Product Spotlight: Eco Hot Cups

Most paper hot cups on the market today contain a plastic lining made from a petrochemical. This lining helps ensure the integrity of the cup against hot liquids such as coffee. In American alone, more than 14 billions cups of coffee are served annually in disposal cups with plastic linings. Hot cups that use petro-based plastic linings will not fully decompose, and are also dependant on a limited and costly resource, oil. Ecoproducts.com brings you an eco-friendly alternative. The new ecotainer hot cups from International Paper are the only hot cups on the market with an inner lining using a plastic biopolymer derived from corn. Along with making a strong and dependable hot cup, plastic derived from corn is also renewable. These new pla hot cups are the perfect eco-friendly cup for they help reduce pollution, save energy and is also fully compostable.

These compostable hot cups are the perfect cups for greening your coffee shop. Compostable in a commercial composting environment, the Ecotainertm hot cup has an inner lining made from 100% corn whereas conventional paper hot cups have inner linings made from petroleum.

Also, the paper comes from trees that were harvested sustainably and the cups are Elemental chlorine-free. These cups perform the same or better than regular paper hot cups.


Get more info at www.ecoproducts.com

Today's Green News: A Summery

Welcome to Thursday! Here's a few links of interest that have been building up in my memo box.

This first story is a great write up by the Toronto Star about creating a bicycle friendly city. A bicycle-friendly city is environment-friendly, too

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Heres a list of 100 things to think about that will help the environment. Most of it is pretty standard, but its a good to refresh your memory on the topic! 100 Ways to Save the Environment

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This article talks about finding the 'real' organic food in your grocery store. It goes on to say that you really need to read labels on food packages, even if the package promotes organic food. Check out the rest at: www.southernillinoisan.com





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Chickens in the Backyard

No, the title isn't a metaphor for the glory days gone by, or for short, funny stories that will uplift you. I'm talking about real, honest to goodness chickens. And why would there be chickens in the backyard? Well for the eggs of course!
A new idea thats been brought about in the green world is that of keeping your own chickens, even in a slightly urban setting. I don't think its responsible to have them in your apartment building, but that is up to you.
Basically the idea is that with a little work, you get organic (mostly free!) eggs, and eventually chicken meat. Chickens don't require too much space (they'll never fly away). Besides feeding, the occasional cleaning and protection from your neighbours cat, the work can be minimal. And they're just so fun to watch, heads bobbing when they walk. They also provide a sort of pest control, since they eat mosquitoes and other bugs that would annoy you.
Now there are difficulties in raising chickens, such as you can't just leave for a week (much like any pet), you do need to collect the eggs unless you want rotten eggs sitting around, and there are bird flus and predators that come around, but if you want to guarantee fresh, organic eggs to eat there is no better way than that.

Here is a great site to get more info on raising chickens in your backyard: The City Chicken




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New Mexico: Restaurant Plans on Wind Power

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Gurnee Mills, New Mexico, has gotten the zoning permits for building a a 60 foot wind turbine to power their new restaurant. The project is expected to cost about $60000 USD and will pay for itself in 10-15 years. This is just one of the new wave of companies going entirely green power.
Chipotle restaurants are also known for their use of farm bred pork instead of using 'factory farms' where pigs are kept in crates since birth and don't even have the opportunity to move on their own. Chipotle believes in using the old fashioned farm way of raising pigs:

Since 2001, all of the pork served in our restaurants has been from pigs raised in this humane, ecologically sustainable way. In addition to all of our pork, nearly 60 percent of our chicken and more than 40 percent of our beef is naturally raised. And we'll continue until all of our meats in all of our restaurants meet this standard.
-Taken From www.chipotle.com

Its good to see companies who are this conscious of the world.