Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Goodbye Detergent! Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products

2009-11-05T06:38:00-05:00

Goodbye detergent! is a new line of environmentally friendly scrubs for your home, made with unique materials such as recycled corn cobs, peach pits, & walnut shells.

Of all the sustainable household products I've seen this year Goodbye detergent! are the most unique.

The products feature highly effective minimal packaging and each are made of unique materials based on their intended purpose. For instance a kitchen cleaning pad for anodized aluminum cookware made from walnut shells or a cleaning pad for enameled cookware made with pumice stones.

These reusable scrubs have natural abrasives that make it easier to clean with no detergents.

All of the scrubs and cleaning pads are made with natural abrasives and they come in 100% recycled packaging.

Goodbye detergent! scrubs reduce the need for detergents and soaps which contain toxins and chemicals that are bad for the environment.

These eco-friendly scrubs are designed by industrial designer Hiroki Hayashi.

All products are Made in Japan and have won international design awards since its world launch in 2008.

Products from Goodbye detergent! are available online at Amazon.com and other retailers.

Bogoi Coffee

2009-11-03T06:18:00-05:00

Amsterdam based designer Jop Quirindongo has created a package design for a sustainable coffee company that resembles the coffee bean itself. The concept for Bogoi coffee is that on one side, people want to drink the best quality coffee there is. But coffee farmers often still get underpaid for the beans they deliver.

Bogoi coffee will be biologically grown & cropped by farmers who get an honest price for their beans. To put it simple: it's a balance between honesty and quality. Like left & right side, like the symmetry of a coffee bean itself. This was the initial idea for the packaging.

Quirindongo said consumers would access the coffee by tearing open the colored strip on the front of the package. The packaging will me made of 100% recycled plastics.

GoGo squeeZ Applesauce

2009-10-27T06:25:00-04:00

GoGo squeeZ was launched in the US last year. I originally spotted them at Expo East in 2008 and was intrigued by their product design and packaging. They were back again this year and in just one year their product has taken off in the US market.

Using packaging originally designed for NASA, Menage a trios created the creative packaging design for the French applesauce company Materne makers of GoGo squeeZ.

Their product is a good one - 100 percent fruit no sugar added in a squeeze pouch. They make five flavors including two traditional applesauces, an apple peach, apple banana and apple strawberry.

Currently GoGo squeeze is available in about 1,900 supermarkets and children's retailers across the US. GoGo squeeZ 4-packs are available for MSRP $2.99. GoGo squeeZ single pouches are available for MSRP 99 cents.

Consumers can purchase GoGo squeeZ through Whole Foods, the natural section of supermarkets like Stop&Shop, Shaws and Jewel-Osco in select Toys ‘R Us/ Babies’ R US, and other select retailers across the US.

Energy Star Program Audit Find Problems with Ratings

2009-10-20T06:03:00-04:00

An audit finds problems with the Federal Government's Energy Star program.

The New York Times reported the Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency.

Some manufacturers could therefore be putting the stickers on unqualified products, according to the audit, by the Energy Department’s inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman.

Due to differences in product rating standards Energy Star eligibility for certain types of products is determined by their manufacturers,

Teams from the Energy Department and the E.P.A. oversee different categories of products. Last December, the environmental agency’s inspector general said the Energy Star ratings for products it oversees, like computers and television sets, were “not accurate or verifiable” because of weak oversight by the agency.

Those shortcomings “could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the Energy Star label,” according to the department’s inspector general.

Thr Energy Department requires manufacturers of windows and L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting to have independent laboratories evaluate their products, the report said, companies that make refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters and room air-conditioners, which consume far more energy, can certify those appliances themselves.

If you are looking for electronics and are concerned about energy consumption stores like Crutchfield feature their own independent tests of energy usage for items they sell.

via New York Times

SIGG Inundated with Bottle Replacements Resulting in Significant Delays

2009-10-16T06:17:00-04:00

Popular reusable bottle maker SIGG who acknowledged using trace amounts of BPA in its bottle linings late this summer is now inundated with bottles being sent back by customers for replacement and recycling.

According to an email a reader forwarded us from SIGG the company is "experiencing a high influx of returned bottles."

SIGG is offering customers whose bottle contain the BPA lining an exchange program through Oct 31, 2009.

A reader forwarded us an email he received from SIGG after sending in his bottle more than a month ago and hearing nothing from the company.

email from theliner@MySIGG.com received 10/15/09

Hi XXXXX,

We are currently experiencing a high influx of returned bottles. We are devoting our full attention to replacing them in the order in which they were received. The turn-around time at the moment is between four and six weeks. If there was missing paperwork, missing information on the paperwork, or bottles sent to us that are ineligible for return this could severely delay the exchange process.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience while we work hard to serve you. Thank you.

The Consumerist also has reports from readers who have not received their replacement bottles.

Preserve Everyday Tableware

2009-10-14T05:42:00-04:00

Preserve has just released a really neat looking pack of tableware for four. We haven't tried them yet but the design and shape of the products look like a winner.

The Everyday Tableware pack consists of 4 plates, 4 bowls, and 4 cups. Available in four different colors.

The new tableware is made of food safe #5 PP plastic, is ultra durable thanks to a curved shape and is designed for many years of use.

The products are all stamped with the date of manufacture to encourage reuse and Preserve will recycle them for you years from now.

The Everyday Tableware 4 pack is available for about $20 at select Target stores and also online at Preserve's web site.

When we have the chance to try them we'll post more details. So check back.