Have you checked out the new milk jug at Costco yet? It's a brick. A great example of sustainable packaging. The container is optimized to eliminate shipping dead space from the dairy to the dairy case and it can be stacked without having to put it in a box first. By optimizing the container to fill the space, standardizing the shape to fit on a normal palette, it also eliminates the need for the odd sized milk crates that need to be sent back to the dairy to be sterilized and reused. Here's another example of something so simple, as the redesign of a container to make it more like a space saving cube, that it is revolutionary. And so sustainable, saving space, water (for cleaning the milk crates), and energy (fuel and space conditioning). Oh, and did I mention, it is cheaper than the traditional gallon milk jug.
What else can we make into a cube that can be easily fit on a standard pallet for efficient shipping? Those two liter soda bottles come to mind. Let's face it, they are tough to pour as is, why can't Coke and Pepsi follow the lead of the dairy with their 'cubic' milk jug? Just think about how much more product could be put on the shelf along with the reduced footprint this would net! No doubt the cost would also be reduced.
Sustainability can be as simple as a cubic jug of milk.
Rosemarie
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
deconstruct/reconstruct stuff like a Lego Mindstorm
I was cleaning out a closet over the holidays and came across my Mindstorm NXT robot kit and its half-built starter robot. What was I thinking? I'm from the Lincoln Logs generation!
What attracted me to the Mindstorm robots is the versatility of the pieces. These little robots can be constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed into a completely different robot almost effortlessly (if you are of the millennial generation). The possibilities are almost infinite. The beauty of the system is that many of the pieces are multifunctional. There are only so many types of pins and brackets to keep the whole robot together. The 'brick' which is the brains of the system is easily programmable.
Why can't todays designers and engineers learn from this childs toy? Imagine standardized deconstructable small appliances! What if.....what if all small appliances were distilled down to a standard set of pieces and a number of different appliances could be made from combination's of those pieces, like Mindstorm NXT robots. When I replace my espresso machine, the old machine could be quickly deconstructed and the pieces binned for reuse in another espresso machine or maybe into a blender.
Making things like appliances, computers, phones, other electronics standardized and deconstructable would reduce our resource footprint and reduce landfill. Instead of metal recycling facilities, those facilities could be parts warehouses.
Something to think about.
What attracted me to the Mindstorm robots is the versatility of the pieces. These little robots can be constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed into a completely different robot almost effortlessly (if you are of the millennial generation). The possibilities are almost infinite. The beauty of the system is that many of the pieces are multifunctional. There are only so many types of pins and brackets to keep the whole robot together. The 'brick' which is the brains of the system is easily programmable.
Why can't todays designers and engineers learn from this childs toy? Imagine standardized deconstructable small appliances! What if.....what if all small appliances were distilled down to a standard set of pieces and a number of different appliances could be made from combination's of those pieces, like Mindstorm NXT robots. When I replace my espresso machine, the old machine could be quickly deconstructed and the pieces binned for reuse in another espresso machine or maybe into a blender.
Making things like appliances, computers, phones, other electronics standardized and deconstructable would reduce our resource footprint and reduce landfill. Instead of metal recycling facilities, those facilities could be parts warehouses.
Something to think about.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sustainability science fair project
Familiar with Wal-Marts scorecard for their vendors? Wal-Mart is trying to reduce their environmental footprint by encouraging their suppliers to reduce their packaging footprint. http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/CA6536405.html
A laudable goal.
I was at Wal-Mart last week and certainly noted (just like the shrink wrapped potatoes I mentioned in a prior blog post) the huge amount of packaging on all products.
A trend is towards individual servings and convenience foods. I saw a 'two pack' of eggs. Now realize that I'm not talking about two 1 dozen cartons of eggs packaged together but TWO eggs in a 2 egg egg-carton. Also apparently popular is a half-dozen egg carton.
This brings me to todays blog topic--science fair projects in sustainability.
In my day (my niece tells me I'm older then dirt) we got our science fair project ideas from Popular Mechanics or other mags of that ilk. Now students have a science fair project book that gives them step-by-step instructions on over a hundred science fair projects. Don't get me started about 'paint-by-number' experiments for students.....
So what about a sustainability science fair project? Here's one to which I don't have the outcome because the study needs to be done. I think this would be a great project for a student interested in applied math as well as a young tree-hugger with curiosity about balancing sustainability with market trends (yes a budding scientist with a bent for business).
SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT
Let's go back to the eggs example I mentioned. The premise is: packaging/product may not linear. This means that if one plots the weight of the packaging vs weight of the product, that graph might be parabolic and not linear. If that turns out to be the case (and realize I have no idea), there should be a sweet spot where packaging/product is at its minimum and hence represents the most sustainable option. And if it is linear then sustainability is independent of product amount packaging.
METHOD/ANALYSIS
Student should buy eggs starting with Costco multi-packs where the foam cartons are held together with shrink-wrap. Then head to Wal-Mart or the grocery store and by foam cartons of 2 doz egss, 18 eggs, 12 eggs, 6 eggs and 2 eggs. To get a true measure it is important that all eggs must be encased in Styrofoam (aka foam) since different packaging has different weights making it unable to correlate. With a postal scale or food scale that can measure light materials (like Styrofoam) the student should weigh the packaging and weigh the product and then plot packaging/product on a graph. If the scale is not sensitive enough, the student may need to consult with their HS chemistry teacher to use the more sensitive scales available in the chemistry lab. Once graphed it is up to the student to interpret the results: Is there a minimum where packaging/product is sustainable based on the consumer trend of not buying in bulk. The student may want to consult with a scientist to ensure that their interpretation makes sense. To do this it is best that the student have their analysis written down and provide it to the scientist/teacher for discussion.
A follow-on would be for the student to identify other foods (or other stuff) that is sold in various sizes (like cereals, rice, etc). In this case the packaging will probably be different depending on size/weight of product. Here it would be interesting to see if there is a break point in packaging/product. This could be discussed in terms of packaging made of paper (natural) or plastic (oil based). Lots of opportunity for students to think.
The key to any science project, if you are an adult teacher or parent, is to not tell the child what the answer should be but to pose questions that allow the child to think about the possibilities. Even if the child concludes 'wrong' it is their conclusion and they need to learn how to defend their conclusion whatever it may be.
Rosemarie
A laudable goal.
I was at Wal-Mart last week and certainly noted (just like the shrink wrapped potatoes I mentioned in a prior blog post) the huge amount of packaging on all products.
A trend is towards individual servings and convenience foods. I saw a 'two pack' of eggs. Now realize that I'm not talking about two 1 dozen cartons of eggs packaged together but TWO eggs in a 2 egg egg-carton. Also apparently popular is a half-dozen egg carton.
This brings me to todays blog topic--science fair projects in sustainability.
In my day (my niece tells me I'm older then dirt) we got our science fair project ideas from Popular Mechanics or other mags of that ilk. Now students have a science fair project book that gives them step-by-step instructions on over a hundred science fair projects. Don't get me started about 'paint-by-number' experiments for students.....
So what about a sustainability science fair project? Here's one to which I don't have the outcome because the study needs to be done. I think this would be a great project for a student interested in applied math as well as a young tree-hugger with curiosity about balancing sustainability with market trends (yes a budding scientist with a bent for business).
SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT
Let's go back to the eggs example I mentioned. The premise is: packaging/product may not linear. This means that if one plots the weight of the packaging vs weight of the product, that graph might be parabolic and not linear. If that turns out to be the case (and realize I have no idea), there should be a sweet spot where packaging/product is at its minimum and hence represents the most sustainable option. And if it is linear then sustainability is independent of product amount packaging.
METHOD/ANALYSIS
Student should buy eggs starting with Costco multi-packs where the foam cartons are held together with shrink-wrap. Then head to Wal-Mart or the grocery store and by foam cartons of 2 doz egss, 18 eggs, 12 eggs, 6 eggs and 2 eggs. To get a true measure it is important that all eggs must be encased in Styrofoam (aka foam) since different packaging has different weights making it unable to correlate. With a postal scale or food scale that can measure light materials (like Styrofoam) the student should weigh the packaging and weigh the product and then plot packaging/product on a graph. If the scale is not sensitive enough, the student may need to consult with their HS chemistry teacher to use the more sensitive scales available in the chemistry lab. Once graphed it is up to the student to interpret the results: Is there a minimum where packaging/product is sustainable based on the consumer trend of not buying in bulk. The student may want to consult with a scientist to ensure that their interpretation makes sense. To do this it is best that the student have their analysis written down and provide it to the scientist/teacher for discussion.
A follow-on would be for the student to identify other foods (or other stuff) that is sold in various sizes (like cereals, rice, etc). In this case the packaging will probably be different depending on size/weight of product. Here it would be interesting to see if there is a break point in packaging/product. This could be discussed in terms of packaging made of paper (natural) or plastic (oil based). Lots of opportunity for students to think.
The key to any science project, if you are an adult teacher or parent, is to not tell the child what the answer should be but to pose questions that allow the child to think about the possibilities. Even if the child concludes 'wrong' it is their conclusion and they need to learn how to defend their conclusion whatever it may be.
Rosemarie
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Welcome to the dirty footprint blog
The objective of this blog is to opine on sustainability issues and practices. Join me as I explore this important environmental area.
What is sustainability? Let us look at a definition:
Free Dictionary definition:
Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.
OK that sounds good but you know, that could be rather draconian to our way of life. Seriously, are we going to give up our lifestyle? I think not.
So my definition of sustainability is: the ability to continue improving our way of life without long term effect on the environment.
What I'd like to do in the days, weeks, months, years ahead is to explore this definition and really see if we can keep improving our lifestyles while minimizing our environmental impact. Are there methods we can apply to achieve our goals? Are there behavior changes that are necessary?
Let's explore this together.
Rosemarie
What is sustainability? Let us look at a definition:
Free Dictionary definition:
Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.
OK that sounds good but you know, that could be rather draconian to our way of life. Seriously, are we going to give up our lifestyle? I think not.
So my definition of sustainability is: the ability to continue improving our way of life without long term effect on the environment.
What I'd like to do in the days, weeks, months, years ahead is to explore this definition and really see if we can keep improving our lifestyles while minimizing our environmental impact. Are there methods we can apply to achieve our goals? Are there behavior changes that are necessary?
Let's explore this together.
Rosemarie
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