Biodegradable vs. Bioplastics: What’s the Difference?

Plastic that breaks down in weeks rather than centuries sounds fantastic. As concerns over plastic waste mount, the biodegradable plastics industry is growing rapidly coming up with all sorts of alternatives. However, it’s not as simple as simply throwing these new plastics in your backyard and letting nature take its course. By now, no one [...]

 

Plastic that breaks down in weeks rather than centuries sounds fantastic. As concerns over plastic waste mount, the biodegradable plastics industry is growing rapidly coming up with all sorts of alternatives. However, it’s not as simple as simply throwing these new plastics in your backyard and letting nature take its course. By now, no one denies that humanity has a plastic problem on our hands. At FP International, we think about this issue often, keeping innovation and sustainability at the...
Read more
   

Stylish Solar: How Companies are Making Panels Look ...

The cost of solar energy is declining, and solar panels and batteries are becoming more efficient. In 2017, a number of aesthetically pleasing, technologically fascinating, and economically efficient installations have hit the market. While there are plenty more than what we're addressing here, we’ll be taking a look at ways companies are enticing new customers [...]

The cost of solar energy is declining, and solar panels and batteries are becoming more efficient. In 2017, a number of aesthetically pleasing, technologically fascinating, and economically efficient installations have hit the market. While there are plenty more than what we’re addressing here, we’ll be taking a look at ways companies are enticing new customers to make sustainable solar energy a part of their lives. Picture, if you will, oh reader, a scene from an ancient past when the dinosaurs...
Read more
   

An Algae Water Bottle You Can Drink From (And Eat)

I know it might seem like we're picking on plastic lately, but the facts are there: plastic waste is a major problem. Contributing from everything to bursting landfills, floating garbage islands in the middle of the ocean, and the leaching of toxic chemicals back into ground and water tables, the material that once revolutionized packaging [...]

I know it might seem like we’re picking on plastic lately, but the facts are there: plastic waste is a major problem. Contributing from everything to bursting landfills, floating garbage islands in the middle of the ocean, and the leaching of toxic chemicals back into ground and water tables, the material that once revolutionized packaging is now sealing our (and our world’s) demise. But not everyone’s content with that fate. Plastic alternatives have been cropping up over the years in...
Read more
   

How Precious Plastic is Reshaping Our Waste Problem

It's often all too easy for businesses to dismiss recycling and green initiatives as too costly to implement compared to conventional methods. After all, a good capitalist knows one ought to maximize revenue while minimizing expenses, right? But just as rent or property taxes, equipment, wages, and whatever else you care to list off your books is considered [...]

It’s often all too easy for businesses to dismiss recycling and green initiatives as too costly to implement compared to conventional methods. After all, a good capitalist knows one ought to maximize revenue while minimizing expenses, right? But just as rent or property taxes, equipment, wages, and whatever else you care to list off your books is considered a fiscal cost of doing business, we cannot forget the cost we inflict on our planet as well. While some CEOs might try to justify this...
Read more
   

This New Photocell Turns CO2 into Fuel, Thinks It’s ...

Finally, it looks like we might be able to tap into the process that our leafy cohabitants have been mastering for thousands (if not millions) of years. A research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has come up with a new photocell that harnesses the power of artificial photosynthesis, taking carbon dioxide and [...]

Finally, it looks like we might be able to tap into the process that our leafy cohabitants have been mastering for thousands (if not millions) of years. A research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has come up with a new photocell that harnesses the power of artificial photosynthesis, taking carbon dioxide and sunlight and turning it into usable fuel. Before beginning to even describe this eco-friendly sorcery, let’s touch base on the not-so-eco-friendly problem that’s prompted the...
Read more
   

RePlast and the Art of Turning Waste into Building M...

When you think of plastic bricks, fond memories of playing with Legos might come to mind. But for New Zealander inventor and engineer Peter Lewis and ByFusion, shaping plastic into blocks is more than child's play. As more people and businesses become aware of the dangers of climate change, recycling, sustainability, and green technology has [...]

When you think of plastic bricks, fond memories of playing with Legos might come to mind. But for New Zealander inventor and engineer Peter Lewis and ByFusion, shaping plastic into blocks is more than child’s play. As more people and businesses become aware of the dangers of climate change, recycling, sustainability, and green technology has never been more in-demand. Outside of incinerating our trash or trying to find clever ways to bury and hide it, finding ways to reduce and...
Read more
   

CarbFix: How an Icelandic Power Plant Traps CO2 in Rock

Here at FP International, we take an active interest in sustainability and protecting the environment. While we do what we can to minimize waste with eco-friendly void fill materials, landfills are only one contributor to a major issue: global warming. Where we trap air in layers of biodegradable* plastic, a power plant in [...]

  Here at FP International, we take an active interest in sustainability and protecting the environment. While we do what we can to minimize waste with eco-friendly void fill materials, landfills are only one contributor to a major issue: global warming. Where we trap air in layers of biodegradable* plastic, a power plant in Iceland is upping the ante trapping greenhouse gases into rock. But before we elaborate on that sorcery, let’s first take a look at the problem. CO2 emissions associated...
Read more