Can Starbucks Really Recycle Its Cups?
by: fast company, 2010-11-30 22:24:28 UTC

Starbucks has the ambitious goal of making 100 percent of its cups (one billion used each year) recyclable or reusable by 2015. We started documenting the coffee giant's quest for a better cup in a recent issue of Fast Company, but Starbucks has made some progress since then. The company announced this week that it finished a six-week pilot project demonstrating that Starbucks cups' liquid-proof interior coating isn't a roadblock to recycling.

The project, completed as part of a partnership with International Paper Company and Mississippi River Pulp, gathered up 6,000 pounds of old Starbucks cups from 170 storefronts in the Toronto area and shipped them off to the Mississippi River Pulp mill, where they were recycled into new cups.

There's a hitch, though: the Mississippi River Pulp mill is the only pulp mill in the country with the capacity to perform the recycling process that turns used Starbucks cups into high-quality fiber for new cups. In order to use the process on a larger scale, Starbucks would have to persuade other pulp mills to get on board.

The key will be convincing mills that it makes economic sense to adopt the fiber recycling process.  "Our goal is to prove that there's a market value for our cup stock, and for the recycling community and paper manufacturers to see monetary value in that," Jim Hanna, Starbucks' director of environmental impact, recently explained to Fast Company.

Next up for Starbucks: testing the cup-to-cup recycling process in larger cities. And after that, expanding the process even further--hopefully by 2015.

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.

Beyond the Sweatshop: Developing Tools for Supply Chain Assessment
by: FEED STOP, 2010-11-01 13:00:00 UTC
Editor's Note: This post is reprinted with kind permission from the Triple Pundit blog. It originally ran as part of a series focusing on the annual Net Impact Conference - 2020: Vision for a Sustainable Future, held this past weekend in Ann Arbor, MI (Net Impact is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals bring sustainability to the private sector; Jess Sand is the organization's Communication Manager). This article is presented here for those interested in SDAP and the complexities of measuring social impacts. One of the most contentious realities of the new economy is that consumers’ concern for the social impacts [...]

German company to sell all-electric CARe 500 with leased batteries
by: Ecofriend, 2010-11-29 09:15:09 UTC

Eco Factor: Zero-emission vehicle powered by electric batteries.

Germany’s MK-Group Holding has announced that the company will be distributing an all-electric variant of the Fiat 500 at a cost of 23,900 euros, which doesn’t include batteries as they will be provided at a price of 150 euros per month, which also includes a flat-rate fee for electricity. Manufactured by Swedish company EVadapt, the electric Fiat 500, dubbed CARe 500, has already been made available.

The vehicle will offer a range of about 120km with a top speed of about 120kph. The CARe 500 will be able to recharge in 6 to 8 hours using a normal 230V power socket. A service network composed of about 650 branches will ensure the mobility of these electric vehicles. Consumers who don’t want to spend 150 euros each month for batteries can also purchase the vehicle with batteries for a price of 36,900 euros.

Via: EVWorld

ITM Power to commence hydrogen on-site trials in 2011
by: Ecofriend, 2010-11-30 10:23:37 UTC

Eco Factor: Transportable hydrogen refueling station to refuel vehicles with hydrogen generated on site.

ITM Power has announced that the company will commence Hydrogen on-site trials (HOST) using the HFuel transportable hydrogen refueling station. The self-contained module is suitable for refueling hydrogen-powered road vehicles and forklift trucks. The system is well suited to small fleet and early hydrogen highway applications.

The company states that beginning in 2011, HOST will encompass the operation and refueling of two HICE Revolve Technologies Ford Transit Vehicles with hydrogen produce on site at the point of use. The membership of HOST will also provide each partner with one week free trail of HFuel and two Revolve HICE transit vehicles.

Via: Low Carbon Economy

BMW unveils recyclable subway cars for Polish public transit system
by: Ecofriend, 2010-11-29 10:31:10 UTC

Eco Factor: Energy-saving subway cars with green credentials.

Designers at BMW Group DesignworksUSA and Siemens have designed new environmentally friendly subway cars that will go online in the Polish capital city of Warsaw in 2012. Christened the Inspiro system, the new cars boast a number of environmentally sensitive designs and spacious interiors.

The spacious interiors can be accessed via extra-wide entrances that also better passenger flow. The interiors also include large electronic displays for system maps and lighting that has been placed at soothing intervals. The electronic and mechanics cabinets have also been removed to increase interior space.

The handholds inside the car are lit from above and shaped like tree branches, which according to the designers are a symbol of the cars’ green ambitions. The carriage’s aluminum chassis has been designed to reduce weight and hence reduce the energy consumption. Moreover, the carriages, according to the designers, are 97.5 percent recyclable.

Via: Co.Design

Swater collects and purifies water using renewable solar energy
by: Ecofriend, 2010-11-30 10:04:38 UTC

Eco Factor: Solar powered water collector and purifier.

With more than a billion people on our planet still striving hard for fresh water, industrial designers have started thinking of new ways to quench the thirst of these individuals using natural resources. Designers Chun Yen Tsao and Hsing-Tan Yang have created a concept water collector and purifier that works using solar energy and can one day help provide safe drinking water to the masses.

Christened the Swater, the portable awl-shaped device collects distilled water from the condensation that builds up inside it. Moreover, it also carries photovoltaic cells on its cap that generate renewable energy, which is used by the device to run the electrical heating tube and disinfecting light that purifies water.

Via: YankoDesign

kulla design studio: 50% sawdust
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2010-11-28 16:04:00 UTC

made from a homogeneous mixture of wooden and plastic sawdust, kulla design studio invented is a new and ecologic material.
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Thirty Percent is Not Enough: The Re-nourish Paper Finder Makes Your Job Easier
by: FEED STOP, 2010-11-20 13:00:00 UTC
Re-nourish has just updated our Paper Finder tool, giving you the most up-to-date access to over 300 of the most environmentally responsible papers currently available on the North American market. As graphic designers we swoon over paper like Homer Simpson over donuts, Angelina Jolie over babies, or Tiger Woods over...you get the idea. Every print designer relies on paper – and together, we use a lot of it. The paper industry currently logs an estimated 5 million acres of forests each year in the U.S. alone (source: EPN). Although many of us would like to make better choices when specifying paper, [...]

Short Animated Films About Green Stuff (Videos)
by: TreeHugger Science, 2010-11-29 20:19:15 UTC
Images: Story of Coal, Story of Electronics, Brief History of Fossil Fuels, What Happens When the Oil Runs Out And the Oscar for Best Green Short Goes to... One of the great things about the web is how inexpensive it now is to reach a lot of people. Not so long ago you would have needed to have access to either a printing press, a movie or television studio, or a radio station. Now, anybody can create a website and publish text, or use digital tools to create videos that can then be hosted on a variety of free sites (youtube, Vimeo, etc). Here's a compilation of some great short animated films about ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

TEDTalks : John Hardy: My green school dream - John Hardy (2010)
by: TEDTalks (video), 2010-11-18 14:54:00 UTC
Join John Hardy on a tour of the Green School, his off-the-grid school in Bali that teaches kids how to build, garden, create (and get into college). The centerpiece of campus is the spiraling Heart of School, perhaps the world's largest freestanding bamboo building.