Design 127: Environmental Consciousness

The Spring DES 127 Show, This is Why You’re Hot, went off smoothly in the UC Davis MU. To find materials from the show, go to the DES 127 class homepage: http://www.projectregenerate.org/des127/

BioBag  

http://www.biobagusa.com/ 

BioBag is the world’s largest brand of certified biodegradable bags and all the products are certified to meet the ASTM D6400-99 standard for compostable plastics.  BioBag products are made from Mater-Bi, the main component of which is corn starch and use no polyethylene in the production process and contain no additive to stimulate decomposition. The BioBag bags biodegrade between 90-180 days, depending on the composting method  

Chico Bag Reusable Shopping Bags     

 http://greenfeet.com/

Use the ChicoBag Reusable Nylon Shopping Bag for everything – trips to the grocery store, farmers market or out shopping. The Chico Bag reusable shopping bag’s made from strong, durable nylon. It’s ultra-lightweight and tuck itself into a little bag making it perfect to fit into your purse, pocket or glove box. They’re easy to pack, durable and hold a lot. Machine washable. 1 year manufacturers warranty against defects in material and workmanship. 

Kill A Watt       

http://www.worldcentric.org/store 

The Kill-a-watt: Do you know how much energy you use?

Find out which appliances are sucking energy and money right out of your pocket. Simply plug your appliance into the Kill A Watt™ and a large LCD display counts consumption by the Kilowatt-hour just like your utility company. Use the kill a watt to monitor the quality of your power.

Stonescape

http://www.american-biltrite.com/Flooring/estrie/stonescape/home/stonescape-Home.htm

Stonescape is an environmental-friendly alternative to traditional sheet vinyl flooring or VCT. It is PVC free and does not emit VOC’s into the environment. Stonescape has been used in healthcare, educational, and office applications. 5-year warranty. 

 BioShield 

 http://www.bioshieldpaint.com/index.php?main_page=index 

Bioshield is a paint company who sells “healthy living paints” that contain natural and easily-renewable resources without harmful chemicals, toxins and additives. The company offers a variety of vibrant colors.

http://www.spartech.com/eco_initiative/packaging.html

This company offers high performance rigid plastic packaging; Packalloy TPX in food packaging is a polypropylene alloy that replaces thicker alternative materials and is 100% recyclable. They also provide plates that goes from the freezer to microwave used as one-serve dinner ware, and also baby food container.

http://www.naturapackaging.com/
This company provides biodegradable packing for fruits and vegetables, and also waste bags and shopping bags.

http://terrapackaging.com/
A company dedicated to research, development and manufacturing of earth friendly products for both commercial and consumer use.  They provide biodegradable plastic containers, and various other earth friendly products. 

http://www.biospherecorp.com/index.htm
Biosphere Industries is presents a new rigid packaging alternative to paper and plastics.  This new materials are bio-based and can be used in food service items as well as general packaging, this product biodegrades in 40 days or less. 

http://www.greenlightproducts.co.uk/index.html

This company provides various environmentally sustainable loosefill, air cushion void fill, polyurethane foam, foam block cushioning for packaging, and various other biodegradable products.   

1. Euraba Paper Co.

– The company uses the cotton fibers cut offs from clothing to make their paper.  These pieces are usually discarded to the landfill.  The company collects these fiber cut-off pieces and put them through the paper making process.  Their company offers stationary sets, artists’ paper, paper packs, and art cards.-        

website: http://eurabapaper.com.au/paper_making_process.php 

2. Living Tree Paper Co.

– This company uses non-wood fibers, flax-straw and hemp, and post consumer waste to make their papers.  They offer uncoated and coated printing & writing paper. -         Website: http://www.livingtreepaper.com/index.html 

3. Wausau Paper Co.

–This company produces beautifully colored paper. 80% of their papers are produced with at least 30% of post-consumer waste.       

Website: http://www.wausaupapers.com/about/envCommitment.aspx 

4. New Leaf Paper Co.

–This company makes their paper products out of post-consumer waste, agricultural by-product, de-inked post consumer, sustainable harvest fiber including non-wood fibers such as hemp and kenaf.  They process their paper without using chlorine so it doesn’t pollute the enviornment like other paper printing processes.        

Website: http://newleafpaper.com/ecopaper.html 

5. Eco-products

–This company offer paper supplies such as paper plates which are made out of 99.9% of recycled paper and completely biodegradable and compostable.  They also offer paper towels and napkins that are made of 100%recycled paper.-         Website: http://www.ecoproducts.com/Home/home_paper_products/home_index_paper_products.htm

I just thought that this article is interesting, since we talked about polycarbonate plastics earlier in class: Glass baby bottles making comeback.  Below the article there’s a list of what parents can do to help their child, and amongst some of them were “avoid letting your baby put plastic toys in their mouths” and “avoid foods wrapped in plastic” which I think are a little hard to avoid… but the one that says “Choose plastic food containers, bottles and cups made of #1, #2 and #4 (polyethylene) and softer, opaque #5 (polypropylene) plastics, glass or stainless steel” is very helpful because it’s teaching moms which plastics are good for their children, and in respect, good for the environment, too. Go moms!

- Work on project, bring it to class on Monday
- Ready 64-71 in Reader (about biomimicry)
- Go to biomimicry website and pick a topic to discuss on Monday

GREEN CLEANING KIT

The Green Product I found on the web is a green based house cleaner.  The reason that I liked it and wanted to write about it was because people use toxic chemical cleaners to clean their houses everyday.  With the incorporation of chemically free cleaners to our household, our environment could potentially be in much better shape than it is now.  For this specific product, not only does it include an all purpose cleaner, but it contains a tub and tile cleaner, mildew cleaner, floor cleaner and stain eraser.  This kit comes with all of the essential cleaning solutions to keep ones house fresh and clean without the harsh chemical component. 

http://www.greenhome.com/products/housekeeping/all_purpose_cleaners/113268/

Kristiana Baumsteiger

Eco Timber

http://ecotimber.com/

Eco Timber is a company that provides recycled wood for flooring in residential and commercial use. Eco Timber has been around since 1992 and has been the leading supplier of high quality wood products from environmentally sound sources. They offer wood that is FCS-certified, which means that the wood is grown in well-managed forests that are farmed specifically for the use of flooring so that no forests are harmed. The company also provides bamboo flooring and reclaimed flooring. Bamboo flooring is great because it is fast growing and is extremely strong and durable. Finally reclaimed flooring is wonderful because it provides the same benefits of old-growth wood that many people look for. The main problem with old-growth wood is that the only trees that have old-growth wood are the trees that are in ancient forests, so in steps reclaimed wood. It gives the same look, feel, and texture as old-growth and the nail holes, bolt holes and other fasteners marks make it have an antique appeal.

The reason that I like this product is because they create new ways to make you residence or work space look great without hurting the environment. My house in Marin uses Eco Timber. We have bamboo flooring and it really has helped our house and has given it a face lift. I really enjoy the natural markings that the bamboo has and it helps give the floor a natural look. I also really like Eco Timber because they have been around since 1992, which to me says that they have seen the problem of global warming and are taking action to help make a change.

www.afmsafecoat.com/FreqQuest.html

Safecoat is a manufacturer of interior and exterior paint and primer. It recognize that the people has different for paint, Safecoat offer a variety of paints that offer benefits in different areas. Compare to other companies, Safecoat contain no formulae Hyde, ammonia, crystalline, silica, or ethyleneglucol. What I like about this product is that compare to other companies, they have introduced “no odor”, but none of them have been formulated to consider human health and reduce the toxicity, Safecoat produces some of the highest-quality paints and finishes for the safest.

1– final plans for project #1: construct a scale model (4”=1’) of your final idea for the project; this is like a 3-D sketch of it. It should be made out of readily available materials or scraps such as foam core, matt board, cardboard, dowels, modeling clay, fabric scraps. OR: make a very detailed drawing, with correct dimensions and perspective, and with colors
2–Read the Introduction and Chapter One (pp. 3-44) in Cradle to Cradle and write on a 3×5 card seven issues/statistics/case studies for discussion in the next class. Be sure to write the page numbers that contain the answers!
(for example: on p. 29, the authors discuss mass-produced detergent as a ‘universal design solution’; this is an important concept and an important issue)
3–Measure your carbon footprint on the website and bring to class Wed.
4–Begin working on the following, due Mon. April 23:
– Make a list of 10 sustainable items (broadly defined as materials, products) and their local or online sources that we might obtain (either free or purchase) for our final exhibition.
– You must include one sustainable practice as well: it should be a practice that the members of the UCD community can easily relate to and adopt. One example of this might be a practice that reduces consumption or waste.
–As a class, we will work in groups to select the items that we will include in the exhibition. Then we will begin ordering that item. We have a very limited budget, so we will try to obtain free samples or “loaners” whenever possible.