Comments on: Are Recycled Plastic Bottles Products Really Eco Friendly?

By: Gwendolen Wylde

Gwendolen Wylde — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:17:13 +0000

Hi everyone! Thanks for the info. I am interested in sharing (receiving!!) ideas to create an alternative to the 1.5 litre bottled water that tourists in our smallish town (Puerto Escondido, Mexico) and all tourist beach places use around the world. I play with the idea of many cold large water dispensers around town from which you could refill a green bottle. Or perhaps, use some kind of “green” cup, Perhaps, you just buy an electronic card worth perhaps 50 cups or refills??, make it easy to pay. I also think tourists could just support the place and planet and pay a little general water fee…… If the dispensers were as accessible as public phones, yes, you may need to walk half a block, but you wouldn’t need to carry the water bottle, the water would always be cold. It seems outrageous, but maybe we could….. Anyone interested?
Cheers

By: Anna@GreenTalk

Anna@GreenTalk — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 02:30:16 +0000

Matthew, well stated!
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By: Matthew Egan

Matthew Egan — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:57:34 +0000

Although some may argue that using plastics has its benefits, there are a several negative effects on the environment and human health. Plastic contributes to the environmental pollution on a very large scale. This may sound hard to believe, but around 1.5 million tons of plastic is used every year in the world just to bottle water, that fact is outrageous! There is several information that also leads to woman leaving their plastic bottles in their car and the PET contributing to breast cancer. It’s a serious threat to our lively hood. This post was very informative.

By: Beti

Beti — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:41:59 +0000

Thanks for the informative article. I’ve been looking for some break-resistant spice containers for our camper and had just about decided on some PET plastic. You gave me some good info to help with my decision. A major source of frustration for me is trying to buy eco-friendly AND buy products made in the US. For so many items, those seem to be mutually exclusive.

By: Anna@Green Talk

Anna@Green Talk — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:01:16 +0000

Bridget, the problem with making recycled poly out of soda bottles is it is energy intensive compared with organic cotton and I worry about the antimony aspect of the recycled poly. Are workers exposed to the antimony?

As for Patagonia taking and remaking poly fabrics into new fabrics, I wonder if you can take recycled poly fibers and make them into new poly fibers. Usually plastic once remade is downsized into another form of plastic such as a park bench. At least what I have learned you can’t make it into the same thing again. However, plastic has a limited makeover life. Readers, correct me if I am wrong here.

As for recycled cotton, Martex takes post industrial cotton and makes it into new fibers.

Thanks for the UK clarification. Anna

By: Bridget

Bridget — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:00:46 +0000

You are correct, in the UK most people take their own bags when shopping, and have been doing so for ages. Also, most supermarkets sell a “bag for life”, a sturdy bag, made from partially or totally recycled materials, that costs about $3, and you use it till it rips, breaks, then you can get a replacement for free. Mine have lasted for ever, and have great designs on them. Local UK towns often sell canvas or cotton tote bags, with their logo on it, to raise money.
If people had to pay for their plastic grocery bags, I bet they would start bringing their own reusable ones to the store.
I rarely buy water bottles, and my family uses reusable ones all the time. I didn’t consider, and wasn’t aware of the negative aspect of recycling plastic into clothing. Patagonia has a Common Threads Initiative, to make all their clothes recyclable, a laudable goal – but now I wonder if that melting down of polyester and nylon to create new fibre, is in fact a bad thing ( Anna, do you know?). However, they do also plan to recycle cotton and wool clothing too. Additionally, Patagonia encourages repair of their clothing, with a free zipper repair service, in addition to a repair service for other problems. In general, the initiative seems to be a good one.
Interesting article Anna, got me thinking.

By: shredding Houston

shredding Houston — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:45:31 +0000

Being eco-friendly can be shown in a number of ways. Aside from recycling used plastic bottles, we can also do many things with paper products. We can reuse or recycle or have them shredded to serve other purposes. In this way, we get to save money and teach our children the value of conserving our natural resources and become practical.

By: Mary Hunt

Mary Hunt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:55:40 +0000

Every time I see a plastic bottle I remember living in the the world before plastic bottles… it can be done and will be done again as long as bloggers like you keep drumming the drum. Every voice has an echo. Thanks for the well thought out article.
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