.   Editor’s note: We’ll be updating this story as more research becomes available.   Yes, Emissions Are Falling. But Not for Long   Back in February, an analysis by the climate group Carbon Brief found that as the pandemic seized hold of China’s economy and heavy industries shuttered, emissions from the country plummeted by an incredible 25 percent. Another analysis by Carbon Brief in early April estimated that globally this year, emissions could fall by 5.5 percent from 2019 levels. That figure may seem low, given that fewer cars are on roads and industries have stalled, but with context, it’s stunning: Until now, emissions have been reliably increasing by a few percent year after year. That’s happening even though the world’s nations pledged to individually reduce their emissions as part of the Paris Agreement, with the ultimate goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial global temperatures.   The 5.5 percent figure tops the 3 percent reduction in emissions that followed the 2008 financial crash, when economies also slowed and people traveled less. But emissions bounced right back as the economy recovered. Indeed, says Zeke Hausfather, the director of climate and energy at the Breakthrough Institute, which advocates for climate action, we can expect economies to roar back with fervor to make up for lost income. “Broadly speaking, the only real times we've seen large emission reductions globally in the past few decades is during major recessions,” Hausfather told WIRED in March. “But even then, the effects are often smaller than you think. It generally doesn't lead to any sort of systematic change.”   Electricity Use in the US Has Declined Slightly, But Gasoline Sales Dropped Big Time   Anecdotally, we can say that Americans are driving far less, given all the empty freeways. And now Northern Arizona University climate scientist Kevin Gurney has the data to back it up: The amount of gasoline supplied in the US—a close measurement of direct consumption—fell by 50 percent over the two-week period ending April 3. “Not surprising, given what we all would expect to happen, but it’s just stunning to see it,” Gurney says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 25 years of looking at this data.”   Interestingly, the amount of diesel supplied has remained fairly stable. That’s probably due to it being more of a commercial fuel, used for the semi trucks that are still making deliveries while the rest of us keep our cars in the garage.   Electricity use across the country has declined a bit, but nowhere near as dramatically as with fuel supplies. “I think the speculation is a lot of the activity that uses electricity isn’t going down, it’s just shifting where it's occurring,” Gurney adds. “So instead of commercial buildings being leaned on a little more heavily between 9 and 5, we’re at home using energy.”   This might offer a clue to why the emissions reductions worldwide are so much smaller than the 25 percent reduction scientists saw in China’s emissions earlier this year. It could depend on the structure of different nations’ economies. China is a major manufacturing center, which uses massive amounts of energy to keep production running. But the US and many other nations have offshored much of their manufacturing and transitioned into being service economies. When China’s workers go home, those emission-heavy industries close down. When workers in some other nations go home, they keep working, shifting the energy consumption from offices to houses. Don’t assume, though, that industrial energy consumption in the US won’t also change dramatically in the coming weeks. “We’re still in the middle of this,” Gurney says. “I would be hesitant to say that we’re not going to see a big industrial signal. I think it tends to lag a little bit because a lot of industry will continue to produce.”   This Is Our Chance to Reinvent Cities   If the streets are a city’s veins, cars are the blood coursing through them—but they’re a pathogen, of sorts. Cars killed over 6,000 pedestrians in 2018 in the US, and air pollution kills perhaps 200,000 more here each year.   With all those cars now sequestered in garages, air quality around the world has gone through the roof. In March, for instance, researchers at Columbia University calculated that carbon monoxide emissions in New York City, mostly coming from vehicles, fell by 50 percent. With that will come a dramatic improvement in public health, and at just the right time: New research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has shown that air pollution is associated with higher Covid-19 death rates. They did this by looking at 3,000 US counties and comparing Covid-19 deaths and levels of fine particulate matter in the air. They found that even small increases in long-term exposure to the pollutants leads to significantly higher mortality. That makes sense, since this is a disease that attacks the lungs.   But maybe our suddenly clearer skies don’t have to be temporary. We’re getting a taste of how much more livable our cities would be if we designed them for people, not cars. Closing roads to cars altogether—as cities like Boston and Oakland, California, have done during the crisis—means people can walk and bike in safety, itself a boost to public health.   “We call this a ‘psychic outcome,’ of people realizing what we’ve absorbed from the slow intensification of urban life as it relates to vehicles,” Gurney notes. “It’s potentially a moment where we can get a clearer picture of what we’ve slowly kind of numbed ourselves to. Cities are profoundly dominated by vehicles.”   Done incorrectly, though, a rethinking of cities could exacerbate inequalities. Cities have, necessarily, severely curtailed public transportation to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. But this disproportionately affects those who can’t afford cars, and who might rely on public transport to get to their essential jobs or shop for food.   “The actions cities are taking that are purely to give people room to roam, not necessarily room to get anywhere, I think they’re useful,” Tabitha Combs, who studies transportation planning and policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told WIRED in April. “But I don’t think they’re enough and I don’t think they’re equitable.”   In a Weird Way, Some Air Pollution Actually Reduces Warming   In March, researchers at the University of Washington and Goethe University Frankfurt published a study that quantified one of the stranger consequences of air pollution: It can actually bounce the sun’s energy back into space, thus helping cool the planet.   Specifically, they looked at a phenomenon called cloud brightening, in which the particulate sulfate pollution that cargo ships spew makes its way into clouds. The sulfate particles attract water vapor, making a cloud brighter, and therefore better able to reflect sunlight. Ships actually leave trails of brightened clouds known as “ship tracks” as they chug across the oceans.   The researchers analyzed a shipping lane in the south Atlantic Ocean, which conveniently has winds blowing along it, instead of across it. For this reason, they could clearly delineate how reflective the clouds are directly over the lane, and just outside it, and compare the two. The effect turns out to be substantial: The brightened clouds can block an additional 2 watts of solar energy from reaching each square meter of the ocean’s surface.   They then calculated what that would mean at the planetary scale over both land and sea, and found that, in general, pollution-seeded clouds block 1 watt of energy per square meter of planet Earth. For comparison, anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions trap 3 watts per square meter. “We’re saying globally, from all types of industrial pollution, that has offset approximately a third of the greenhouse gas warming that we've experienced to the present,” says University of Washington atmospheric scientist Michael Diamond, lead author on the study.   That’s got Diamond and his colleagues wondering how that phenomenon is now playing out across the world as air quality improves. This of course varies with the fuel: The reason cargo ships seed clouds so well is that they use super-dirty fuel that flings lots of sulfate into the air (less so now, though, as international regulations mandating low-sulfur fuel went into effect January 1). Coal and natural-gas power plants on land don’t produce sulfates on the scale that ship fuel does. The researchers also have to factor in how land and sea absorb the sun’s energy differently. While you might think the ocean would be great at reflecting light, if you look at it from space, it’s basically black. That’s why the oceans have been warming so dramatically of late.   To be clear: Air pollution is a major threat to human health. The carbon monoxide cars spew is toxic, and CO₂ has led to runaway global warming. But in a bizarre way, this specific type of emission seems to help cool the planet.   Cheap Oil Means the Pandemic Is Producing Mountains of Plastic Waste   Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the economics of recycling were a mess. For it to make financial sense to recycle plastic bottles, a recycling company has to make more money selling the recycled material than it takes to gather and process those bottles. Given the low price of oil in recent years, it’s often cheaper for companies to buy virgin plastic bottles than recycled ones. (And oil producers’ sales have crashed and the price of oil cratered even further now that we’re all staying home.)   In the age of coronavirus, many recycling facilities are shutting down to protect their workers, so what little was recycled before now isn’t recycled at all. At the same time, we’re consuming more single-use plastic than ever. We’re stocking up on soap and hand sanitizer, and Amazon is hiring 100,000 extra workers to keep up demand, packing individually wrapped products into boxes. People are getting plastic-sheathed takeout from restaurants instead of dining in and eating off of reusable plates with metal utensils. “So disposability is going like crazy,” Tom Szaky, the founder and CEO of the recycling company TerraCycle, told WIRED. “And during Covid, we saw that the recycling equation that was bad anyway and trending down is even worse.”   Every Nation Needs a Big, Bold, New Green Deal   An inconvenient truth about fossil fuels is that they’re an extremely useful and cheap form of energy. For an economically developing country in particular, the allure of fossil fuels is they allow rapid industrialization. Renewable energies like solar wind are still relatively expensive to set up compared with coal and natural gas, which is why governments usually subsidize them to green their economies.   But looking back at the 2008 financial crisis shows a way forward: The stimulus package in the US helped invigorate the green-energy economy by pumping $90 billion into the development of technologies like geothermal power, biofuels, and solar energy. “If you look at the data, a few years after that, you do start to see a huge increase in solar,” says Louisiana State University environmental scientist Brian Snyder.   The likelihood of the Trump administration doing the same has about a snowball’s chance on this increasingly warm planet. But if the feds keep interest rates low to make borrowing easier and jump-start the economy, it’ll be easier to finance a wind farm or solar facility. “So that might be an effect where certainly the administration didn't mean to do it, but they nonetheless sort of juice the ability of some renewable energy systems to replace coal,” adds Snyder. The challenge, though, will be making those systems economically attractive enough given the staying power of oil, which is now even cheaper thanks to the pandemic.   Climate Research in the Coronavirus Age   Scientists, they’re just like us—in the sense that they too are stuck at home during the pandemic. And that’s a big problem for climate science. “It’s disruptive, there’s no question,” says Gurney, the climate scientist at Northern Arizona University. “For anybody who’s got to do fieldwork, or relies on things that aren’t automated instrumentation out there, this is a serious, serious problem.”   If you can’t get on a boat, you can’t collect data on how the oceans are warming and acidifying. Scientists who monitor the effects of climate change on wildlife can’t go out and collect photos from camera traps. Conserving species imperiled by climate change isn’t a passive process—conservationists have to be out there actively monitoring and preserving their habitats. If you study how permafrost is thawing in the Arctic, you’re out of luck as well. Even if a scientist can collect data remotely, for instance by aggregating government data, they may not have access to the requisite computing power at home.   “There will probably be a record gap that’ll be a problem, and if it goes on long enough it’ll be a real problem,” says Gurney. “A few weeks, you could say 'Well, we might be able to deal with that.' But if it turns into months, that becomes a significant problem for anybody who has to go out in the field.”

Daily disposable contact lenses are single-use lenses that are removed and discarded at the end of each day, and a fresh pair of lenses is applied to the eyes the next morning. Daily contact lenses are gaining in popularity among practitioners and consumers for their health and convenience benefits.   Before you consider the pros and cons of daily disposable lenses, here are two things to keep in mind:  

• Don't confuse "daily wear" with "daily disposable." A daily wear lens is one that must be removed before sleeping, because it's not FDA approved for extended (overnight) wear. Such a lens might be replaced daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, depending upon the brand. In short, wearing schedule and replacement schedule are two different things.
• In the world of contact lenses, "disposable" doesn't always mean single-use. Daily wear lenses that are thrown out every two weeks are sometimes called disposable. "Daily disposable" is the specific term for lenses that are removed and discarded daily.

 

Why Throw Out Lenses At All?

  The more frequently you replace your lenses, the healthier and more comfortable your eyes can be.   Protein, calcium, lipids and other substances found naturally in your tears can build up on your lenses. These deposits make your contacts less comfortable than when they were new, and can also make your eyes more prone to infection.   Of course, lenses can be cleaned, but cleaning is not 100 percent effective. Some deposits will remain and continue to accumulate over time.  

Daily Contact Lenses: Convenience And Health

  There are two ways to avoid just about all contact lens care. One is to wear extended wear lenses continuously for several days, and then discard them when you remove them.   Unfortunately, overnight wear of contact lenses is not a good idea for everyone. And for many people, wearing contact lenses during sleep increases the risk of eye problems.   The other alternative is daily disposable contact lenses. Many eye care professionals and contact lens wearers feel that they offer the best of both worlds: They are convenient because no lens cleaning is required, and they are healthy because there is no day-to-day accumulation of lens deposits, and no overnight wear.  

How Different Are Daily Contact Lenses From Regular Lenses?

  Even before the advent of disposable lenses, it was well known that replacing lenses often was a healthy thing to do. Problem was, contacts were too expensive to discard very often — so various cleaning solutions and devices were used to prolong the life of the lens.   Then contact lens manufacturers developed new manufacturing methods to produce high-quality lenses in greater volume, at lower cost. These advances led to lower lens prices, making it affordable to replace lenses more often.   Some of today's daily contact lenses are made of the same materials as traditional lenses; other disposables are made from new materials and designs developed especially for disposability.  

How Much Do Daily Contact Lenses Cost?

  Daily disposable lenses are often more affordable than many people expect. It's not unusual to spend more on a daily visit to Starbucks than on daily disposable contacts. And while you might enjoy your coffee for half an hour, a fresh pair of lenses will provide comfort and good vision all day long.   Of course, using 730 daily contact lenses per year will generally cost more than, for example, using 24 monthly-replacement lenses per year. But cost can vary widely, depending on the brand and the lens material. Daily disposable contact lenses made from silicone hydrogel materials are often positioned by lens manufacturers as "premium" daily disposables with the greatest benefit and the highest cost.   If you're considering daily contact lenses, remember that higher lens cost is offset by the money you'll save on lens care products, since they won't be needed.  

Can I Wear Daily Contact Lenses?

  Yes, you probably can. Your eye care practitioner can tell you for sure. (Find an eye doctor here if you need one.)   The key is whether daily disposables are made in your particular prescription. In addition to standard single vision designs, some daily disposable brands are available in colors, in designs to correct astigmatism, and in multifocal designs to correct presbyopia.   If your prescription is outside the range in which daily disposable lenses are produced, you may have to stick with traditional disposables or frequent replacement lenses.  

Disadvantages of Daily Contact Lenses

  In addition to cost, some people object to the amount of waste created by disposable products. While contact lenses and blister packs can't be recycled locally, they can be collected and periodically sent to TerraCycle for recycling. This program is sponsored by Bausch + Lomb, but all brands of lenses and blister packs are accepted. The cardboard boxes that lenses come in can simply be recycled as usual.

My cat loves smelling my face when I lean in to nuzzle her and give her a kiss. I know it's the natural peppermint essence in my Burt's Bee's lip balm! It may be a great olfactory stimulation for her, but it's even better as a refreshing soother for my chapped lips.   The peppermint oil in this lip balm is so invigorating that it has spurred a thing called "beezin," where teens apply it to the eyelids for a natural high. This is not a good idea, as this could cause serious eye infection or inflammation! Burt professed that lip balm is for lips and preferred to see it used that way! There is no denying, though, that these essences are the real thing. The original beeswax balm with peppermint is the best for long-lasting protection against chapped lips, but there is also a wide range of moisturizing formulas. Pomegranate, pink grapefruit, eucalyptus, mango, acai berry, vanilla, wild cherry, and even blueberry/dark chocolate are each wonderfully soothing and delicious!  

All Natural. No Animal Testing.

  Burt's Bees makes skincare formulas, lip balms, and other beauty products from ingredients found in nature: beeswax, botanical extracts, herbs, and minerals. There is nothing artificial added. Burt's Bees uses a few animal by-products like milk, beeswax, and royal jelly- that's all. No animals are harmed, and none are used for testing of any kind. There are also no petroleum products, no rendered animal fats, nor harsh chemicals used. Burt's Bees produces the most affordable earth-friendly products available on the market today, and they can be easily spotted in attractive golden-yellow displays everywhere.  

Packaging Is Recycled and Recyclable

  All packaging is both recycled and recyclable. Even the lip-balm tubes are made of recycled plastic! Packaging is thoughtfully designed to hold just enough product for the average consumer to use before the expiration date. This helps control waste by keeping unused product from the landfills. All packaging is comprised of at least 50% post-consumer content, and most carry the Natural Seal which was developed in 2008. To meet this standard, the product must be 99% natural.  

A Thoughtful Gift Changes My Approach to Natural Beauty

  My introduction to Burt's Bees came in the way of a travel bag full of trial-sized balms, creams, and lotions. I now regularly refill this bag and tuck it in with my gym paraphernalia. I highly recommend it as a thoughtful gift for those who will be on the road or away from home.   My personal favorites are the replenishing body lotion, lemon cuticle cream, and the tinted lip shimmer. The cupuacu and cocoa butters in the moisturizer work for 24 hours and make a rich and creamy, yet non-greasy, lotion with the pleasant scent of mild chocolate, coconut and pineapple. Loaded with anti-oxidants, cupuaca is a tropical fruit related to cacao that comes from the Amazon rain forest. The lemon cuticle, applied before bed, keeps finger tips soft and keeps away annoying hangnails. The lip shimmers provide just the right touch of subtle color and shine. They condition my lips much like the traditional lip balms but go a step further by complementing the natural rosy glow of my cheeks unlike the painted look of creamed lipstick and lip-liner. Burt's Bees' line of products for outdoor enthusiasts come in serene green packaging and include bug repellent and soothers for sunburn, poison ivy, bug bites, muscle aches, and bruises. I recommend the small tin of Dr. Burt's Res-Q Ointment. This healing salve derived from comfrey is a must-have for any first-aid kit!   As the company continues to expand to meet the needs of the whole family, new products are continually being introduced. Natural honey throat lozenges and toiletries for men in handsome black packaging include soap, shaving cream, body wash, and deodorant. Baby-Bee and Mama-Bee products offer safe and natural solutions for sensitive skin, diaper rash, and stretch marks. Burt's Bees also has added a line of organic pima cotton baby clothes, cloths, bibs, and receiving blankets which can be monogrammed. These new offerings and gift sets are perfect for baby showers and Father's Day.   Oral care products include both fresh mint and whitening toothpastes with or without fluoride, a kid's fruit fusion paste, and an activated charcoal whitening powder. All are naturally sweetened w/ stevia and are free of artificial ingredients. The tubes, which don't yet qualify for residential recycling programs, can easily be returned to Burt's Bees for sustainable reuse.   Pet wellness is also of concern to Burt's Bees, and they have developed natural shampoos and soothing skin care products as well as a moisturizing paw and nose butter for dogs.  

New Additions for 2019

  Burt's Bees has recently introduced a complete line of makeup including BB cream, pressed powder, eye shadow, blush, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, liquid foundation, makeup removal pads, and facial cleansing towelettes. All products are made from natural ingredients and have received good ratings from the EWG site. These meet the high quality standards of Burt's Bees and are perfect for those concerned with skin health, safe toxicity levels, and good sustainability ethics.

It All Began as a Cottage Industry

  What was started in Maine in 1984 by Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby as a honey- producing company, selling from the back of a pick-up truck, soon became known for its beeswax candles. The fine quality of craftsmanship then led to the production of soaps, lip-balms, and more. Ten years later, Burt's Bees out grew its facility and moved to North Carolina where it continued to gain exposure through retailers like Whole Foods and Cracker Barrel.   In 1999, Ms. Quimby bought Burt's business share for $130,000, the amount of a house on his beloved land in Maine. In 2004, she sold 80% interest in the company to a private equity firm for 141 million while retaining 20% and title of CEO. When Shavitz voiced his displeasure, Quimby forked over another 4 million, just a fraction of the 59 million he would have gotten had he not settled for the house!   After a few consecutive leadership changes which groomed the company for a takeover, Clorox bought Burt's Bees in November 2013 for a whopping 913 million! While Roxanne received 20% of the sale, Burt got nothing. Known for his dislike of corporate greed and materialism, Shavitz claimed to be content on his land, watching nature, and living simply. He tells his story and shares his views of the sellout in a documentary by Jody Shapiro called Burt's Buzz. Burt Shavitz died at age 80 on July 5, 2015.   Although Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby broke up their partnership, each having had distinctly different views and life goals, the company's new corporate team vows to uphold its founder's tenets of sustainability. Burt's bearded face remains the company's logo, and his estate will get regular royalty payments for the use of his image on all products.   Not only has Burt's Bees remained here in the U.S., the company has continued to maintain a responsible approach to the environment. In addition to choosing only naturally-derived ingredients and recycled packaging, Burt and Roxanne began the practice of using company profits to buy forest land in Maine for the Nature Conservancy. They also reached out to the community through public service announcements to educate others about Colony Collapse Disorder and the importance of bees to agri-business, the economy, and our backyard gardens. Impressive! Few businesses really operate with a genuine social consciousness and care for our planet. In 2007, Burt's Bees formed the Greater Good Foundation which supports many kinds of community and environmental projects. Here is a link to their website: http://www.burtsbees.com/Community-Partnerships/sustain-community,default,pg.html. It gives a broader overview of the company's philanthropy.   There are long-time consumers who feel that Clorox has taken liberties with the original formulations and ruined the quality of Burt's Bees products. The acquisition by Clorox, however, has actually proven to be a good thing.   For Burt's Bees, it has allowed more funds for research and development- an increase of 50%.The access to greater technology and expertise has brought about improvements in the consistency and moisturizing capabilities of Burt's Bees lotions without compromising the natural ingredients.   For Clorox, the merger has brought improvements to waste management and sustainability practices. Although a slow process, Clorox has upped these improvements to its overall product portfolio by 35% and stays committed to the goal.  

A Continuing Commitment to a Green Environment

Burt’s Bees and the National Geographic Society are collaborating to reduce the flow of plastic waste into our environment. They donated $10 per Change for Nature pledge for the first 15,000 pledges, for a total donation of $150,000 to help stop the accumulation of microplastics in our watersheds.   Paula Alexander, director of Sustainable Business and Innovation, Burt's Bees, says, "As a brand founded to connect people to nature, we must protect it." She continues, "Our packaging includes over 50% PCR content in our plastics, and they are fully recyclable -- either curbside or with TerraCycle. As part of this ongoing commitment, we're pleased to announce that earlier this month, Burt's Bees has signed on to the 'We Are Still In' climate declaration.   I don't need my discriminating cat to sniff out a winner like Burt's Bees although her endorsement just helps me plead my case. There are over 100 products now in production including shampoo and body wash. I recommend the lemon cuticle cream, the peppermint foot rub, and many others. I can assure you of the fine quality, the lovely and true fragrance of the botanical oils, the smart packaging, and the impeccable social and environmental stewardship of Burt's Bees. Oh, did I mention that it's affordable too? Take the time to indulge yourself and feel pretty with nature's best ingredients and don't forget to recycle the containers- yet, again!  

F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc., makers of Don Francisco’s Coffee®, Café La Llave®, and a wide variety of other family-crafted coffees, has teamed up with international recycling company TerraCycle® to offer coffee lovers a free, easy way to recycle Don Francisco’s Coffee Family Reserve® and Café La Llave® single serve coffee pods and espresso capsules. Through the Coffee Pod Recycling Program, the latest eco-friendly initiative from the family-owned company, consumers can now send in their used single serve coffee pods and espresso capsules to be recycled for FREE. Participation is easy: sign up on the TerraCycle program page at www.terracycle.com/gavina and mail in the used pods and capsules using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned, separated by material type, melted and remolded to make new recycled products while the residual coffee is sent to an industrial composting facility. Additionally, with every shipment sent to TerraCycle through the program, consumers can earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. “As coffee growers and roasters, my family built our business on a 150-year legacy and passion for coffee that runs deep and spans four generations,” said Lisette Gaviña Lopez, Executive Marketing Director at F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc. “Sustainability is at the core of every business decision we make, and as we innovate to meet the changing needs and preferences of our customers, we also look for new ways to minimize environmental impact. Through our partnership with TerraCycle we can now extend our environmental efforts beyond the shelf with a responsible recycling program for our espresso capsule and coffee pod customers.” “At TerraCycle, we understand American’s love affair with a great cup of coffee – we share the sentiment,” said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle Founder and CEO.  “But through the Coffee Pod Recycling Program, coffee connoisseurs can enjoy their favorite pick-me-up, easily reduce waste, all without sacrificing the enjoyment of their favorite brew.” F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc.’s commitment to sustainability led to the creation of the Direct Impact™ Initiative, which focuses on four pillars: dedication to farmers, sustainable sourcing, environmental sustainability, and social stewardship. Dedicated to smallholder farmers and the land they work upon, Gaviña and partners work towards improving the quality of life and increasing social and economic development in Coffee Belt farming communities. These efforts include technical assistance for Guatemalan farmers to employ sustainable farming techniques while increasing household income, and building a central coffee processing wet mill in Colombia to help local smallholder farmers adapt to climate change while reducing environmental footprint. The company also sources certified coffees from Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade USA and USDA certified Organic, and roasts all their coffee from their Zero Waste to Landfill plant in Vernon, California.

BLOOMINGTON — A southeast Bloomington business had hoped by the end of March to clear a "mountain" of used child safety seats sprawled across what city leaders called an "illegal junk yard" off Indianapolis Street between East Bell Street and Croxton Avenue.   But it didn't happen because the firm was among nonessential businesses statewide that Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered close to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.   Now, city aldermen are fielding dozens of complaints and the matter is set for review by the city's administrative court.   "By the time it was on the city's radar, all deliveries of car seats had been made; they all arrived within a very short period of time," said attorney Joe Dehn, who represents property owner Bell International.   "I got a lot of complaints initially and that was when the trucks unloaded all of the car seats from Walmart," said Ward 4 Alderwoman Julie Emig, in whose ward the site is located. "I met with one of the business leaders there, Jamey Anderson, and he explained that they were inundated with far more car seats from Walmart than they had anticipated."   Dehn did not know how many car seats were dumped at Bell's property, but said more than 40,000 seats were processed before the work stopped, he said.   The property is one of three nationwide depository sites for seats collected through a nationwide recycling promotion by Walmart and TerraCycle; anyone who turned in an old seat received a $30 gift card. Walmart said it collected nearly 1 million car seats within five days.   Bell planned to have an affiliated firm, Akshar Plastic Inc., 1007 E. Bell St., strip the seats and recycle the metal, fabric and plastic.   "They have the processing equipment in place and were in the process of processing those car seats, making every effort to comply with the agreement we had with the city to have all of the material processed or moved inside prior to the agreed upon date of March 31," Dehn said. "Then businesses were ordered to shut down and they were unable to continue to process material, and no progress has been made since the shutdown.   "They are prepared, as soon as they are allowed to go back to work and it's safe to do so, to resume processing the material at the fastest rate they can and get it out of there as soon as they can," he said.   Meanwhile, people are complaining. I n a Dec. 18 city administrative court order, the company was told "no further expansion of (an) unlawful junk yard" would be permitted and that it must show progress in reducing "unlawful exterior salvage of materials," with complete elimination of the "junk yard" by March 31, 2020.   Ward 1 Alderman Jamie Mathy, whose ward borders part of the property, said he has received more than 30 complaints.   "The volume (of complaints) has really turned up in the last couple of weeks because it is getting nice enough that people are getting out on Constitution Trail, and it's right at the end of the trail as you go south over Oakland Avenue and into south Bloomington," Mathy said. "It's right there. You can't miss it."   "Jamie is right; folks who are out on the trail are coming across it and taking note and reaching out to see if we're aware and what we are doing about it," said Emig, who has received two to three complaints weekly for the last four to six weeks.   Storing the car seats outside is a violation of the city's zoning ordinance, said city communication manager Nora Dukowitz. "I believe there are seven counts and no fines have been imposed yet," she said in an email. "We have been monitoring this and believe no new material has been brought in. "... They had been working to remedy the situation. The original order stated that if the seats weren't removed by March 31, they would be required to move the materials inside and/or truck offsite. Subsequent to this order, the business was required to close due to the governor's (executive order), which has limited their ability to deconstruct/remove the material. In summary, the city is aware of the situation and working to remedy it."   The matter has been set for May 27 in administrative court.   "They did tell the city of Bloomington that they would have everything cleaned up by the end of March," Emig said. "Well, it's already April and we still have, as one of my constituents called it, 'a mountain of car seats.' I refer to it as a Stephen King movie set sometimes, just because it is an eyesore. Nobody wants it to be processed, I think, more quickly than the owners and the people who operate this recycling company."   Emig added the city should give the company a little latitude because "they didn't know they were going lose at least six weeks due to the (COVID-19) shutdown.   "But we still need that pile to be addressed and removed to make sure that never happens again."  

Recognizing that single-serve coffee pods have a significant environmental impact, F. Gaviña & Sons is launching an initiative that will allow consumers to send in their coffee pods and espresso capsules to be recycled. Users sign up for the program online and are sent a prepaid shipping label to mail in the used pods and capsules. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned, separated by material type, melted and remolded to make new recycled products; the residual coffee is sent to an industrial composting facility.   By sending in shipments through the program, consumers earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to non-profits, schools or charitable organizations of their choice.   F. Gaviña & Sons, makers of Don Francisco’s Coffee, Café La Llave, and other family-crafted coffees, has teamed up with international recycling company TerraCycle for the coffee pod recycling program. Participating customers – including individuals, schools, offices and community organizations – mail the pods directly to TerraCycle for cleaning and recycling.   The question of the sustainability of coffee — from the growth of the coffee itself to the sustainability of the supply chain and of retail outlets to end-of-life considerations — is one that those in the coffee industry have increasingly been taking seriously. Nespresso, for example, announced last year a bid to restore high-quality coffee production in regions that have come under threat due to factors like environmental disaster, economic hardship or political conflict; the company is investing $9.8 million to provide farmers with training and material that will help them improve coffee yield and quality. Nespresso also has a coffee capsule recycling program.   In 2019, Target announced its involvement in the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a collective that aims to stimulate greater demand for sustainable coffee. With this, Target has made a commitment to earn certification for 100% of its Archer Farms coffee in both bags and pods by 2022.

The cheerful, singing voice inside your musical “Happy Birthday” card is enough to strike horror in the heart of your local recycler.   The musical cards, which play a recording when opened, look like plain cardboard, making them easy to accidentally throw in the recycling bin. But experts say the insides are laced with cheap electronics and toxic batteries – making them a nightmare to dispose of.   Such cards are just one example of what recyclers say is a growing trend in mixing different materials to create new types of products and packaging, which is making the work of recovering reusable products much harder.   “I call them ‘horrible hybrids’,” said Heidi Sanborn, who heads up the National Stewardship Action Council, a network of groups that seeks to get manufacturers to take responsibility for the proper disposal of the products they sell. “They are made of multiple materials or materials that are impossible to recycle. It’s a mushing of things.”   Discarded single-use plastics have become an international environmental flashpoint, as they have turned up in the bellies of birds and fish, flooded pristine beaches in remote countries with litter and even been detected in microscopic quantities in rainwater. Plastic products designed to be used for a few minutes can take decades or longer to decompose.   Studies have also shown the proliferation of single-use plastic is accelerating climate change through greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its lifecycle. While environmental groups fighting to reduce the use of throwaway plastics have gained visibility in the last few years, the oil industry is investing heavily in a huge surge of plastic production – which the industry expects to grow by 40% by 2030. The increase in plastics production is to be fueled by the ultra-cheap shale gas flowing from the US fracking boom. The petro-chemical industry has already invested $200 billion to build new cracking plants that separate ethane from gas to produce the ethylene needed to make plastics. Another $100 billion in investments is planned.   Industry often points to recycling as the solution to all those new plastics. Yet only a fraction of plastic products end up recycled, a problem that was exacerbated when China shut its doors in 2018 to the deluge of plastics from other countries that it had previously been recycling.   The US municipalities and recyclers are scrambling to increase the amount of recycling they can do domestically. But these new formulations of hybrid packaging – items mixing materials like foil, paper and sometimes multiple types of plastics – stymie recycling solutions and mostly just end up in the trash.   Examples include shoes and clothing embedded with electronics; the increasingly popular flexible plastic pouches used to package things like detergent pods, rice and baby food; and recyclable bottles and cans tightly wrapped in extra plastic labeling.  

Tiny batteries

  Singing cards and other products with tiny electronics inside them are especially vexing to recyclers. Not only do they include toxic electronic waste, but when the small batteries get crushed in the machinery inside recycling plants, they have been frequently known to cause fires.   “One of the biggest problems for recyclers right now is all the products containing lithium ion batteries, such as the singing cards, balloons and other novelty products,” said Kate Bailey, the director of research at Eco-Cycle, a Boulder, Colorado, recycler. “These batteries can spark easily when they get caught in the processing equipment or run over by a front-end loader, and these sparks can lead to disastrous fires in the recycling center.”   Recyclers are urging manufacturers to simplify the products they make to make it easy to recycle them. But they say consumers can also help by searching for more recyclable products – and then voting with their dollars.   Bad: singing greeting cards Better: regular cardboard cards Best: cards made from recycled paper or E-cards   Bad: musical mylar balloons Better: colorful pinwheels Best: edible bouquets   Bad: tennis shoes with light-up wheels Better: regular tennis shoes Best: shoes made of natural or recycled materials  

Plastic pouches

  Another growing menace for recyclers are the plastic pouches increasingly used to hold everything from laundry detergent pods to cereals and juices. This flexible packaging is made with many thin layers of different types and colors of plastic and is sometimes layered with foil and wax.   Manufacturers and plastic producers tout these pouches for making packages smaller, reducing shipping costs and increasing the shelf life of foods. “A few thin, carefully chosen layers mean more value, less footprint,” says a video by the plastic producer lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council, promoting such pouches.   But recyclers say they are pretty much impossible to recycle. And they are apt to end up in the ocean and take decades to biodegrade. When choosing laundry detergent, they say, consumers might look for products in unlined boxes or try new formulations such as concentrated detergent strips, which require no plastic packaging.   Bad: detergent pods packaged in film plastic bag Better: detergent in recyclable see-thru plastic jugs or cardboard box Best: laundry detergent strips   Bad: Baby food sold in plastic pouches Better: The old recyclable glass jars Best: Make your own from fresh fruits and vegetables  

Plastic labels

Another bugaboo for recyclers is the increasing use of non-recyclable wrappers around perfectly recyclable bottles and cans. For instance most spray cleaners come in bottles made of high-density polyethylene, which can be readily recycled. But first consumers must remove the spraytops, as they are made from different plastics and are not recyclable. Then consumers must find a way to pry off the brightly-colored, printed plastic wraps that packagers are increasingly wrapping around bottles to make the labeling more attractive.   “Who does all that? Nobody,” said Sanborn. “We’ve made recycling too complicated. Who has the time to read a manual for everything they get rid of?”   Instead consumers can look for clear-colored or white bottles with the labeling printed on the bottle itself. It’s even better if they choose brands committed to using recycled plastic to make these bottles, such as Method cleaning products. Another great option is for customers to mix their own cleaners and reuse the plastic bottles.   Bad: plastic spray bottle wrapped with an extra layer of printed plastic Better: white or transparent bottle without the extra wrap Best: make your own cleaner and refill the bottles   Bad: beer cans with plastic wraps or vinyl stickers Better: regular, very recyclable cans   Sanborn says that the best recycling outcomes happen when companies pay to create programs to make sure the waste from their products gets recycled in the end. Such programs are often mandatory in other countries. In the US, a few companies are promoting this type of effort voluntarily, such as a program to recycle plastic disposable razors coordinated by the company Gillete in partnership with the recycling enterprise, Terracycle. The program allows consumers to mail in their razors to be recycled.   “We should have it so these companies have to have an end-of-life system for all their products,” said Sanborn. “That’s producer responsibility.”        

NEWBERRY COUNTY – PalmettoPride has announced the grant recipients for 2020 totaling $400,214.00. PalmettoPride offers competitive grants for litter prevention programs and program support for law enforcement agencies, state and local governments, and Keep S.C. Beautiful affiliates across the state. This year was even more competitive with requests totaling more than $700,000. PalmettoPride awarded $200,918 to 25 Keep South Carolina Beautiful affiliates, to help create and maintain litter reduction and beautification programs and projects. Keep Newberry County Beautiful recived a $8,478. According Joseph Berry, executive director of Keep Newberry County Beautiful, the grant will be used for programming — including material for the Great American Cleanup, a community cleanup event for the spring-cleaning season. Other programs outlined in the grant were materials for an increased recycling program that purchased Terracycle materials, mainly the collection of items not typically processed in traditional recycling steams. The grant also covered the partial cost of training hosted by PalmettoPride at its annual conference in February.

F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc., makers of Don Francisco's Coffee®, Café La Llave®, and a wide variety of other family-crafted coffees, has teamed up with international recycling company TerraCycle^® to offer coffee lovers a free, easy way to recycle Don Francisco's Coffee Family Reserve® and Café La Llave® single serve coffee pods and espresso capsules.   Through the Coffee Pod Recycling Program, the latest eco-friendly initiative from the family-owned company, consumers can now send in their used single serve coffee pods and espresso capsules to be recycled for FREE. Participation is easy: sign up on the TerraCycle program page at www.terracycle.com/gavina and mail in the used pods and capsules using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned, separated by material type, melted and remolded to make new recycled products while the residual coffee is sent to an industrial composting facility. Additionally, with every shipment sent to TerraCycle through the program, consumers can earn points that can be used for charitable gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice.   "As coffee growers and roasters, my family built our business on a 150-year legacy and passion for coffee that runs deep and spans four generations," said Lisette Gaviña Lopez, Executive Marketing Director at F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc. "Sustainability is at the core of every business decision we make, and as we innovate to meet the changing needs and preferences of our customers, we also look for new ways to minimize environmental impact. Through our partnership with TerraCycle we can now extend our environmental efforts beyond the shelf with a responsible recycling program for our espresso capsule and coffee pod customers."   "At TerraCycle, we understand American's love affair with a great cup of coffee – we share the sentiment," said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle Founder and CEO.  "But through the Coffee Pod Recycling Program, coffee connoisseurs can enjoy their favorite pick-me-up, easily reduce waste, all without sacrificing the enjoyment of their favorite brew."   F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc.'s commitment to sustainability led to the creation of the Direct Impact™ Initiative, which focuses on four pillars: dedication to farmers, sustainable sourcing, environmental sustainability, and social stewardship. Dedicated to smallholder farmers and the land they work upon, Gaviña and partners work towards improving the quality of life and increasing social and economic development in Coffee Belt farming communities. These efforts include technical assistance for Guatemalan farmers to employ sustainable farming techniques while increasing household income, and building a central coffee processing wet mill in Colombia to help local smallholder farmers adapt to climate change while reducing environmental footprint. The company also sources certified coffees from Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade USA and USDA certified Organic, and roasts all their coffee from their Zero Waste to Landfill plant in Vernon, California.   The Coffee Pod Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization. For more information on TerraCycle's recycling program, visit www.terracycle.com.   For more information on Don Francisco's Coffee and Café La Llave brands, including their coffee pods and espresso capsules, follow @DonFranciscos and @cafelallave on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.donfranciscos.com. For more on parent company F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc. and their sustainability efforts, visit www.gavina.com.