Plastic Bottles, 2007     60x120”Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.
Chris Jordan - Running the Numbers I: An American Self-Portrait

I am currently working on my Final MA Project for my Design for Sustainability degree - this is my midterm presentation that I presented to members of the City today. If you could please watch it and leave feedback, that would be great. 

This video represents 5 weeks of research on developing a city-wide reduction on plastic within Savannah, GA

FOR A MORE ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE - please play the song above WHILE you play this video. Really because the odds of me finding a song called Plasticities to go along with a presentation on Plastic IN Cities, is just way too perfect to pass up. 

K thanks!

Pepsi is apparently paying attention to consumer demands. The new Eco-Fina bottles are designed to reduce their environmental impact, using 50 percent less plastic than bottles produced seven years ago. They’re actually a pretty snazzy bit of industrial design. The plastic is paper-thin through the body of the bottle. It would crush in your hand if it weren’t for a cleverly designed system of decorative ridges. These add enough strength to the container that it performs like a conventional bottle. The whole thing weighs a bit less than 11 grams.

So — does this make Aquafina’s new bottle eco-friendly? While no disposable plastic product will ever be truly sustainable, we’d be less than honest if we didn’t admit that the new Aquafina bottles are a step in the right direction.

Plastic water bottles produce up to 1.5 million tons of waste per year. Leave the plastic in the sun or a warm space too long and the plastic toxins start to blend in with the water that you may still want to drink. While it is wiser to choose a more sustainable alternative, I bought myself one of the stainless steel ones that everyone seems to be raving about - but now all I taste is metal - even with freezing cold water - this can’t be a better solution! And I have many Nalgene bottles but those don’t keep my drink cold long enough and water is just not as good unless it is chilled - such a conundrum!

In Hong Kong, at the Gold Coast Residences - where we were staying in the New Territories - there was a machine that allowed people to deposit plastic water bottles in return for money to put toward their Octopus Cards - which were used for all means of public transportation, as well as supporting local vendors like 7-eleven and grocery stores.

The Lightest weight packaged water bottle in Hong Kong among it’s core brands (11.8g) - also the only bottled water offered at SCAD’s new campus - Bonaqua. 

The height and weight of the bottle were reduced to save raw materials; A twisted empty 500mL bottle would reduce its size by 86% and helps save recycling space; A “twistable” icon is featured to let consumers know that this product is environmentally-friendly; Uses 34% less plastic as compared with Bonaqua’s conventional bottle.

What happens to a plastic bottle after it’s been tossed in the recycling bin?

Marglen Industries - Rome, GA: one of the largest and most sophisticated PET recycling facilities in the United States, using solar energy and converting 2.5 billion empty bottles each year into new products.