Green Bottle: Announced by Green Bottle, a wine bottle made of paper and recycled plastic, could be introduced next year. Claims are that this new bottle is lighter in weight, unbreakable and a better insulator, keeping it cooler in use. Also claimed, is the new bottle has a carbon footprint 10% less than glass and no increase in cost.

Current Environmental Actions-2011: From March this year to date authorities, in ten countries and the state of California in the US, have enacted new and stronger actions with regard to environmental issues. Most of the new laws and initiatives are aimed at CO2 emission reduction. In this same time period, many private companies have also taken new steps and are factoring environmental concerns into their business activities and plans. A few examples are: Large banks in Europe have now restricted financing for coal fueled power plants; Ford Motor Co. has begun production of “Ecoboost”, a new efficient auto engine, that rivals the Toyota Prius; Pepsico will be initiating use of a “petroleum free” bottle; Shell Oil Co., in a joint, venture will be producing ethanol using sugar cane from Brazil, and others including PPR the giant luxury goods producer. British Petroleum also made a large investment in wind turbines and wind farms in the US. In a rare move China, for the first time, has set goals on carbon emissions. Interestingly, these activities have taken place before the November 2011 UN Climate Summit meeting in South Africa where almost 200 countries will be represented.

Molded Fiber Egg Cartons: Did you know that molded paper fiber egg cartons actually save trees by using paper a second time rather than using original wood fiber. Renewable Molded fiber packaging also provides alternatives to plastic packaging, such as polystyrene, that is made from oil and gas and does not biodegrade for hundreds of years.

Efforts Towards Sustainability: The same material found in paper pulp egg cartons is now replacing non-renewable plastic polystyrene for packaging to protect many types of electronic products, such as, computers, televisions, and cell phones, because molded fiber is a renewable and recyclable material. Many manufacturers are now using molded fiber packaging in their efforts to contribute to our earth’s sustainability.

Protective Packaging: The “cardboard” (paperboard) boxes, in which laundry and kitchen appliances are shipped (washers, dryers, dishwashers, etc.), are frequently recycled and then converted into the appliance’s interior protective packaging in the form of molded corner and edge fiber products. The re-use of packaging materials are high on the list of sustainability initiatives, in which, appliance manufacturers are working towards.

Bamboo Fiber: Bamboo fiber, for molding protective packaging, is now in use for a number of products, including electronic equipment. It is excellent fiber with good performance characteristics; however, raw Bamboo is not as simple to process to molded-able fiber as some other fibers, such as, recycled newspaper.

Danone Co.: Actimel yogurt drink produced and sold by the Danone Co. has introduced a new yogurt bottle made with 100% recyclable sugar cane material that has the appearance of the previously used plastic material. This is the first use of the new material which is produced by the Braskem Co. from Brazil.

Flooding in Bangkok: Bangkok the largest city in Thailand, has been having the most serious flooding problems in their history with 10’s of thousands of people displaced and the airport closed under 12 inches of water. An on-site report indicated that the newspapers said that the flooding problems have been exacerbated by the clogging of drainage conduits with plastic bottles and bag.