Besides making the afghan for my niece, I am also working on a new beach bag. The one I've got is too small to fit all the things we'll need at the beach. My solution is a beach bag made of Capri Sun bags. I'm documenting the process and will post on how I made the bag after I finished the sewing.
So what might have my panties in a bunch?
This:
I was in Wal*Mart to kill some time before the bank opened and found this. It's made by Terracycle. Since Terracycle supposedly makes these bags from recycled Capri Sun, I checked them out. They had a sticker on them that said "I could have been this!" with a picture of a Capri Sun, straw in it, ready for consumption.
"Could" is the operative word.
The bag and the totes I found like it were not made from recycled Capri Suns, they were made from Capri Suns that never had juice inside them. The Capri Sun bags were produced specifically to make the totes and back packs. The straw holes were not punched and the front lacked the marks of the glue used to adhere the straw to the front of the pouch!
Recycled? My Ass!
Now the picture above shows the straw holes sewn over. On the real deal, they aren't, so it's pretty damn easy to tell the bags weren't recycled.
The products shown in the video looked nothing like the product on the shelf. The bags in the video, even after being sewn, still looked used. The video even makes it sound hard to clean the glue off the front! (It's called Goo Gone, people.)
Come on, guys! We aren't stupid!
I take that back. So many people are going to buy those things thinking that they're saving the planet.
My question is, where does the real deal go? Where can you purchase the actual, recycled bags?
I'm waiting...
4 comments:
And your wait is over! I just want to write to let you and your readers know the Capri Sun bags were *not* produced specifically to make the totes and back packs.
To the typical person, pre-consumer waste is a little known packaging industry issue. For every product that's made, an unfortunate number of misprints, out of date or overrun packages have to be discarded. These have typically been incinerated.
Enter TerraCycle - we began making upcycled products out of post-consumer waste; manufacturers eventually approached us to handle their pre-consumer as well, rather than sending it to incinerators. Now we're able to choose whichever material will make a better, more consistent product!
Please reach me if you have any additional questions.
Cheers,
George
TerraCycle, Inc.
george@terracycle.net
George,
In the future, it would help to be clear on that. Consumers interested in recycling would love to know that post production 'misfits' are finding new life.
The stickers that say "I could have been this," while accurate, are misleading. Your average customer will pick up the totes and bags believing they are post-consumer recycled.
I understand that you are a business and in business, creating the best product feeds the bottom line. But that makes me question where the post-consumer product that isn't 'perfect' goes. Are they still recycled or does the incinerator get something yummy in its tummy?
Hey Nicolle,
Check out this youtube video and watch all the way to the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8rodU6OzCM
Watched that video and here's my beef: how do you intend to sell that ugly stuff?
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