Frankly Green

Patagonia Launches New Line of Jackets Made from Recycled Materials

From my friend Zem at ecofabulous!!

Patagonia has launched a line of jackets made entirely of recycled materials, which makes them green as the founder of the famously environmentally-forward outdoorsy line of clothing and accessories.

Made of 100 percent recycled polyester, these hip-length shells in styles for men and women (the women’s style is shown above) are waterproof enough to fend off rain and have a mesh liner that wicks moisture away from the body and protects against the wind. Both styles have removable hoods and lots of pockets for stashing all the stuff you’ll need on the trail or for a day out running errands in less than balmy weather.

The jackets are recyclable through the Common Threads Recycling Program and the company has created a link on its site that allows you to research the complete footprint of the item before you buy it, including the number of miles the item has traveled; its CO2 emissions; the amount of waste created in making it and energy used in its creation.

Let’s just hope more companies decide to take Patagonia’s pre-blazed path.

The Story of Stuff

Thanks to my friend Malissa L. for this excellent link to the Story of Stuff. This is a must see!! There are some real eye opening (and frightening) facts. For example, in North America, only 1% of the materials we harvest, mine, or transport are still in use after 6 months. That means that 99% is trashed within 6 months!! Think about it! Sadly, it's true. We have come to live in a disposable society. When something breaks, we don't fix it, we just buy a new one (and throw the old one into a landfill). This has to change. We simply do not have the resources to continue our consumption at the current rate.

We are all guilty AND we all have the potential to make a difference! And just in time for New Year's resolutions! I know that I have a few already!

"The first step toward change is awareness."

Link to Video

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Green Holiday Gifts: Biodegradable Surf Wax

Wet Women Surf Wax is a revolutionary, eco intelligent surf wax that is nontoxic, biodegradable, and compostable. Wet Women Surf Wax is made of safe biological nutrients that can be entirely broken down and return safely to nature over time. The wax is viably certified and scientifically proven by MBDC as being harmless to the ecosystems in which it's used or thrown away.

Wet Women Surf Wax was also featured in this MSNBC post on Hyper Green Products Go 'Cradle to Cradle'. And for full disclosure, although I have no financial interest in the company, my cousin Morgan is the founder.

Hyper-Green Products go "Cradle to Cradle"

Growing list of products aiming to win new eco-certification
By Jenny Lynn Zappala MSNBC contributor Oct 12, 2007

Link to Article

This past summer, I had the great pleasure of spending a week with Bill McDonough and a great group of forward thinking, evnironmentally conscious folks (If you have not read McDonough's book Cradle to Cradle, I highly recommend it)! I was excited to learn about the many products that have received the cradle-to-cradle certification or are in the certification process. I wholeheartedly agree with Scott Horst's, chairman of the LEED steering committee, comment, “My prediction is we’re just seeing an awakening in the market that there is a better way to be doing what we are doing. As I travel around, you can see the giant machine of our economy twist around.”

Designing products with a holistic approach (what can I do with the product when its useful life expires? How can this product become a source of "food" rather than waste?) makes perfect sense! And, like Horst, I think we are going to see a lot more of this in the products we use everyday.

Imagine consumer products made from healthy and safe materials that, at the end of their life, are taken apart and either turned into raw materials for new products or returned to the earth as compost. These products are manufactured using renewable energy and marketed with socially responsible strategies.

In this world, you can flush the dirty diapers down the toilet, spray household cleaners without fear of poisoning your houseplants (or family) and wax your surfboard without feeling guilty about the fish.

In essence: Shopping can be good again.

“Ideally, cradle to cradle will become the mantra for product design. No company will enter a product development process without using these criteria,” said William McDonough, eco-evangelist, designer and co-author of the manifesto “Cradle To Cradle.”

The secret is products designed with the cradle-to-cradle mantra in mind. And these hyper-green products are coming to a shopping mall near you.

Even boosters admit the first wave is a small, mismatched group of certified products: All-purpose cleaner, baby diapers, office chairs, workstations, surfboard wax and whiteboards that have slowly entered the market as just a small blip on the radar screen of eco-savvy consumers.

But some trend watchers predict these hyper-green products will multiply and move mainstream as more people become environmentally aware.

What makes cradle-to-cradle products different from other green products is independent third-party certification. Consumers can now look for the C2C-certified logo, which began appearing on products about six months ago.

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, founded in 1995 by McDonough and Michael Braungart, has certified about 60 cradle-to-cradle products over the past two years and about 30 applications are pending, said Steve Bolton, manager of business development at the firm.  A Web site featuring new product announcements, forums and a blog is set to launch by December.

The trend has gained traction over the past six months, especially since the cradle-to-cradle idea received receiving recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council. An international meeting set for next year will raise the movement's profile. A new international partnership has been formed with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry; Material Connexion, a network of material specialists; and EPEA, an independent scientific research institute...

The beauty is that anything can be certified — cars, chairs, clothes, office supplies and, yes, diapers. An Australian couple, Jason and Kim Graham-Nye, earned cradle-to-cradle certification for their product, gDiapers, to gain “legitimacy and credibility with our customers,” said spokeswoman Kate French. Their diapers consist of a washable cotton outer pant and plastic-free flushable refill...

The first C2C certified consumer product — a U.S. Postal Service box — demonstrates how complicated redesign can be, Bolton said. Sixty packing items — including boxes, decals and labels — yielded 1,400 ingredients that had to be accounted for and certified. But there are benefits, such as reducing the cost of waste and hazardous material disposal. Now, you can bury that Postal Service box in your garden when you are done with it, and it will decompose safely...

True believers see an even brighter future when entire industries adopt cradle to cradle as a standard design protocol.

“We had the Industrial Revolution, where we don't care how it is made as long as it is cheap, fast and we make a lot of it,” said Dent. “This is a revolution where it is a total beauty product. … These are products you can be proud of.”

Link to Full Article