Bright Green Brands Blog

A Christmas stocking-filler for the planet?

2012-01-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

Waitrose have been selling clementines in cardboard boxes rather than plastic nets over Christmas - OK the structure and amount of board may be a BIT excessive, but a good start. Surely this can be developed across almost all fruit currently in plastic netting AND hard plastic punnets?? I do hope so.

Gorgeous recycled old rubbish: Andrea Garland vintage tins...

2011-05-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

Happened upon these lovely reused vintage tins in Liberty recently, now refilled with body balms, lip balms & sore muscle rubs. And once it's finished you can send it back to be refilled again.
Admittedly they ARE a tad pricey at around 30 pounds each, but you DO get a lovely antique to keep. And the refills are less than half the original price.

More here:

http://andreagarland.co.uk/#/vintage-range/4528891929

Sustainable Business by Design conference

2011-05-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ok I know it was about two months ago now but here's some of the highlights from the highly inspirational event at Somerset College...

http://www.sustainable-design-uk.com

Brilliantly hosted by the eloquent Andrew Knutt, the day was mostly filled with design industry related speakers, interspersed with breakout sessions by each speaker, giving attendees a chance to discuss chosen topics in smaller groups.

There were presentations from the Design Council, the very amusing & entertaining Mark Shayler of eco3 - http://www.eco3.co.uk - ex Asda Environmental Manager. Good to hear a less serious view on sustainability.

Also speaking were John Boult, John Luff & Lynne Elvins.

My personal favourite however was Peter Hopton of VeryPC - http://www.very-pc.co.uk - and his story of how he got the BroadLeaf PC produced in the most environmental & ethical way humanly possible. From removing harmful chemical flame retardants, asking for the wires not to be individually bagged, to sourcing the Yorkshire chassis manufacturer (using Icelandic Aluminium), all put together in Sheffield.

And it uses half the energy of the greenest big brand option for the same performance, and less energy when asleep than some PC's do when turned off!

A real genuine & humble green genius.

Screw you Apple...

2011-01-25T06:15:00.000-08:00

I'd had occasional problems with the scroll ball in my mighty mouse, but had always managed to fix it with some bashing on the desk and upside-down blowing!

However, after a couple of years the mouse finally stopped scrolling completely - no amount of desk-whacking, up-blowing or even feeding with alcohol would bring it back to life.

I tried gently prizing the mouse apart but to no avail, it seems apple don't WANT you to fix them! So, with my refusal to let apple (& consumerism) win, I turned to Google.

...a couple of searches later and I was following a Youtube video (of which there are many) of a helpful chap dissecting, cleaning and reassembling a mighty mouse. Pretty darn easy, though you DO need to 'break' the ring around the bottom and glue it back on afterwards.
It was easy to see why it would no longer scroll - there was thick dirt & fluff stuck to the tiny wheels (see pics below).
The whole process was a little fiddly but it worked perfectly again, just like new, in about 20 minutes.

How many of these plastic mighty mouses have been chucked in landfill so far (and replaced by a new one), when they could have been so easily fixed?

Then today in the news I saw this story of Apple attempting once again to stop customers self-fixing with the introduction of a 'pentalobe' screw:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/pentalobe-screw-apple-war.php

Do you want the Good Green News, or the Bad Green News?

2010-11-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Everything I saw today seemed to have a negative impact on our big greeny-blue planet;

From POM taking pomegranate seeds out of their packaging and putting them in packaging;

Britain STILL not taking any action on BPA in food packaging and babies bottles;

Premier Foods changing Sun-Pat Peanut Butter from glass to plastic containers, claiming "the switch to PET helped reduce the product’s carbon footprint." and that "the sustainability and logistics benefits deliver major solutions,” - perhaps major solutions for those huge holes in the ground that need filling? and for increasing their profit margin with a switch to cheap throw-away plastic jars rather than easily recyclable glass.

http://www.pomwonderful.com/products/freshfruit/pom-wonderful-arils/

http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/materials/france-and-denmark-ban-bisphenol-a-from-babies-bottles

http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/premier-foods-moves-sun-pat-from-glass-to-pet-containers

...THEN I stumbled across this great 15 minute special from Stella Artois, part of their Recyclage de Luxe campaign, which put me back in a good green mood again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYCFnIo5FI

Bonnes nouvelles vertes!!

Green paint? or Greenwash?

2010-11-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Dulux (ICI) recently launched a range of 'Eco' Low VOC paints (only Matt paint seems to be VOC free), all packaged in lovely disposable plastic!

Very little information is given on their website about levels of Volotile Organic Compounds, or how the paint is produced, so it hard to get excited about this move:

http://www.icipaints.co.uk/products/ecosure/index.jsp

Waitrose gain Greeny Points over Sainsbury's...

2010-09-20T05:25:00.000-07:00

As Sainsburys this week face court action over their overpackaged Taste The Difference Beef, Waitrose head in a far more positive direction by announcing a move to flow-wrapped packaging.

How many of their meat products will be repackaged is not clear, and the more cynical may feel they are just reacting quickly to avoid being taken to court themselves, but any step away from the the current 'norm' of unnecessary hard plastic trays has to be for the better.

I just hope the new format will be accepted by customers (unlike their milk pouches, which had to be scrapped last year) and that all the other supermarkets follow their lead, because - as anyone old enough to remember butchers shops will remember - pieces of dead animal haven't always come packaged in clinically sealed plastic boxes.

http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/bulletin/environmentbulletin/article/1027830/?DCMP=EMC-EnvironmentBulletin

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/16/sainsburys-court-excessive-beef-packaging

Bright Green Brand of the Month: Unpackaged

2010-08-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure whether I should describe Unpackaged as a 'brand' as such, if anything it's an anti-brand, as almost everything that is sold in this quirky little shop comes in no packaging at all, and therefore 'Unbranded'.

What Unpackaged definitely IS though is a fantastic idea and hopefully a movement way ahead of its time - the shape of things to come. And maybe surprisingly, as someone who earns a living from designing brand packaging, I welcome this vision of a life less plastic.

The shop is a little off the beaten track - vaguely between Farringdon, Kings Cross and Angel at 42 Amwell St, but this only adds to its charm - more like a local shop, which I guess may well be overlooked on a busy high street with all the big bold brands shouting for attention.

Visit the site, but more importantly visit the shop - it's like travelling way back in time, while also being way in the future.

Hopefully.

http://beunpackaged.com

Beautiful Beach Plastic!...

2010-08-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Steve McPherson is a UK artist who, for over 15 years, has been picking up bits of plastic washed up on beaches in north Kent, then turning them into artworks...

It does seem slightly wrong that I should love this so much, but I guess that's the point - to draw attention to this endless plastic trash washing up on beaches all over the world, when otherwise most people wouldn't think twice when they see it on the sand.

Artworks are all for sale too!

(click images to enlarge)

see more here:

http://www.stevemcpherson.co.uk/category/marine-plastic

...and if you find any of your own plastic treasure you can register it here:

http://www.marineplastic.org

My 4th 'R': Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, REPAIR!

2010-06-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

After my camera/mp3 player stopped working due to a cranky lens, I decided I would NOT just be a good consumer and go out and buy a brand new one, but instead committed to repairing it.

I first carefully took it apart with some VERY tiny screwdrivers (and a very steady hand). I soon realised that the lens wouldn't come out, so put it back together anyway (which I hoped might have somehow fixed it!). ((it didn't of course)).

My next step was to put a search on ebay to alert me of any faulty Samsung camera/mp3 players.

A week later, one came up - great condition but with a broken screen. A quick google search told me that a screen can be replaced, so I bought the camera for 4 pounds (I was the only bidder).

I again disected the first camera (with the broken lens), then the second camera (with the broken screen).

Put them back together and what have you got?

A perfectly working new camera, for 4 pounds. (and a slight smug green feeling inside).

Also, if a Playstation stops reading discs completely you can order a new lens online from various dealers. Worked a treat for mine.

Ad in The Times & Guardian today...

2010-05-10T03:48:00.000-07:00

Designed these press ads in a rush yesterday for 38 Degrees. Just made the deadline to print overnight! Phew.

Get involved here: http://38degrees.org.uk

Non-toxic, Non-stick (ish) pan...

2010-04-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Recently bought this GreenPan frying pan.

It's PTFE-free - that's Polytetrafluoroethylene, used in Teflon - so the coating on this pan (Thermalon) doesn't release toxic fumes above 260° C as PTFE apparently does, which are proven to be lethal to small pets and potentially harmful to humans.

Also, the process, unlike Teflon, does not use PFOA (PerFluoroOctanoic Acid), classified as a ‘persistent pollutant of the environment’*. Also, PFOA is a tough chemical that the body has great difficulties in expelling and is known to be a ‘likely human carcinogen’*

When it first arrived I tested it with a fried egg - It was so non-stick that when trying to take it out of the pan, the egg slipped uncontrollably everywhere except onto the wooden spatula!

HOWEVER, after several uses, it no longer has the same qualities: It now seems to stick severely if heated on full, but is fine if kept at just over halfway. There IS a statement in the accompanying leaflet stating that it is normal for the non-stick properties to reduce after a while, so I guess I just need to be careful.

All in all I believe that cooking on a slightly lower heat is a small price to pay when considering all the advantages this pan has to offer over the slightly more heat-tolerant (but possibly quite harmful) Teflon alternatives. I just need to be a little more patient when cooking my dinner.

http://www.green-pan.com

* According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, a US federal agency in charge of the protection of human health and the environment)

Recycled Toys...

2009-11-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Just back from a week in the (windy) west country. Nice (in a stormy kinda way).

While at the Eden Project I was quite inspired by these kids eco toys: http://www.sprigtoys.com - made from their Sprigwood material: http://www.sprigwood.com - recycled plastic mixed with wood! With no batteries or annoying noises either, AND packaged in eco friendly packaging too!

OK, it's still plastic, and has to end it's life some time, but surely better than all the crap my 4 yr old will undoubtedly receive again this Christmas.

Now why can't Disney invest some of their vast profits in a similar project? I was quite impressed and encouraged after watching WALL-E with it's warning of how our rubbish is ruining and taking over our planet, only to visit a Disney store soon after to discover shelves of WALL-E toys made from plastic, packaged in (you guessed it) yet more plastic. Yeah, thanks Disney.

2009-10-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

Found these Fantastic 60s recipe cards by the original celeb chef Robert Carrier, while on holiday last month in a cottage in North Wales.

The recipes range from the classic to the exotic to the absolutely bizzare! I also photographed some of the recipes close up, so if you fancy spoiling your guests, why not try cooking Egg & Anchovy Barrels, followed by a Fish Turban with Scallops, with a grande finale of Rice a la Royale.

More to follow soon.

Enjoy!

Triodos wins FT Sustainable Bank of the Year Award.

2009-10-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Triodos, who recently won the Financial Times Sustainable Bank of the Year Award, and this year bieng the first time Triodos Bank has entered the awards.

When you bank or invest with Triodos you know exactly how they are using your money as they provide complete transparency. Here you can see every company in the UK that they lend money to!...
http://www.triodos.co.uk/knowwhereyourmoneygoes
You also receive an occasional newsletter filled with information about the progress of some of the ethical companies they have invested in.

Let's hope more organisations follow their lead.

http://www.triodos.co.uk/uk/whats_new/latest_news/press_releases/ft_award_win

http://www.ftconferences.com/sustainablebanking

Cereal Killers...

2009-10-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

Having worked in the past on American cereal packs, the Cereal Killers project made me laugh out loud (or lol as the 'youths' say). http://idigcerealkillers.blogspot.com (scroll down on right to link to archives) - I have also included one or two real cereal packs, which in a way are even MORE scary!

the first post...

2009-10-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Green Brand Blog - A source of information & inspiration on green issues relating to brand design. Feel free to join in and send anything exciting or useful that inspires you.