Comments for Small Rock Big Universe http://smallrockbiguniverse.com It's the only planet we have ... Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:01:57 +0000 hourly 1 Comment on Put That Plastic In The Compost! by kimba http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/2009/01/30/put-that-plastic-in-the-compost/comment-page-1/#comment-23 kimba Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:01:57 +0000 http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/?p=127#comment-23 Here is a really interesting article from the Smithsonian on PLA: http://tinyurl.com/bsu5us Here is a really interesting article from the Smithsonian on PLA:

http://tinyurl.com/bsu5us

]]> Comment on Put That Plastic In The Compost! by kimba http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/2009/01/30/put-that-plastic-in-the-compost/comment-page-1/#comment-22 kimba Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:44:12 +0000 http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/?p=127#comment-22 Thanks organicgirl! I think part of the confusion lies in what part of the plants go into the product. Even the NatureWorks web site talks about field corn being used, so it would be easy to think that *only* the actual corn kernals were part of the production. Thanks for clarifying that! Thanks organicgirl!

I think part of the confusion lies in what part of the plants go into the product. Even the NatureWorks web site talks about field corn being used, so it would be easy to think that *only* the actual corn kernals were part of the production.

Thanks for clarifying that!

]]> Comment on Put That Plastic In The Compost! by organicgirl http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/2009/01/30/put-that-plastic-in-the-compost/comment-page-1/#comment-21 organicgirl Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:10:52 +0000 http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/?p=127#comment-21 I would like to address the issue that Kimba points out, that you need to pay attention to the decisions that you make as a consumer, and how it affects us all. I am with organicgirl, an organic produce company, and we do use PLA #7 plastic containers for all our organicgirl products we produce in clamshells. I'd like to clear up a misconception that Mr. Dunn states, and that is the use of corn to make the trays. It's plant startch, not necessarily corn on the cobb, that is used to make PLA. PLA was initially made from corn, but many improvements have been made since it's infancy many many years ago. To clear this up, PLA is gleaned from the plant stalk and leaves left in teh field after the vegetable has been harvested. The crop would usually be disked under in preparation for the next field, but PLA technology allows the field remenants to be harvested again to produce the lactic acid to make the PLA resin. There is no stealing vegetables from 3rd world countries to make PLA, or anything outrageous like that. Also, to address Mr. Bryant, it is recommended to send your PLA containers to municipal composting facilities because of the wide variability in home composting. Home composting requires a specific carbon nitrogen ratio, surface area, aeration, moisture, and most importantly temperatures of between 90˚F – 140˚F (32-60˚C). We have had consumers home compost successfully, again, it's just not recommended due to the variability of composting piles and individual knowledge of composting. In addition, with organicgirl choosing packaging from plants (PLA) and not oil (PET), we have also greatly reduced our packaging environmental footprint. Based on our environmental calculations for 2008, we have cumulatively saved approximately the fossil fuel energy equivalent to over 135,000 gallons of gasoline and reduced green house gas emissions equivalent to driving a car over 3,000,000 miles (based on switching our annual consumption of containers from PET to PLA). organicgirl has chosen to impact what we CAN influence for a positive change, and today that is the origins of the plastic. Hopefully you agree this is a great step in the right direction. I would like to address the issue that Kimba points out, that you need to pay attention to the decisions that you make as a consumer, and how it affects us all. I am with organicgirl, an organic produce company, and we do use PLA #7 plastic containers for all our organicgirl products we produce in clamshells. I’d like to clear up a misconception that Mr. Dunn states, and that is the use of corn to make the trays. It’s plant startch, not necessarily corn on the cobb, that is used to make PLA. PLA was initially made from corn, but many improvements have been made since it’s infancy many many years ago. To clear this up, PLA is gleaned from the plant stalk and leaves left in teh field after the vegetable has been harvested. The crop would usually be disked under in preparation for the next field, but PLA technology allows the field remenants to be harvested again to produce the lactic acid to make the PLA resin. There is no stealing vegetables from 3rd world countries to make PLA, or anything outrageous like that.

Also, to address Mr. Bryant, it is recommended to send your PLA containers to municipal composting facilities because of the wide variability in home composting. Home composting requires a specific carbon nitrogen ratio, surface area, aeration, moisture, and most importantly temperatures of between 90˚F – 140˚F (32-60˚C). We have had consumers home compost successfully, again, it’s just not recommended due to the variability of composting piles and individual knowledge of composting.

In addition, with organicgirl choosing packaging from plants (PLA) and not oil (PET), we have also greatly reduced our packaging environmental footprint. Based on our environmental calculations for 2008, we have cumulatively saved approximately the fossil fuel energy equivalent to over 135,000 gallons of gasoline and reduced green house gas emissions equivalent to driving a car over 3,000,000 miles (based on switching our annual consumption of containers from PET to PLA). organicgirl has chosen to impact what we CAN influence for a positive change, and today that is the origins of the plastic. Hopefully you agree this is a great step in the right direction.

]]> Comment on Put That Plastic In The Compost! by kimba http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/2009/01/30/put-that-plastic-in-the-compost/comment-page-1/#comment-20 kimba Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:19:08 +0000 http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/?p=127#comment-20 If you read the last paragraph in the post, you'd see that I mentioned that the PLA product has to go to a commercial composter. The product that inspired this post is 'I Love Organic Girl' Baby Spinach. They have a list of composting facilities for their PLA containers. http://www.iloveorganicgirl.com/og/sustainability/find_a_composter/ And the point is, again: "I hope that what people take away from the story is that they should pay attention to what the container says on the bottom so that it gets recycled in the right place." If you read the last paragraph in the post, you’d see that I mentioned that the PLA product has to go to a commercial composter.

The product that inspired this post is ‘I Love Organic Girl’ Baby Spinach. They have a list of composting facilities for their PLA containers.

http://www.iloveorganicgirl.com/og/sustainability/find_a_composter/

And the point is, again: “I hope that what people take away from the story is that they should pay attention to what the container says on the bottom so that it gets recycled in the right place.”

]]> Comment on Put That Plastic In The Compost! by Bryant http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/2009/01/30/put-that-plastic-in-the-compost/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Bryant Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:45:43 +0000 http://smallrockbiguniverse.com/?p=127#comment-19 You need to do a little more reading about PLA. Tim's comments are on the mark. The other thing not mentioned is if you put PLA into a "backyard" compost heap, you will be waiting a long, long time for it to turn into compost. The company specifically notes that PLA requires commercial composting for it to decompose. There exists almost no commercial compost facilities accepting anything other than yard waste in the U.S. And with no recycling for PLA in operation, your PLA packaging will be destined for either a landfill or a WTE facility just like the materials it replaced. Sorry to break the bad news to you. You need to do a little more reading about PLA. Tim’s comments are on the mark. The other thing not mentioned is if you put PLA into a “backyard” compost heap, you will be waiting a long, long time for it to turn into compost. The company specifically notes that PLA requires commercial composting for it to decompose. There exists almost no commercial compost facilities accepting anything other than yard waste in the U.S. And with no recycling for PLA in operation, your PLA packaging will be destined for either a landfill or a WTE facility just like the materials it replaced. Sorry to break the bad news to you.

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