Coca-Cola to Release Eco-Friendly “PlantBottles”

Last month, I told you all about the Plastic Vortex, a swirling mass of plastic refuse in the Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas. Plastic bottles are some of the most common items found in the vortex, and are contributing heavily to the mass-scale pollution. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 22 billion plastic bottles are thrown away each year in the United States—that’s about 20 million per day! Clearly, even if we scale up our recycling, reducing and reusing efforts on a massive scale, something still needs to done about the make-up of these bottles.

Coca-Cola thinks they may have the answer in the PlantBottle, a new bioplastic bottle they have developed. Bioplastics, which are plastics made with biomass instead of petroleum, have been becoming more and more popular as an environmentally-friendly way to package goods. Bioplastics are much more sustainable than traditional plastics, with much smaller carbon footprints and reduced toxin levels. PlantBottles are made with spent sugar cane and molasses, and in their current formulation, cut carbon emissions per bottle by a whopping 25 percent. Coca-Cola is gearing up to start using PlantBottles for Dasani brand water in select markets by the end of the year, with VitaminWater following next year.

According to CEO Muhlar Kent, Coca-Cola has a "vision to eventually introduce bottles made with materials that are 100 percent recyclable and renewable." Though this version of the PlantBottle is only 30 percent bioplastic and will only see limited distribution for the foreseeable future, this is still a massive step in the right direction.

Your Next Cell Phone May Be Made of Corn

Believe it or not, Sprint and Samsung announced on Thursday that they are planning to roll out a cell phone made with corn as an ingredient. Called the Reclaim, the phone will cost $50.00 after rebates and be one of the greenest phones on the market.

Corn-based bioplastic will make up 40 percent of the phone’s casing, helping to cut down on both greenhouse emissions and hazardous waste. Bioplastics currently make up only about five percent of the plastic market, but that number should grow as more people become concerned about their carbon footprint and as oil prices continue to rise.

It’s not just the phone itself that’s eco-friendly, though. Packaging will be made from 70 percent recycled material and soy-based ink, the traditional paper manual will be swapped for a virtual version and the phone’s charger will be about 12 times more efficient than normal chargers. Also, Sprint will donate $2.00 to The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program for every Reclaim sold.

You can pick up the Reclaim from Sprint starting August 16th in either “Earth Green” or “Ocean Blue.”

Sustainability: The Final Frontier

Like you, businesses and government agencies are looking to cut energy costs. To help curb their energy appetite, NASA is planning on building the most energy efficient building in the entire federal government. The building, to be named Sustainability Base, should essentially power itself and use just 10 percent of the water that similar sized buildings use.

To hit those targets, plans call for eco-friendly choices like solar panels, geothermal wells, fuel cells, and water recycling. Managing everything will be a control system based on the computers that control NASA uses to control its spacecrafts. The system can take into account the weather, how many people are in the building and other factors to dial in the perfect amount of heating and cooling, which helps save big on energy consumption.

While it’s unlikely that you will have the opportunity (or funds) to build your own multi-million dollar green building from scratch, some of the advanced systems found in Tranquility Base (or smaller scale versions of them) should start showing up in new houses in the near future, so keep an eye out.

Do You Know Where Your Trash Ends Up?

What we throw away doesn’t just end up in landfills. A lot of trash ends up being swept up into the ocean, and into massive floating colonies of junk. The largest of these collections, the Plastic Vortex located between Hawaii and mainland United States, is estimated to measure twice the size of Texas and weight over 100 million tons. Animals end up eating the garbage, which is great at soaking up pollutants, transmitting toxins up the food chain that can eventually work their way into humans.

Never heard of this toxic floating dump? Neither have most people. Douglas Woodring, an ocean conservationist based out of Hong Kong, is on a mission to change that. With the help of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Douglas has just started an expedition, called Project Kaisei, to the Plastic Vortex in order to document and research the formation.

How can you help fight the Plastic Vortex? One of the best ways is to become more eco-friendly by reducing, recycling and reusing. You can also pitch in by following Project Kaisei on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ProjectKaisei) and spreading the word.

Go to the Moon with Google Today

Forty years ago today, two guys got out of a spacecraft and then walked on the surface of the moon. The landing of Apollo 11 was a historic moment in our history.It is still quite incredible even today, though we've progressed in both years and technology.

So how is Google celebrating this occasion? By adding the Moon in Google Earth, of course. If you want to learn more about each of the Apollo missions, as well as browse over the moon's surface, Google Earth has expanded today with lots of information and added usability. There are videos, 3D images of the different craft that have flown to the moon, and general information that anybody can get into.

This is definitely a fun and interesting way to find out more about each of the lunar missions, and you can browse the information by landing sites. Anyone that's played with Google Earth knows how engrossing it can be and this only adds to it. Simply download the Google Earth application, and start clicking through to learn more.

Study Finds Finds Clean Energy Economy Generates Significant Job Growth

According to a report recently released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the number of jobs in America’s emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007.

Pew found that jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007. There was a similar pattern at the state level, where job growth in the clean energy economy outperformed overall job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia during the same period. The report also found that this promising sector is poised to expand significantly, driven by increasing consumer demand, venture capital infusions, and federal and state policy reforms.

“The clean energy economy is poised for explosive growth,” said Lori Grange, interim deputy director of the Pew Center on the States. “These jobs are driving economic growth and environmental sustainability at a time when America needs both. There is a potential competitive advantage for federal and state policy leaders who act now to spur jobs, businesses and investments in the clean energy sector.”

The report also showed that the emerging clean energy economy is creating well-paying jobs in every state for people of all skill levels and educational backgrounds. Included in Pew’s definition are jobs as diverse as engineers, plumbers, administrative assistants, construction workers, machine setters, marketing consultants, teachers and many others, with annual incomes ranging from $21,000 to $111,000.

For more on Pew's findings, download the full Clean Economy report (PDF).

Eco-smart Swaps

A Prevention magazine article on eco-smart swaps was recently featured on MSNBC that gave some great tips on everyday items that might be full of chemicals that are bad for you—and the Earth—and the alternatives that relatively easy to find. I found a few of them surprising!

For instance, they recommend skipping canned pasta sauce and sticking with fresh or jarred sauce. Apparently, the lining found in most cans contains a chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) and it's especially likely to leach into acidic foods such as tomatoes or tomato sauce. You can also cut more by choosing tuna canned in water instead of oil because BPA is fat soluble, causing it to build up in the oil.

Another surprising swap: shower curtains! The article suggest you ditch your vinyl (PVC) shower curtain and choose a PVC-free plastic shower curtains, or ones made of nylon, cotton, bamboo, or hemp. A recent study by the nonprofit Center for Health, Environment & Justice found that in the 28 days after hanging, PVC shower curtains released 108 chemicals, some of which are hazardous—including toluene and phenol. And a 2002 study by EPA scientists found that vinyl shower curtains could emit phenol for more than a month! You can check out Ikea for PVC-plastic curtains but cloth or bamboo is eco-friendlier. Or go with a hemp curtain that requires no liner and is naturally mildew resistant.

For more swaps, check out the interactive article 9 eco-smart swaps that will boost your health and protect the Earth, too.