Anyone who lived through grade school in the 1990s can relate to Jordan’s reminiscing about the heyday of recycled paper and its lasting effects on everyday products:

Consider this: during the early 90s, a green wave hit the marketplace and products such as recycled paper were being pushed as the environmentally friendly alternative. I remember proudly buying some gray notebook paper that was 100% recycled. It was terrible paper — very hard to write on, and easy to tear. But darn it, I was doing my part, as a kid in school, to help reduce waste.

The demand for 100% recycled paper died down. But paper companies continued to use some recycled content in their paper and improve the process. Much of the notebook paper kids use for school today has some amount of recycled content in it, as does a lot of the cardboard used for packaging fast food. The green wave of the 1990s might have died down, but it did bring recycled materials to the forefront as a viable way to create products.

Jordan goes on to apply the same logic to today’s hottest green trend: reusable bags. Though they’ve always been en vogue for those on the front lines of environmentalism, they never really caught on in the mainstream until this most recent wave of green living. Over the past few years, the average consumer has embraced tote bags for everything from groceries to library books with such a fervor that it makes one wonder why they never caught on before. Jordan’s theory: until now, no one ever attempted to make reusable bags appealing to consumers.

The truth of the matter is that reusable bags have been out there for years, but they haven’t been produced at a low enough price that they’ve been attractive to consumers. When grocery stores embraced them during the last “green” wave and began offering them for a dollar a bag, consumers could see the value of having a few. When being socially conscious is cheap and easy, many people are willing to give it a try.

Unfortunately, he notes, the cyclical nature of green marketing dictates that, by and large, the frenzy for environmentally conscious products will eventually die back down. On the whole, however, each new wave seems to raise consumer standards by exponential degrees. This time around, reusable bags seem to have finally taken hold and — like recycled products before it — are poised to take a permanent place in mainstream consumer culture.

When I asked Mr. Simmons regarding their involvement with Keep Houston Beautiful and the Esplanade Project he responded “We are a key sponsor for both Keep Houston Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful because we believe that global problems can be solved at a local level.” He was excited that so many community members and families had shown up in support to plant trees and help make Houstonians proud of their City.

Turning Houston Green is a huge proponent of single stream recycling — a process allowing recyclables to be handled in one container (rather than multiple bins for glass, paper, and plastics) making the act of recycling easier and more accessible to the common citizen. According to the blog, single stream recycling has caused a 200% recycling increase in San Antonio, and a whopping 300% increase in Dallas. Are similar outcomes on the horizon for Houston? Simmons has high hopes that people will follow suit.

The competitor in me says that Houston can do better. Right? Mr. Simmons stated that “People want to do the right thing… When recycling is made easy, people do it” so Greenstar works closely with Municipalities to help make recycling convenient for residents. They believe that Texas can be a National leader in Recycling and that single stream recycling is the answer for Houston.

For more on the subject, check out the rest of the interview. Otherwise, chime in: do you think single stream recycling is the way of the future for Houston and other cities like it? Could easier recycling lead to a more eco-conscious population? Let us know!

There are lots of good reasons to recycle and we’ve had many of those addressed. But for me the basic of this bill comes down to an issue of fairness, that we in Utah deserve to receive the service of recycling that we pay for when we buy this product.

E-waste is among the fastest-growing environmental problems in the United States, and it’s something government officials aren’t taking lightly — according to the report, the bill passed 47-26, and is now moving on to a Senate vote where it will hopefully take hold and pave the way for more recycling laws in the future.

Topping the list is air-dying, which tackles the current problem of material waste in the process of dying textiles. New methods are promising to drastically cut the amount of resources needed to color fabrics:

During the dying process, water is used to apply color, but also to push the fabrics through machines. New machines by companies like Fongs are using air to push the fabrics, thus reducing the amount of water used. With this method, the dying of a t-shirt can go from requiring 200 to using only 50 liters of water (Textile World).

Another, more eco sound, alternative is a system called AirDye, which works with proprietary dyes that are heat-transferred from paper to fabric in a one-step process. This can save between seven and 75 gallons of water in the dying of a pound of fabric, save energy, and produces no harmful by-products.

Along with processes, however, are new and sustainable takes on materials. Cork, PET bottles, stinging nettles, seaweed, banana fibers, and recycled fabrics are all finding new life on the cutting edge of fashion:

[Alternative materials] include, for example, fabrics made with nylon recovered from products like nets and carpets by Mipan. An example of the use of this is the swimwear line Eco Panda.

Some factories are also recycling cotton industrial leftovers, which keeps these scraps from incinerators or landfills and creates new materials. One example is the Italian initiative EcotecProject.

Overall, the verdict is in: the fashion world is on the precipice of some major green changes. The big question is whether they will pass as a fad or catch on permanently. Would you wear recycled materials? Are alternative plant fibers really so radically different from cotton? Let us know!

• What’s the best way to tame the bag monster lurking in your cupboards? Stop feeding it — get reusable bags instead! [Honolulu Star-Bulletin]
• Residents of Washington, DC react in different ways to the 5-cent plastic bag tax. [CBN]
• For your health, don’t forget to wash your reusable bags! Science explains why. [WJLA]
• Reusable bags continue to prove themselves a savings bonanza in the long run. [Daily Press]
• An eco-friendly kitchen can be yours, in just eight simple-than-you-think steps! [Washington Post]
• This year, make the choice to remember The Three Rs. [Independent Record]
• Filipino rice sacks get the upscale treatment as reusable bags at West End. [LA Times blog]
• National Environmental Education Foundation honors Fairfax County high school students for green innovations in the lunch room. [Washington Post]
• Are you a crafty crafter? Try these reusable sandwich and snack bags on for size. [So You Think You're Crafty]
]]> http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/friday-link-round-up/weekly-link-round-up-030510/feed/ 0 http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/sea-shepherd-steps-up-its-game-with-flying-robots/ http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/sea-shepherd-steps-up-its-game-with-flying-robots/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:51:13 +0000 Sasha http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/?p=331 With tons of debris and toxic degrading plastic bags masquerading as fish in the ocean, whales have enough to worry about without being hunted. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is dedicated to addressing that problem — for years, the whale preservationist group has engaged in an increasingly publicized (and even televised) David versus Goliath fight against the massive Japanese whaling industry. The whaling armada recently introduced the devastating LRAD noise device to their arsenal of nonlethal weaponry. Now, Ecorazzi reports, Sea Shepherd is upping the ante by investing in the “octocopter,” a state-of-the-art robotic flying camera that could be used to keep a much closer eye on whaling ships.

According to news reports, the firm behind the “Octocopter” is readying a future demonstration of their technology for U.S. representatives of the anti-whaling organization. From the article: “Developed over two years, the machine features state-of-the art electronic GPS wizardry and video and still cameras. The ‘octocopter’ – so called because of its eight propellers – is ‘flown’ like a helicopter and can be kept in the air for up to 30 minutes before batteries have to be recharged.”

Excessive whaling is as illegal for Japanese ships as for anyone else in the world, but ships like the Nisshin Maru have been able to skirt the rules under the guise of “research sampling.” An extra pair (or eight) of eyes in the sky courtesy of Sea Shepherd, however, could seriously aid in monitoring illegal on-deck activities–and, perhaps, prove a crushing blow to the whaling industry.

]]> http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/sea-shepherd-steps-up-its-game-with-flying-robots/feed/ 0 http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/reusable-bags-and-the-future-of-fashion/ http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/reusable-bags-and-the-future-of-fashion/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:51:56 +0000 Sasha http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/?p=324 Not so long ago, it was rare that a simple shopping bag could be considered a fashion statement. Aside from the iconic “brown bags” of Bloomingdale’s, any and all status symbols are usually contained inside the shopping bags. Now, however, all of that is changing with the rise of the reusable shopping bag.

Ted Mininni, columnist for marketing resource blog MarketingProfs, wasn’t startled by most peoples’ reasons to take up the mantle of reusable bags when faced with eco-consciousness or plastic bag taxes and bans, but was–at first–taken aback by the suggestion that reusable bags have crept into the world of fashion:

Reusable bags as a fashion statement? Who knew? As the [Washington] Post astutely points out: “…the reusable bag is becoming part of popular culture, thanks to a stable of companies that have been churning out hip models.”

Really though, it’s easy to see why trendy reusable bags would have such appeal — brought out time and again for weekly shopping endeavors, the bags are as much a chance to make a statement about your personality and fashion sense as a handbag or a change of clothes. Many people end up seeking out bags that are a reflection of themselves–a move that not only gets people more excited about their reusables, but more likely to actually remember to (re)use them on a regular basis.

]]> http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/reusable-bags-and-the-future-of-fashion/feed/ 1 http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/new-japanese-robot-takes-recycling-to-the-next-level/ http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/new-japanese-robot-takes-recycling-to-the-next-level/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:18:50 +0000 Sasha http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/?p=315 Who doesn’t love robots? Whirring around and making our lives more comfortable, they are easily the most anticipated feature of the future. But robots who recycle? That’s just icing on the cake that students at Osaka University, in conjunction with Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co, are ready to deliver:

Osaka University and Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co. have designed a robot with laser-sensing technology that can distinguish six different types of plastic from all other garbage. The 5-foot 6-inch by 6-foot 9-inch machine identifies the plastic materials by analyzing the reflectivity of five different wavelengths of lasers on the garbage. Once it identifies the material, it sorts the garbage into different piles.

According to green tech blog EcoGeek, this efficient little robot is poised to revolutionize the ease with which we recycle. Currently, the biggest obstacle facing recycling in Japan is confusion over which types of plastic are recyclable and which aren’t, leading to lower recycling rates overall. The superior sorting skills of the robot will take out the guesswork by simply wicking away the unrecyclables from the pile, hopefully leading to heightened confidence in recycling and an increased rate in the long run.

Will this handy-dandy robot be showing up in everyday households any time soon? Probably not quite yet. Only one prototype exists at the moment, and the article quotes soon-to-be-produced models as pricing out at around $55,000–a price tag fit for businesses and industry more than your typical kitchen. That said, it’s a good indicator of things to expect in the future, and robots are always a good start.

]]> http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/blog-bites/new-japanese-robot-takes-recycling-to-the-next-level/feed/ 0 http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/friday-link-round-up/weekly-link-round-up-021910/ http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/friday-link-round-up/weekly-link-round-up-021910/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:35:10 +0000 Sasha http://recycle.reusethisbag.com/?p=307
• Baltimore considers the possibilities for solutions to their plastic bag pollution problem. [Second Opinion]
• Portland State University students say no thanks to the ubiquitous “paper or plastic” conundrum. [Vanguard]
• Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast tourism representatives score points with reusable bag giveaways. [Coast Reporter]
• Oregon students get up close and personal with how their school deals with garbage. [The News-Review]
• One Connecticut resident ruminates positively on the changes that a plastic bag fee would bring to her town. [Wilton Bulletin]
• No plastic bags on Saturdays? More like no plastic bags EVERY day! [blogging.my.brains.out]
• Bloggers look forward to new green innovations at next year’s NYC Fashion Week. [Earth 911]
• Marks & Spencer strikes an innovative recycling deal with British Council. [Business Green]
• Volunteers are needed this Saturday for Long Beach’s monthly 30-minute beach cleanup! Are you in? [Everything Long Beach]