By GreenerDesign Staff

An alternative to foam packaging that is biodegradable and based on sugar cane has earned Cradle to Cradle certification.

Synbra Technology's BioFoam product is a packaging material like expanded polystyrene foam (the type of packaging filler commonly referred to as sytrofoam), but it is made out of polylactic acid, a material derived from sugar cane processing.

BioFoam will initially be used by companies within the Synbra Group that provide packaging products, but the company says that it's possible that BioFoam could be used to replace expanded polystyrene within building materials.

Since BioFoam is made from polylactic acid, it can biodegrade under certain condition when it's no longer needed. The material can also be reformed to fit around different products.

Synbra is building its first plant for commercializing the material in the Netherlands, with plans to be up and running this year. The company says the plant will be able to produce 5,000 tons a year.

Cradle to Cradle certification was given by the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA), which was founded by Michael Braungart, one of the co-founders of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). The EPEA is able to grant Cradle to Cradle certification based on criteria set forth by MBDC, which includes materials, material reuse, energy use, water use and social responsibility.

Indianapolis — People can drop off their Christmas trees at eight Indy Parks until Jan. 31, 2010.
The trees are chopped up and used as mulch in city parks and around street trees. Last year, more than 15,000 trees were recyled.
Make sure to remove ornaments, lights, stands, plastic bags, nail or other extras. No artificial trees or materials will be accepted.
You can drop off your tree from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. Follow the signs in the park for the exact drop off location.

• Broad Ripple Park,
 1610 Broad Ripple Ave.
• Ellenberger Park, 
5301 E. Saint Clair St.
• Garfield Park, 2345 Pagoda Drive
• Krannert Park,
 605 S. High School Road
• Northwestway Park, 
5253 W. 62nd St.
• Riverside Park,
 2420 N. Riverside Drive
• Perry Park,
 451 E. Stop 11 Road
• Sahm Park, 6801 E. 91st St.

Indiana Living Green shares these suggestions with our readers as part of America Recycles Day, Nov. 15. They come from RecycleBank in the United Kingdom and 25 states, which offers five things you should always recycle.

Five things you should always recycle
Chances are you're already recycling the cans, bottles and paper, but what about all that other stuff that's lurking in your drawers or closets, such as outdated gadgets and dead batteries, which you are not sure how to recycle?

The following household items are especially important to donate or recycle because they contain materials that can contaminate the environment if they wind up in landfills. Or the items can be reclaimed easily for use in new products. Here are some convenient ways to keep them out of the trash:

Electronics — Many office supply stores and electronics stores will accept larger electronics, such as desktop computers for recycling for a small fee (usually $10) and smaller ones like cell phones and PDAs for free. Many cell phones can be donated to women’s shelters. Other places include Goodwill Industries.

Rechargeable batteries — Cordless phones and power tools, digital cameras and dozens of other gizmos can be recycled for free at 30,000 drop-off points nationwide, including retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe's, RadioShack, Sears, and Target. Enter your zip code at Call2Recycle to find a place near you.

The Indianapolis Marion County Public Library accepts single use, or or alkaline batteries. Other sources may be found at Call2Recycle or Earth911.

Like many electronics, batteries contain heavy metals and other chemicals best kept out of the waste stream. Plus, recyclers reclaim metals from them that are used to make, for example, new batteries and steel.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs — Although they use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, they contain a small amount of mercury and shouldn't be thrown in the trash. Take them to any Home Depot or Ikea store for recycling. Or check with Lamp Recycle to find more drop off locations. CFLs in landfills can break and release mercury, a neurotoxin, into the environment.

Plastic bags — Even if you've switched to reusable bags for your shopping, you probably have a bunch of these stored in your home. Luckily, lots of retailers like Wal-Mart and Kroger have bins where you can recycle plastic grocery bags, usually in the stores. In many of their parkings lots and in parking losts of many other locations. To find a drop off location near you, go to Plastic Bag Recycling or Earth 911.

Plastic bags are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, and when thrown away, they take a very long time to decompose. Recyclers will turn them into new products like plastic lumber.

Anything you don't need that could be of great value to others — For instance, you can donate your used prescription glasses to the nonprofit OneSight at any LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sunglass Hut, Target Optical, or Sears Optical location. Check out One Sight for more locations. The glasses and medications will be distributed to people in need in developing countries.

You can also donate unused, unexpired medications including antibiotics, pain relievers and others by mailing them to the the Health Equity Project. Also keep an eye and ear open because some local retailers, such as Marsh stores, will accept medications during special promotions.

Keep in mind that you should always recycle hazardous substances like paint, pesticides, propane gas tanks and motor oil at your town's household hazardous waste collection events or permanent collection center. Go to Earth 911, or call (800) CLEANUP to find collection sites and events.

Indianapolis — Republic Services, Inc., which counts more than a million Hoosiers as customers,  dedicated its Indianapolis Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF, Nov. 4, a massive single-stream recycling system that can process up to 400 tons of recycled materials per day and now allows customers to avoid having to sort out certain plastics that in the past could not be recycled.

The facility is also directly responsible for creating 20 new central Indiana jobs with more to come as the system reaches capacity, according to Barry Pruitt, general manager of Republic Services' Indianapolis division.

The newest facility of its kind in the state and the only one in central Indiana, the MRF processes materials using the single-stream sorting method, the latest advancement in the collection of residential recyclables. The state-of-the-art single-stream process simultaneously sorts newsprint, cardboard, glass and plastic containers as well as other recyclable items and prepares them for shipment to mills and production facilities.

"The MRF will play a critical role in managing a majority of the recyclables collected in central Indiana and points beyond," Pruitt said. "It will also provide a convenient and cost-effective solution to help residents, businesses and municipalities meet their recycling needs."

Installation of the 280-foot-long, 35-foot-high equipment in the MRF began on July 27, and the facility began processing material in mid-September. The $2.2 million system was built, designed and assembled by Hustler Conveyor Company of O'Fallon, Ill. The new equipment also allows consumers to recycle a broader range of materials, according to Pruitt. Before, customers had to check the bottoms of plastic containers and were only allowed to recycle ones that carried a certain number. That's no longer the case.

"By taking the full range of plastic types instead of just a few, the MRF allows our customers to avoid doing their own sorting, making it easier than ever to recycle," he added.

Indianapolis — AT&T, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc., and Republic Waste Services & Recycling of Indiana have teamed up to provide more recycling of outdated telephone books.

Seven new recycling drop-off locations will accept outdated phone books through Dec. 15, which coincides with the delivery of the new Indianapolis AT&T Real Yellow Pages directory.

In addition, four Indianapolis schools will participate in the first annual Project ReDirectory phone book recycling drive.
“It’s a great time to get on the recycling bandwagon, or supplement your recycling efforts,” said Rhonda Bieda, area market manager AT&T Advertising Solutions. “As new directories are delivered to Indianapolis residents and businesses, locate the drop-off location most convenient for you, and bring in those old directories so they can be recycled into valuable products such as home insulation, animal bedding, roofing shingles and more.”

• Broad Ripple Park, 450 Broad Ripple Ave.
• Circle City Recycling, 3617 Southeastern Ave.
• Langsdale Recycling, 832 Langsdale Ave.
• Perry Park, 415 E. Stop 11 Road
• Product Development Corp Warehouse, 3000 S. Shelby St.
• Republic Services, 96th Street Transfer Station
• Sahm Park, 6801 E. 91^st St.

“We’re excited about the additional locations for phone book recycling this year in Indianapolis,” said Tammy Stevens, recycling manager at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. “Providing multiple drop-off locations will make it easier for residents to divert this material from our waste stream while providing needed material to be recycled into other valuable products.”

Residents and businesses can also help local schools when recycling their outdated directories. As part of the Project ReDirectory phone book recycling drive which runs from Oct. 29 through Dec. 7, the following schools will have an opportunity to win $50 for each ton (up to $250) of outdated directories collected, with the school collecting the most (minimum of two tons) will win an additional $250:


• Cold Spring Academy, 3650 Cold Spring Road
• Craig Middle School, 6501 Sunnyside Road
• Greenbrier Elementary School, 8201 Ditch Road
• Southport High School, 971 E. Banta Road

Also, for those households that subscribe to curbside recycling through Republic Services, you’ll be able to place outdated directories in your curbside recycling bin. “We are proud to offer these additional options to recycle phone books in Indianapolis. And we are excited to participate in this year’s Project ReDirectory recycling drop-off sites and school phone book recycling challenge,” said Barry Pruitt, General Manager, Republic Services.

Alexandria, Va., — Nearly 94 percent of Americans know recycling is good for the environment and nearly 60 percent correctly identify glass as part of sustaining a healthy lifestyle, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Glass Packaging Institute and Doyle Yoon, a professor at Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Oklahoma.

The survey results are being released as part of Recycle Glass Week, Sept. 21 through Sept. 27, a national awareness week to encourage consumers to recycle more glass bottles and jars. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

"There is a high correlation between what people think about recycling and their actions," the professor said.  "If a person thinks recycling is good for the environment, they are 83 percent more likely to recycle."

Women most likely to recycle

Women ages 40 to 60 with incomes over $25,000 a year are among the most likely to recycle. They believe recycling is important, and they actually recycle. People who recycle are also five times more likely to seek products in recyclable packaging.

Of those households that recycle, 82 percent recycle glass bottles. When consumers were asked which containers are most "environmentally friendly," 22 percent said glass bottles and jars, while 27 percent answered paper containers.  Only 8 percent chose plastic bottles; 9.5 percent chose bag-in-box containers.

"It is clear from the poll that Americans want to pitch in and recycle. We hope Recycle Glass Week will encourage consumers to recycle glass bottles and jars in their communities, along with other packaging materials. This will help reduce the amount of recyclable materials entering landfills and help create a ‘greener' future," says Joseph Cattaneo, president of GPI. "When you recycle glass containers, you save raw materials, help to reduce the amount of energy needed to manufacture new glass bottles and jars, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Every bottle counts."

Glass recycles over and over

Most consumers (78 percent) also know glass bottles and jars can be recycled back into the same package again and again. And, consumers know glass is pure. Nearly 60 percent of consumers believe glass packaging is "best suited to a healthy lifestyle." And while 83 percent of consumers think plastic containers have added chemicals, only 11 percent think glass does.

"Glass containers can be recycled again and again without loss of quality or purity," says Cattaneo. "Every time you recycle a glass bottle or jar, you help to save energy and our planet. Glass is good for your health and for the health of the planet."

No synthetic chemicals

In fact, there are no synthetic additives or chemicals in glass containers at all. Made from all-natural resources-sand, soda ash, limestone, and recycled glass-and with a 400-year record of safety, glass is the only packaging material "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) by the FDA for food and beverage contact.

During Recycle Glass Week, GPI will encourage consumers to recycle more glass containers in order to help U.S. glass container manufacturers reach the goal of using 50 percent cullet in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013. GPI and its member companies will be holding over 50 events across the country during Recycle Glass Week, creating awareness about the benefits of choosing and recycling glass. Check out www.gpi.org for more on Recycle Glass Week activities and events in your area.

A survey of 750 Americans was conducted by telephone in July 2009 by Newton Marketing Research, Norman, Oklahoma, in conjunction with Professor Doyle Yoon, PhD Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Oklahoma, with a Margin of error of +/- 3.7% (survey facts).

The Glass Packaging Institute is the trade association representing the North American glass container industry. Through GPI, glass container manufacturers speak with one voice to advocate industry standards, promote sound environmental policies and educate packaging professionals.