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TreeTote: The Tote Bag That Saves +1100 Liters of Water

Posted on July 21, 2023July 21, 2023 by dishanth

Did you know that a cotton tote bag consumes +1141 liters of water to be produced?

Cotton tote bags have flooded the market. Originally manufactured to combat single-use bags, this bag has become a trendy accessory. Brands have turned it into a true cult accessory. Yet, cotton tote bags are an ecological disaster. Cotton production involves astronomical amounts of water and pesticides, leading to soil drought and the development of dead marine zones.

In recent years, the “ fiber gap” phenomenon has appeared. Demand for cotton continues to rise while supply decreases. The consequence is skyrocketing prices. Natural fibers like cotton are increasingly being replaced by fibers derived from fossil resources. Cotton is predominantly produced in Asia and requires intercontinental transportation. Off-centre cotton supply chains release large amounts of CO2.

Organic growing systems are better for the soil as they maintain a higher soil quality, which reduces the runoff into local rivers. The soil is also much more resilient and can withstand extreme weather. Healthy soil acts like a sponge – it can absorb and retain water for longer periods, including droughts. This leads to a much lower consumption of organic cotton though it remains 90% higher than our lyocell wood fibre.

The Tree Tote

The TreeTote, a 100% wood fiber tote bag, was developed to address these challenges. Our totes are made from 100% European production. We keep our supply chain as close as possible to reduce CO2 emissions related to transport while producing a socially responsible and affordable bag. Our supply chain is exclusively European and includes three streams: Made in Europe, Made in the Alps and Guaranteed French Origin. The entire supply chain is traceable via the Respect Code on all our bags. By scanning the QR codes on our bags, you will see the entire journey from research to development, raw materials, production, distribution and use.

The prime material for our bags is timber, and they are made from 100% wood fibre from sustainable sources. Of the tree species used in the sourcing of wood for the TreeTote, the main contender is Beech. Beechwood availability is increasing as forests are being returned to a more natural species mix. Rising temperatures are also increasing its growth rate. This beech wood comes purely from PEFC/FSC-certified sources.

The material is generated by thinning or damaged wood left over from other operations. Almost all of the wood used to produce the TreeTote comes from Austria, where the fibre is produced. The rest comes from neighbouring countries, minimising transport and therefore the carbon emissions that come with it. Transport is highly optimised to keep our carbon footprint to a minimum. Shared transport is used whenever possible and, for longer distances, low-emission transport such as trains is prioritised.

Over 99% of the solvent used is recovered and recycled, and water consumption is reduced drastically. Even sustainable bags use plastic thread and tags, which are cheaper and widely available. We stray from plastic and only use TENCEL accessories to make our TreeTote 100% wood fiber. We also don’t add any extra mechanical or chemical steps to the line after weaving, which is rare in textile production, to save energy and water.

Regarding the water used to produce our tote bag, we achieved a 90% reduction in water consumption. If we compare our tote bag to a conventional cotton bag, which uses about 1200L of water, we reduce consumption by 99%. In the case of organically grown cotton, the reduction reaches 90%. Over 39,158,595 liters of water have been saved by TreeTote so far as a replacement for cotton bags.

Because dyeing, and the processes that come with it, have an enormous impact, especially due to water use for the dying itself and the washing steps that follow. We, therefore, choose to work with the fabric in its natural white colour.

OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 is one of the world’s best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances. It stands for customer confidence and high product safety. TreeTote has been awarded Class I certification, complying with the label’s strictest requirements.

After using the tote bag as many times as possible, we recommend recycling it with textiles as this is the highest value disposal. The Tree Tote is also 100% compostable.

Source Happy Eco News

The best climate solution you’ve never heard of

Posted on April 20, 2021 by dishanth

Around the world, there are teams of people who are working to track down and destroy hidden sources of greenhouse gases – stopping them from harming the planet. Some of the gases, which are used in refrigeration, have many times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

On the outskirts of Guatemala City, Ángel Toledo runs a waste disposal company dealing with metal, plastic and glass.

For the last three years they’ve also started dealing with refrigerant gases – which contribute to climate change. He siphons the gases from household appliances like fridges into refrigerant recovery machines.

They are then transferred to a huge tank that’s taken to be destroyed once it’s full.

It’s a tangible measure of what Ángel has helped save.

“I feel fulfilled,” he says. “I’ve had this plant for 16 years working with plastic and glass and other waste but I’ve been working on refrigerants for the last three years.

“I feel it’s like a dream, helping the environment. Avoiding these gases from reaching the atmosphere. It’s an ecstasy being able to help the planet through this work. It’s very important for me.”

But not everyone is disposing of refrigerant canisters or fridges in the right way.

Workers make sure the gases used in old appliances are disposed of safely Source BBC

“Unfortunately, you see that a lot and one of the biggest challenges we face is having to change the common practice. You see the cylinders on the street,” he explains.

“They vent the gases as they’re dealing with equipment or the cylinders and it’s going to the atmosphere.”

Ángel is part of a chain of people working to stop these gases causing damage to the planet. Teams from Tradewater, a company funded through climate offsetting, are working around the world negotiating with governments, private companies and individuals to find ways to find, secure and destroy the gases safely.

Once they get an agreement from the owner and local authorities, they take them somewhere they can be disposed of safely.

These teams are jokingly referred to as “ghostbusters”, because of the way their cinematic counterparts gathered up troublesome phantoms and stored them together in large “containment units”. They doggedly track, trap and destroy rogue gases before they can escape and cause climate havoc.

They’re also sometimes known as “chill hunters”.

Almost all fridges and air conditioning units use a gas to transfer the chill or warmth within the unit. This gas is a great insulator – handy in a fridge but not in the atmosphere.

A worker at Ángel’s plant extracts refrigerant gases from an old appliance Source BBC

Over the last century, the most commonly used gases were CFC (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbons). But when it was discovered they were causing a hole in the ozone layer in the 1980s, they were banned under the Montreal Protocol.

Some of them were also potent greenhouse gases: one, called R12 – a CFC – had a global warming potential almost 10,000 times that of CO2. A single 30lb canister of this gas contained the equivalent of 131 tonnes of CO2 in terms of it global warming potential.

This is the equivalent of the average UK car driving just over a million kilometres.

HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) were brought in as replacements, and helped save the ozone layer. But some of the early HFCs were, like the ozone-harming gases banned under the Montreal Protocol, potent greenhouse gases.

Current legal fridge gases are better, but still have global warming potentials many times greater than carbon dioxide.

Scientists estimate that by phasing out HFCs, global warming could be reduced by around half a degree Celsius.

Tradewater searches for gas tanks, intact fridges or industrial chillers often stored in old warehouses and waste disposal sites. Sometimes, however, the team arrives too late, finding only punctured tanks, corroded pipes and gases long released.

Maria Gutiérrez, Tradewater’s director of international programmes, says: “These gases are all over the place – in refrigeration equipment that’s in use or not, but also in huge stockpiles of unused material that were purchased and never used, or confiscated when imported illegally into a country many years ago.”

These chemicals exist in a legal grey area, so stocks are often hidden as owners may hope to sell them in the future. Sometimes the scrap iron value of the canister alone means that the gas is vented and the metal sold on.

Global warming gases are also found in some fridges, freezers and air-conditioners in the UK – which should be disposed of responsibly. It’s another reason why fly tipping can be so harmful.

Tradewater says its global gas recoveries have already prevented the equivalent of 4-5 million tonnes of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere, but the work continues.

Ms Gutiérrez says: “We are only scratching the surface. There is so much more out there.”

The Chill Hunters are featured in 39 Ways to Save the Planet on BBC Sounds and on BBC Radio 4 at 13:45 BST for the next two weeks.

Source BBC