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Sat, Apr. 19, 2008

Petrochemicals in Products and Packaging

Posted by
crocodilemoth
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I love love love your diapers! and all the rest of your products...
but for a "green" company, it distresses me that you're still using a lot of plastics (READ: PETROCHEMICALS, OIL!!!) in your products and packaging. I understand that it's an emerging field (And even as a materials engineer I don't have all the pertinent information) but I would have expected Seventh Generation to be at the forefront of introducing PLA plastics (Read: Plant based plastics, mostly from corn or potato starch) into your products... ESPECIALLY your diapers and packaging (think: compostable diapers! they're one, short time use products!).

And if you have started using such ingredients, I would love to be notified when the change occurs!

Comments (2)

Thu, Apr. 24, 2008 Posted by: crocodilemoth

Thank you for your response!

I truly appreciate your educated response!
I can't tell you how many companies have stiffed me or given me "marketing" responses that contain absolutely no real information.

It is very true what you say about PLA (GM), about bio-based polymers use of food-stock, and that not everyone who uses your product has access to commercial composting (which would be necessary to process the human waste) or that if the did, would care/or be aware of such a fact. (Not that I'm dissing your customers, it's just hard to find the information, or even the energy to care!).

I am a bit worried about your use of 'recycled' materials though, as most materials out there (plastic, paper, etc.) are not really designed to be recycled and to make them usable, in some cases, introduces many more chemicals, both into the product and the environment. Curious as to how you use/ where you get your recycled material.

As for innovative biobased materials, i believe there is a company looking into using waste cellulose, from any source, to produce a material that -might- be suitable for your diapers, if not your packaging. I'll get back to you on that!

Thank you again for your response!

Carla Aoyagi

Tue, Apr. 22, 2008 Posted by: rpd

Petrochemicals, PLA and other biobased polymers

We are always happy to hear that you "love love love" our diapers. And, yes, there are many innovative, biobased materials that could replace their petrochemical counterparts in our diapers and in our packaging. Although biobased polymers sound like a panacea for our addiction to foreign oil and petro-derived plastics, it's not quite that simple...

The feedstock for polylactic acid (PLA), for example, is genetically modified(GMO)corn, which is a monoculture. We also should ask ourselves if using a foodstuff as feedstock for plastic really makes sense, especially in a country (yes, the USA) where 20% of our youth live in poverty.

Although there are a number of biobased plastics on the market with a better environmental profile than PLA, biobased polymers will not biodegrade in a landfill. You won't find an industrial composting facility that will take a soiled diaper. Therefore, biodegradability is moot, because diapers go to landfills. (They comprise of 2% of landfills.) Landfills do not have the appropriate anaerobic/aerobic mix to biodegrade biobased polymers.

In summary, we are constantly looking for renewable materials that can be used in our diapers and packaging. Right now, we believe the use of post-consumer recycled materials in our packaging makes more sense than biobased polymers from a lifecycle perspective. However, in our diapers, we're constantly looking to wean or addiction to oil and evaluating and testing innovative biobased raw materials that have a superior environmental profile.

Peace/ Positivity/ Transparency/ 08!
-Reed

Seventh Generation R&D Team

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