Businesses to donate unused food under Gainesville’s ‘zero waste’ rule

Good News Notes: “Restaurants and grocery stores will be required to donate food they don’t use to food pantries or turn it into compost instead of throwing it in the dumpster under one of several of Gainesville’s new sweeping zero waste ordinances. Those requirements are among one of three proposed laws approved by the Gainesville City Commission on Thursday….

Bostock unveils new packaging solution

Good News Notes: “Bostock New Zealand has spent over 12 months developing what it believes to be the world’s first certified home compostable zip-lock pouch bag for apples. The bag is made from rice, potato and corn derivatives blended together. John Bostock, owner of Bostock New Zealand, said it took 12 months to develop a…

A New Paper To-Go Cup Removes Plastic Lids From The Fold

Good News Notes: “For the eco-minded cafe, single-use to-go cups are a tough nut to crack. On one hand, they are vital for a majority of coffee sales, especially since the start of the pandemic where a variety of measures have limited if not outright banned indoor dining (for a time). But on the other…

Walmart’s InHome hunts for ways to ditch single-use plastics

Good News Notes: “When Walmart rolled out a new grocery delivery service, it tested a bold premise: customers letting a stranger walk into their homes to deliver milk, eggs and other products directly into the fridge. Now that expanding service, InHome, is testing whether the country’s largest grocer and its shoppers can phase out reliance on single-use plastic bags and…

Aldi commits to only selling plastic-free wipes

Good News Notes: “The switch will see all the wipes across its Mamia baby, Lacura beauty and household ranges chage to 100% plant-based fibres, making them all biodegradable. Aldi estimates the move will prevent the equivalent of 7,000 tonnes of single-use plastic from going to landfill each year. Richard Gorman, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi, said:…

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…

More than 200 food scrap drop-off sites encourage composting

Good News Notes: “…Food scrap drop-off sites were cut during the pandemic because of funding issues, but now there are more sites than before the COVID-19 crisis. Bridget Anderson, DSNY’s deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability, said when compostable material is in landfills not decomposed properly, it releases harmful toxins in the…

New refill store aims to reduce consumer reliance on disposable plastics

Good News Notes: “Plastics are everywhere, from shampoo to conditioner, to household cleaners. All of those containers result in a lot of material that eventually end up in the landfill or recycling. Now, a new store in Medicine Hat aims to reduce the amount of plastics by encouraging customers to refill instead of throw out….