This Skincare Brand Is Making Plastic-Free Products More Luxurious

Good News Notes: “One of the biggest misconceptions about making your beauty routine more sustainable is that you’ll have to sacrifice performance and sleek packaging when switching to less-wasteful products. But Common Heir is one skincare brand that’s proven that plastic-free beauty products can, in fact, be sexy. Co-founders and beauty industry veterans Cary Lin and Angela…

Upcycled crops used to make new, surprising products in Japan

Good News Notes: “Upcycling crops that would have otherwise been thrown away is becoming more popular, from making denim out of sugarcane residue to cooking jam from concentrated banana skins. As there is a wide variety of upcycled products, such environmentally friendly brands are likely to catch the eye of consumers. Residue resulting from pressed…

Pilot program turns Boise, ID plastic recycling into a bench”

Good News Notes: “When the Hefty EnergyBag recycling program was announced in Boise about three years ago, it asked residents to separate those hard-to-recycle No. 4-7 plastics into orange bags. The bags were shipped to a Utah company which planned to chemically deconstruct the plastic into diesel fuel. Equipment problems quickly forced the end of that destination,…

Solar panel “upcycling” venture gears up for first factory in Victoria

Good News Notes: “A new solar panel “upcycling” plant should be up and running in Victoria by the end of 2023, with further facilities in the development pipeline, according to an update from the team behind the project. A research update published by the University of Melbourne, a partner on the project with RMIT University and…

Recycling Soda Bottles Into Filament To Print Smaller Soda Bottles

Good News Notes: “…Soda bottles are usually made out of PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate, which is one of the most popular thermoplastics in modern society. A soda bottle can be cut into a continuous long, thin strip with the use of a simple hand-operated machine that slices the bottle with a blade. This strip…

A sweet breakthrough: Scientists develop recyclable plastics based on sugars

Good News Notes: “Researchers from the University of Birmingham, U.K., and Duke University, U.S., have created a new family of polymers from sustainable sources that retain all of the qualities of common plastics, but are also degradable and mechanically recyclable. The scientists used sugar-based starting materials rather than petrochemical derivatives to make two new polymers,…

Levi’s Is Upcycling the Liquified Remains of Old Jeans

Good News Notes: “The denim industry is fraught with environmental problems. This is largely because denim is made with cotton, a pesticide-fed, resource-intensive crop. In fact, it takes around 10,000 liters of water to grow enough cotton for just one pair of jeans (that’s about 65 times the amount an average person uses in one…

PA parks make switch to paper, compostables at concession stands

Good News Notes: “Pennsylvania state parks are making a move to go plastic-free and reduce waste, starting with their concession stands, to help meet the Commonwealth’s sustainability goals. By the end of this year, more than 15 state park food concessionaires will have updated contracts, including eliminating plastic straws, cutlery and food packaging. The renewed agreements…