Break it on down

I had a rant about "green" products months ago. I believe that if producers truly want to be green and eco-friendly, they would create their products "green". It would not be more expensive to choose green and it would be something that consumers would be forced to do. Well, slightly following with my preferences, SunChips has created new packaging for their products that is completely compostable. This means the bag is printed with environment friendly inks and can be returned to dirt when you are finished with it. It's smart, it's simple and it is a great step in the right direction. It is also a loud bag, be warned.

For more about SunChips' compostable bag made of plants, check out their site. You can watch the bag in action below.



Image via SunChips website screenshot

Going to market

Unpackaged, a fairly new grocery shop in London, lives up to its namesake. They do not wrap or package any of your items. Instead, you-the-customer bring in your own tupperware, bottles, jars, etc and package it yourself. The price is based upon weight. In return, you get fresh groceries and you reduce the amount of waste in our environment. Like people going to market with baskets and bowls, you-the-customer are armed with your modern containers making a difference. This is a great idea that—like many other ideas about going green and eating healthy—requires us to look back to our roots to find ways to reduce waste and reuse more. Hit the jump for some more images or check out their site.

All images from Unpackaged

Cradle to cradle

When I was still studying graphic design in school, we were assigned the project of reading Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. The book spoke of true sustainability. It preached that designers should create with their products' end result—or in this case, "new beginning" result—in mind. Instead of landfill, rug—or chair or building materials or road.

Japanese company Oriental's idea is fairly simple: from paper to paper. Of course, you need adjectives to give it meaning. Used office paper can be repurposed and made into toilet paper. They have created a machine called White Goat that does this. The video below shows the machine in action. The price tag is extreme ($100,000), but it would be great if White Goat could be used in community planning (like placed in apartments and office buildings) for optimum use and impact. What do you think?

Image via übergizmo