Old arguments about paper and plastic cups

Every so often I awake to think about the rise of popular social trends and their environmental consequences. Just as many others may have observed, I have become acutely aware of the ubiquity of Starbucks coffee shops and coffehouses, in general. I have never purchased anything from Starbucks but have often entered several stores with friends or to look around. As a business major, I can't help but be curious about a successful business model.


"Starbucks first revolutionized the coffeehouse industry by marketing expensive, high-quality coffee as well as a "third place" between work and home - a warm, clean, and inviting environment where customers can go to escape from the chaos of daily life." [1]


From that description above, I understand why Starbucks has very little impact or influence on my life. As a general rule, I do not drink coffee due to health concerns. I tried not to drink coffee for several reasons, for example, it raises blood pressure, caffeine is a diuretic, and coffee stains one's teeth. But looking at journal articles, coffee and caffeine are rendered largely harmless, if taken in moderation (if an average consumer can reasonably determine the meaning of moderation).

"[F]or the healthy adult population, moderate daily caffeine intake at a dose level up to 400 mg day(-1) (equivalent to 6 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) in a 65-kg person) is not associated with adverse effects such as general toxicity, cardiovascular effects, effects on bone status and calcium balance (with consumption of adequate calcium), changes in adult behaviour, increased incidence of cancer and effects on male fertility. The data also show that reproductive-aged women and children are 'at risk' subgroups who may require specific advice on moderating their caffeine intake. Based on available evidence, it is suggested that reproductive-aged women should consume <=300 home main

I can't help but admire Starbucks with such broad appeal to many segments of the American population as well as the ability to compete and dominate in foreign markets. However, that's that a lot of cups and waste generated. I'm mostly thinking about the waste stream of paper coffee cups and plastic tops for hot drinks and clear plastic cups for cold drinks. I do not believe these are being recycled at all. I am not even sure if these cups can be recycled. I try to think of the usual fate of these cups as they leave the store. I imagine that most people dispose of them in regular trash receptacles that go to the landfill. The paper is biodegradable but I wonder about the plastic tops (for hot drinks) and the clear plastic cups (for cold drinks). I'd like to see a piece about this created by Chris Jordan (see previous blog entry). But I think that could be construed as commentary on a specific company rather than a culture.

Sort of like candy wrappers, coffee cups are mundane everyday items that accumulate into large amounts of waste. The only alternative I have seen is the marketing of mugs and cups that could then be used in the purchase of future beverages. Perhaps, akin to plastic bags at the supermarket, reusable containers is the most environmentally conscious choice. But that would force a change in consumer behavior. The convenience of disposal containers and not having to lug around a clean, appropriately-sized cup makes me think that disposable cups, paper, plastic, or in combination, will continue to be used.

But product packaging is essential to building a brand name.

[1] "Starbucks," http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Starbucks_(SBUX)
[2] Nawrot P, Jordan S, Eastwood J, Rotstein J, Hugenholtz A, Feeley M. "Effects of caffeine on human health." Food Addit Contam. 2003 Jan;20(1):1-30.
[3] "Starbucks."

Post-Halloween malaise

It's post-Halloween and I'm eating the leftover candy. After half the day has passed, I'm left with a pile of candy wrappers that will ultimately find its way to a landfill. Thinking back to my previous post about consumer waste as pop art, I began to think about the staggering amount of waste generated by Halloween and other holidays (I'm looking at you, Cadbury Easter eggs). Not much can be done with the little individual wrappers. After the fun of consuming the sweets, there comes a slight melancholy that only a pile of empty candy wrappers and the crash of the sugar rush could produce. The guilt of candy consumption and production of trash is a small offense but one that is committed frequently and ritualistically in American culture. Social rituals as holiday traditions can harm the environment in addition to drastically illustrate the wasteful habits of this culture.

Looking online, I was unable to find anything to ease my guilt. World.org didn't have much with regard to finding useful ways to deal with the inevitable waste generated by candy wrappers.

Candy Foil
Unwrap candy carefully and save the foil. Use the foil to wrap homemade candy.
Glue to a thin piece of cardboard (or thick piece of paper), hole punch, and sew to clothing as sequins.
Candy Wrappers
Use when making homemade candy. Make sure they are clean and dry.
String the wrappers together through the center to make a party lei. [1]

Their ideas seemed somewhat preposterous. "Party lei?" Come on! I'm not that handy either at making my own homemade candy. I recycle and the resulting pile of cans, bottles, and things can be quite unappealing. But things such as these are accumulated on a pretty regular basis as opposed to holiday candy or candy in general. It is not often that individual candy wrappers can be salvaged in resusable condition and in sufficient numbers to create a "party lei." Candy wrappers can't go in the recycling bin either.

The coolest re-use I have seen for candy wrappers is the handbag. The notion of it is novel and the brightly colored wrappers appear to catch the eye. However, I imagine that if the manufacturers were really serious about the business, they may opt for unused candy wrappers to prevent contamination of the product and reduce the cost of sorting through used candy wrappers. But, to me, it seems that the design and colors of the bag are its selling points. Without being told about the nature of the materials, I think the product can sell on its own based solely on its appearance.

It seems that many holidays generate a great deal of waste, for example, Christmas with its wrapping paper or any sort of gift-giving holiday. But holiday wrapping paper and the gift boxes must all be recyclable, I imagine. It's just all the energy and resources that go into making them seem to outweigh their relative usefulness. I'm not the kind that saves and reuses wrapping paper. I think people purchase new rolls of wrapping paper each year because they can't find their old wrapping paper or they don't like their old wrapping paper anymore. Recycled wrapping paper seems like a waste to me, too. The usefulness of wrapping paper is low relative to the cost of its production. I think paper should be used for more productive purposes, at the very least copier paper. Copier paper can be used all year long and doesn't go out of style.

[1] World Environmental Organization, "Recycling Database recycle: candy wrappers," http://www.world.org/reuse/candy.wrappers

Environmental impact of laundry

Every so often, I have a load of "dry-clean only" garments and I am reminded of the dry cleaning process and its inherent hazards. Cruising the Internet, I found a very informative article on http://www.science.com/. Below is a description of a standard operating procedure (SOP).

Tagging and inspection - Some method, whether it is small paper tags or little labels written on a shirt collar, is used to identify your clothes so they don't get mixed up with everyone else's. Clothes are also examined for missing buttons, tears, etc. that the dry cleaner might get blamed for otherwise.
Pre-treatment - The cleaner looks for stains on your clothes and treats them to
make removal easier and more complete.
Dry cleaning - The clothes are put in a machine and cleaned with a solvent.
Post-spotting - Any lingering stains are removed.
Finishing - This includes pressing, folding, packaging and other finishing touches. [1]

Doing my own laundry, I like to compare my procedure to that of the professionals. With regard to pre-treating stains, I must admit that I don't do that very often. That also is a reflection of the fact that I try to be very careful. When working with solvents or chemicals, I rarely wear clothing that I care enough about getting stains. For example, when painting or changing the oil in my car, it is common sense to wear items of clothing you don't care about, like an old, long-sleeve shirt and pair of jeans. I have a specific set of clothes I use only for working on my car, keeping them in the garage. However, by keeping them in the garage to isolate them from my other clothes, I forget to wash them on a regular basis. Although it does seem wasteful, I will most likely end up throwing away those clothes after a while instead of washing them. There is no shortage of old casual clothing that I no longer wear that can then be used for yardwork or working on the car. The old business clothing is more likely to be donated to the Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Nevertheless, some stains seem to be unavoidable at some point in everyone's lives. That, of course, would be food stains. Whether eating fast-food garbage or an over-priced restaurant meal, getting some on one's clothes happens to adults and children alike, albeit with varying frequencies. I learned something useful about pre-treating, perhaps common knowledge to some:

Simply apply water for wet stains (a stain that had water in it) and solvent for
dry stains (a stain that has grease or oil in it). Then, gently tap and blot
both sides of the fabric with a soft cloth so the stain "bleeds off" onto the
cloth. Then, rinse the fabric, let it dry and your cleaner will do the rest. [2]

How to treat wet stains is common sense but I didn't even know what a "dry stain" was, much less how to treat it. The greatest challenge, to me at least, was to treat the "ring-around-the-collar" on my business/dress shirts. I would place that in the "dry stain" category due to the oils contained on human skin that can't help but rub off on collars throughout the work day, even worse when giving presentations, going on interviews, etc. White dress shirts are the most noticeable victim of this affliction. I learned long ago to start wearing off-white or blue dress shirts. White seems to be the best backdrop to notice all the little stains one might come across and appears to be very obvious when its brightness starts to fade. After an exhaustive online search, there appeared to be a myriad of methods to treat the stain.

Common among the suggestions was to treat the stain immediately, washing the garment soon after its wear. However, this is contradictory to water-conserving practices. The suggested solvent varied from solvents specifically marketed to remove sweat/perspiration stains to pre-soaking in white vinegar or ammonia. In the dry cleaning industry, the solvent of choice is perchloroethylene or PERC.

Perchloroethylene (PERC) is the most commonly used drycleaning solvent. PERC can enter the body through respiratory and dermal exposure. Symptoms associated with exposure include: depression of the central nervous system; damage to the liver and kidneys; impaired memory; confusion; dizziness; headache; drowsiness; and eye, nose, and throat irritation. Repeated dermal exposure may result in dermatitis. [The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health,] NIOSH considers PERC a potential human carcinogen. [3]

Due to the adverse health effects of PERC use, alternatives have been sought. Among the alternatives and their respective advatages/disadvantages are described below.

Modern wet cleaning is a new method to clean by water immersion garments normally cleaned in solvent.
Advantages of Wetcleaning
Fewer health and safety hazards
Soil contamination and large emissions of air pollutants eliminated
More pleasant smell than solvent
Some soils are more easily removed (i.e. sugars, salts, drinks, body fluids, starch, and milk)
Comparable cost to cleaning with PERC
Burden of strict health, safety, and environmental regulations reduced
Disadvantages of Wetcleaning
Not currently a complete replacement for cleaning with PERC
Potential for fabric deterioration, structural surface changes, felting, loss of luster and shape, dye transfer or color change
Wools, silks, and rayons are more subject to fiber shrinkage or bleeding of dyes
Greases, oils, waxes, and resins are more difficult to remove
Large quantities of contaminated wastewater
Labor-intensive, requires highly skilled workers
Presents additional ergonomic risks to workers because it is more labor intensive [4]

Petroleum-based drycleaning has been used in garment cleaning for many years.
Advantages of Petroleum-Based Drycleaning
Generally considered less toxic than PERC based upon exposure limits. Toxicological properties not as well documented as PERC.
Because the vapor pressures are lower than PERC, exposures due to inhalation are generally lower
Established cleaning solvent that is effective at cleaning all types of garments
Generally less expensive than PERC
Disadvantages of Petroleum-Based Drycleaning
Presents fire hazards; PERC does not. Fire codes may limit where some shops using these solvents may be located.
Better living condition for bacteria growth. Bacteria cause the garments to retain unpleasant odors.
Lower vapor pressures result in a longer drying process than ERC.
Less effective at removing oil and grease stains than PERC
Higher insurance premiums than with PERC [5]

Liquid carbon dioxide is a recently developed technology that is not yet on the market.
Advantages of Liquid CO2
Environmental concerns such as soil contamination, air pollution, etc. eliminated.
Shorter expected cycle time than with conventional drycleaning, reduced garment pressing time.
Potentially more effective in cleaning suede, leather, and fur than with conventional dry cleaning.
Relatively high PEL of 5,000 ppm
Disadvantages of Liquid CO2
Potential safety hazards--high pressure system, asphyxiation
Questions regarding garment redeposition of stains that have been removed
Possible problems removing protein stains such as grass, lipstick, or chocolate
Possibly more expensive than PERC machines
Very new technology for garment cleaning applications that has not stood the test of time[6]

Sufficed to say, I have very little in common with current and future dry-cleaning practices with specific regard to the choice of solvents. However, perhaps the greatest commonality between individual and commercial clothes washing occurs during the finishing or pressing phase. Having done quite a bit of ironing in my time, I have noticed several occupational hazards common to both the professional and average consumer, for example, standing for long periods of time, the potential of burning oneself, and the stress of repeated movements. Such stress of repetitive movements in detail below:

Musculoskeletal disorders are caused by repetitive motions, awkward postures,
excessive reaching, and precision gripping. In the drycleaning industry,
ergonomic risks occur during garment transfer, pressing, and bagging. These
activities, combined with a high work rate and frequency, may cause physical
discomfort and musculoskeletal problems for workers. Disorders can include
damage to tendons, muscles, nerves, and ligaments of the hand, wrist, arm,
shoulder, neck, and back. [7]

I have gone on my own ironing binges, ironing some 25 dress shirts at a single sitting, and I have experienced the physical stress of repetitive motions and long periods of standing. In particular, I have found that the longer the time spent on ironing, the greater the possibility of burning oneself. This has happened on numerous occassions. Fatigue, coupled with a narrow ironing board on a plush carpet, has led to many burns. This has led me to seek more professional irons and acessories. I have long hated the average consumer iron with its metal sole plate, heavy iron with water reservior, and cord that inevitably wind around and gets caught on something. Cord minders and ways to counterbalance its weight have been developed (Figure 1).

Also, there are steam-only irons where the sole plate is not heated and the only potential for burning is getting scalded from a blast of steam. This, I would imagine, virtually eliminates the frequency of burns.

Lastly, the weight of an iron is decreased when using a gravity feed iron, where the water reservoir is separate from the iron (Figure 2). This decreases fatigue when ironing for long periods of time.

Figure 2. Gravity feed iron.

[1] Marks, Nate and Debra Luhring, "How Dry Cleaning Works," http://science.howstuffworks.com/dry-cleaning2.htm
[2] Ibid.
[3] National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, "Control of Exposure to Perchloroethylene in CommercialDrycleaning (Substitution)," http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hc17.html
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, "Control of Ergonomic Hazards in Commercial Drycleaning," http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hc22.html