Finding solutions to single-use plastic is the focus of a lot of for-profit and nonprofit companies these days. I mentioned Clean the World’s efforts in a recent article. This past week I posted an article on LOLIWARE and its unique approach to plastic replacement. This coming week I will be chatting with a company that converts post-industrial and post-consumer plastic waste into something called STORM BOARD—a replacement for plywood or other wood fiber boards in applications where water resistance and durability are critical. Many of my advertisers—and readers—are also finding their own ways to reduce plastic consumption. The more you read about the impact of plastic on our planet and our bodies, the more of a nightmare it becomes.
Please do pay attention to what LOLIWARE is starting to do. Using farmed seaweed, they have developed the first seaweed pellet—the SEA Tech Pellet—created from natural biomaterials to replace plastic at scale. Already, with the help of American manufacturer Sinclair and Rush, LOLIWARE has produce a seaweed straw that has captured the interest of the hotel industry’s leading chains. The company has also produced disposable cutlery and single use packaging products. The company is just beginning really—it made its announcement about the SEA Tech Pellet last month on Earth Day.
Cost is always a concern for hoteliers and LOLIWARE told me their straws are competitive with other leading plastic straw alternatives. The ingredients for the straws? Simply mineral color, seaweed blend, and shell powder.
Alternative to Outsourcing Plastics
The seaweed-based product replacements are an alternative to outsourcing plastics from China—a needed step toward reducing plastic in landfills and oceans.
“The realization that food technology is not well-suited for mass production at a competitive price point is what gave rise to the new generation of LOLIWARE,” CEO Chelsea Briganti told me. “To effectively address the global plastic crisis, we needed to design for scale. Which is what we have done by creating a seaweed-derived material technology that can be mass-produced on existing plastic equipment.”
LOLIWARE’s multi-patent pending seaweed pellets can be processed into any type of packaging, using the same equipment that makes traditional petroleum-based plastics. Because of its universal compatibility with existing plastic-manufacturing equipment, there are virtually no adoption barriers. LOLIWARE is now working with plastics industry leaders to scale rapidly.
“Now is the time to swap plastic for seaweed,” Briganti says. “Climate change and plastic pollution are the defining issues of our time, ruinous to both planetary and human health. It’s going to take a global effort to change course and we all have a part to play. In a world continually bombarded with bad news, we hope the SEA Technology and its use in our straws demonstrates that a plastic-free future is within reach.”
An Important Upside to Seaweed
Seaweed is not only a great alternative for oil-based plastic, it captures 5 to 20 times more carbon than land-based forests per unit area and once made into pellets, then products, biodegrades easily.
“Our materials are compounded solely from biodegradable, food-grade (FDA-approved or Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)) ingredients which are known to benignly degrade in natural environments under ambient conditions (no special composting infrastructure is needed),” Briganti says. “This stringent control over the composition renders our products fully biodegradable and compostable in all environments, including the ocean and a compost pile in your backyard. Depending on the environment, our product breaks down in as little as three months and within 12 months at the very most.
“The inspiration for all our materials is simple: Everything we create and release into the world should be Designed to Disappear,” Briganti says. “Waste truly is a design flaw. We believe regenerative design is the future and what we create as humans should contribute to a healthier, more resilient, and equitable planet.”
Kudos to LOLIWARE and all the other companies and organizations that are working hard to find solutions for the oil-based plastics that are overwhelming us.
Got a good oil-based plastics alternative story to tell? I would love to hear about it. I can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Green Lodging News Adds Lodging Technology to Product & Service Directory
Green Lodging News has added Lodging Technology to the “Energy Management/Guestroom” section of its Green Product & Service directory. Lodging Technology is the pioneer and inventor of infrared occupancy sensor-based hotel energy conservation (1980). For four decades the company has provided innovative energy solutions to the hospitality, classroom and dorm, vacation condo, and military lodging sectors. Lodging Technology’s GEM Link Wireless is: not a thermostat; does not connect to the thermostat; and is not a door lock or TV remote.
GEM Link Wireless is “Pure Energy Management”—reduces kWh and kW demand about 40 percent on any HVAC, effectively reducing the total property utility bill 10 percent to 15 percent. Ask about the company’s “NET ZERO Utility Recovery” Program—Zero CapEx, Zero Debt, Zero Deposit, Zero Maintenance. For more information, call (540) 362-7500, e-mail info@lodgingtechnology.com, or visit www.lodgingtechnology.com.
Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers, and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Get in the Green Suppliers Spotlight!
Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, publishes Green Suppliers Spotlight, an e-blast to 22,008 subscribers that features the lodging industry’s leading green products and services. The e-blast features multiple vendors—unlike the current Green Supplier Spotlight that allows one supplier to “own” the Green Lodging News subscriber list for one e-blast. (Click here for a Green Suppliers Spotlight sample.)
Green Suppliers Spotlight is published weekly on Thursdays to general managers, owners, management companies, directors of sustainability, directors of engineering, facilities managers and many others who are either in purchasing positions or who influence purchasing decisions. Suppliers of green products and services throughout North America and beyond are invited to participate in the e-blast. (Minimum two suppliers per e-blast.) Green Suppliers Spotlight was created to give vendors an opportunity to reach a high number of industry purchasers at a very low cost—as low as $200 per e-mail. (Click here for rate sheet.)
Those advertising in Green Suppliers Spotlight can include up to 100 words, one image, contact information and multiple links to their website in their ad. At the end of each week, a report will be sent to each supplier with information on delivered e-mails, opens and click-throughs.
Planning Advertising for 2022?
Green Lodging News is accepting reservations for advertising spots for 2022. Many excellent spots are available on our website and in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Many Green Supplier Spotlight dates are also available. Interested in receiving a 2022 media kit? Be sure to contact me as soon as possible at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com. A media kit can also be accessed by clicking here. Thank you to all those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.
Newsletter & Green Supplier Spotlight Circulation
The circulation of our weekly e-newsletter and Green Supplier Spotlight currently stands at 22,008. Thank you to our new subscribers for signing up. Be sure to encourage your colleagues to do the same. There are “subscribe” links on the Green Lodging News home page. You may also e-mail greenlodgingnews@gmail.com to be added to our list.
Green Lodging News & Social Media
Green Lodging News now has 1,749 Twitter followers. Thank you to all of those who follow our tweets. In addition to following us on Twitter, be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also on Facebook. Be sure to “Like” us there. Green Lodging News now has 986 Facebook likes.
As always, I can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
