Green Cotton

Photosource: http://images.google.com

Cameron Diaz has kept herself busy this month trailing along a train of interviewers from various amazingly fashionable magazines to get the word out on the environment. While the interview we recently reviewed in VOGUE focused mostly on the eco-fashions Diaz wore in her editorial shots, and only quickly mentioned her environmental campaign, Marie Claire dove into her work and gave us a better idea of what exactly Diaz is up to.

Diaz is currently traveling across the country with a small entourage of about twenty cameramen and other crew with a goal of seeing how much the general American person knows about the troubles of our environment in order to raise general awareness.

Unveiling Diaz’s inspiration to talk about the environment, she shares her experience as a child living in a neighborhood in Long Beach, CA, that was not only near a large freeway, but also toxic waste refinery, which would dump waste at the end of her block. “Childhood” also meant suffering from asthma, and an ongoing burning, itchy sensation in her eyes and throat. Coming from this personal experience of knowing what it would be like everywhere if we don’t start treating the environment with more respect, Cameron Diaz speaks with an authenticity that deepens her California starlet persona.

So she has been traveling all over the United States to ask the average American math teacher, high-school girls, and soccer moms questions like, “Do you know where your food, your water come from? Do you worry about the environment?” And always wraps up with the same questions, “What would it take for you to do something about the environment?”

To which most people are very touched, but do not know how to respond. Diaz has met with a general feeling of hopelessness. People do care but do not seem to think anything they can do personally will help the environment as a whole. They feel any changes they make would not stop global warming or deforestation.

While no one person can do any one of these things alone, if we all ban together and do everything we can to save the environment, this will make a huge difference. We can all add up!

So what made Diaz finally campaign after years of silence in this area? She realized that the planet did not have a publicist to speak for her. Diaz decided to use her well-known clout and popularity to promote support for the environment. Just starting the discussion is enough to get people thinking about their actions and the repercussions of their actions.

This new environmental role she has decided to take on can only make us love her more. You go Cameron! The environment needs as many publicists as it can get.

Photosource: Marieclaire.com

Find out about Cameron Diaz’s favorite sustainability websites here.

By: Julia Rea

Planet Aid is not exactly the “charity” that we previously thought. In fact, we would like to update our earlier post with the following new information to give you a more well-rounded perspective on this organization. Our sincere apologize to our readers for this oversight, as we were initially excited by the premise and mission of the group. A special thank you to our readership, especially Genna, for bringing these new insights to our attention.

Photosource: www.thebollard.com

First, Planet Aid seems to have a controversial record as a charitable organization, in fact, the Better Business Bureau has refused them as a ‘charity’. One of the ways in which Planet Aid has failed to be a ‘charity’ is the amount of money produced by donated clothing that is put back into development programs. The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) gave them an “F” in their December 2006 “Watchdog Report” after finding that Planet Aid only spent just 23 percent of total revenue on programs for the poor. The AIP requires non-profit charitable organizations to spend at least 60 percent of revenue on these programs. The best rated organizations spend up to 75 % of revenue on charitable programs.

Planet Aid also has tenuous connections with the Danish cult-like organization called Tvid. Their founder also started Planet Aid’s partner organization, Humana People-to-People.

Photosouce: www.thebollard.com

Tvid’s Founder, Morgens Amdi Peterson, originated as an alternative school teacher who had received funding from the Danish government to support his school, and then had that funding recinded when the school was found to have ‘cultlike’ qualities.

After some controversies arose surrounding his school, Peterson went underground for two decades! During his decades underground, Danish and American prosecutors believe he “masterminded a global expansion of Tvind that included both non-profits like Planet Aid and for-profit enterprises that now collectively number around 150, with hundreds of millions of dollars in total assets.” Prosecutors allege that funds raised from these organizations are transferred between Tvind’s non-profit and for-profit entities, which share many of the same members and corporate officers.

Peterson was arrested in Los Angeles in 2oo2  and extradited to Denmark where he and other top Tvid officials were to stand trail for charges of tax evasion (11 million) and embezzelment (9 million). However, Peterson and four other Tvid leaders fled Denmark before they were served court papers and are still at-large. It was discovered at this time that Peterson had been living in a multi-million dollar pad on an island off the coast of Florida with a $5 million dollar yacht, the “Butterfly McQueen.”

Butterfly McQueen Yacht

Photosource: www.yachtdevelopments.com

Of course Planet Aid has denied any funny business. We cannot know for sure how involved Planet Aid is in all this, or if funds are being used to support these men or Peterson’s new $5 million dollar yacht, but we do know that Planet Aid is not recognized as a charitable organization by any of the most respected watchdog organizations in the United States or the world, and that just the thought of someone using the needs of poor children in Africa as a front to get rich is repulsive.

So where does this leave us? Well, our opinion is to steer clear of this organization and not to donate a darn thing, but of course we leave it up to you. At the same time, we continue to strongly encourage recycling all your old clothing or let someone else enjoy it. So for now, lets stick to Goodwill and Salvation Army, as well as your local clothing swap. Tell us about your favorite clothing donation option. We want to hear from you.

By: Julia Rea

Two million plastic beverage bottles used in the US every five minutes. Photosource: Chris Jordan at Monotype

After looking at the sad state of the recycling industry in China, and the price volatility in the recycling market, we at Green Cotton had to ask ourselves: as the largest consumers in the world, how are we in the US dealing with the waste we produce?

With so many angles to explore with waste removal and recycling in the US, we’d like to focus just on polyethylene terephthalate or better known as PETE and PET plastics for this post, which happens to be the most widely used and reused plastic in the United States. PETE is a plastic that can be made re-purposed or recycled into a new materials or formulated back into its original material (such as a plastic bottle). But how often does this recycling actually occur and how does it do so?

According to wikipedia, when recycling polyethylene terephthalate or PET or polyester, there are generally two ways that this can be done:

1)  Chemical recycling which converts back to the initial raw materials purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) where the polymer structure is destroyed completely, or in process intermediates like bis-ß-hydroxyterephthalate

2) Mechanical recycling where the original polymer properties are being maintained or reconstituted.

With respect to chemical (back into original form), this is generally considered not cost effective or efficient unless done in quantities of >> 50,000 tons/year, and this is generally only possible at very large polyester production sites. There are so many barriers to making chemical re-composition effecient and feasible, such as difficulties collecting consistent and same-type plastic bottles on a regular basis, decontamination and cleaning issues as well as an issue we blogged about recently on Green Cotton, the volatility of prices on the recycling market.

PET bottle recycling washing machine in China. Source: Made-in-China.com

Mechanical on the other hand is much more feasible and is widely practiced in a number of countries worldwide. Mechanical recycling or direct circulation of PET in the polymeric state is done in a number of capacities including among small and medium-sized industries. Cost-efficiency can already be achieved with plant capacities within a range of 5 000 – 20 000 tons/year.

In this method, manufacturers can create pellets or flakes, which can be recycled into fiber, carpet, clothing, nonfood containers, detergent, motor oil, household cleaner bottles, and as seen below in this stylish travel bags.

An example of mechanical reconstitution however being made into reusable products can be seen in this satchel bag by “Engage Green”. The bag was crafted from approximately 16 recycled soda bottles made into PEET fabric.

So what’s the story on PETE in the United States? Despite the fact that we are now able to reprocess #1-PET and make it into fabrics both for industrial as well as other purposes, the overall picture appears darker than one would expect.

In 2007, according to the American Chemistry Council, the largest amount of plastic ever, 116 billion pounds, was produced. While the total numbered of recycled bottles has increased steadily in the United States overall, the recycling rate of PET bottles has in fact dropped. In 1995, one fourth of PET containers were recycled but in 2006 less than one fifth was, according to the Container Recycling Institute. In real waste terms, this means that 50 billion plastic PET containers ended up as litter, in landfills or incinerators….in 2006.  An alarming statistic to those concerned with natural resources and the amount of build-up in our landfills.

What can be done to improve the situation?

(1) First, it appears that we could take better advantage of our nations’ capacity to recycle #1-PET containers (we are currently only using 86% of that capacity right now). Importantly too, if we are using 86% of total capacity and less than 20% of total consumed bottles are being recycled, our ability to recycle these bottles is far less than our consumption level and must be increased as soon as possible.

(2) Second, we need to create a greater demand for products made from recycled PET, so that we can keep these plastics circling through the market and not ending up on landfills (eg the satchel listed above).

(3) Third, we should only buy plastics whenever absolutely necessary. The less demand for first generation plastics, the less we will ultimately need to recycle. So say no to that water bottle or soda bottle next time unless it is absolutely necessary. Bring your own Sigg, Kor or other bottle whenever possible.

(4) When you do recycle, clean out your bottles as best as possible. One of the major issues with recycling is the removal and decontamination of waste, and that waste is easiest removed at point of contamination. The longer the waste sits, the more difficult to remove.

What else can be done? Tell us your snip-its of wisdom. We want to hear from you.

Primary sources used for this article include Zero Waste America, Container Recycling.org and wikipedia