The "Vac from Sea" is an idea whose time has come. While this line of vacuums doesn't suck pollution out of the ocean, it does the next best thing: it uses plastic washed up on beaches as the raw material for the vacuum's casing and parts. With this new product, Electrolux demonstrates that post-consumer plastic is anything but "disposable."
The idea of integrating different colors and shapes of debris into an appliance's body is innovative, refreshing and just plain cool. This is exactly what should be happening in the many industries where technology now allows 'waste" to be repurposed into viable and innovative products. We at Project Kaisei support this model of industry leadership as a means to remove plastic debris from our oceans, and to motivate prevention on land.
I have heard that some companies shy away from acknowledging the recycled material in their products because they fear consumers will regard these products as "used" or "old". Auto parts and electronic goods casings, for example, can be made from post consumer materials, but not all brands stand up to tout these ecological benefits. Now is the time to start doing so. Consumers are more and more willing to buy products that combine environmentally friendliness with bold and interesting designs. By neglecting waste, all that companies do is waste an opportunity to make money.
When metal recyclers shred cars, they end up with a mounds of plastic debris that they send to landfills because they simply know no other use. Today this material can readily be made into fuel or other secondary product and turned into a new revenue stream. Consider the use of PET bottles to create clothing. The more clothing and other materials that we can make from PET, the more revenue there is for everyone - customers, manufacturers and suppliers.
What better way to symbolize the "vacuuming" of waste and the cleaning of a beach than making a valuable product out of oceanborne plastic? Imagine if Electrolux were able to make "single edition" versions, like some shoe companies can do now, based on the debris you collect from your favorite beach. Each time you clean your floor you would be reminded of that beach that you cleaned.
Many studies have shown that consumers are willing to spend more on products that help our planet. The icing on the cake for companies like Electrolux is brand loyalty and good word-of-mouth. Electrolux seeks help from the general public to find more feedstock for its products, thus creating a new "economic pull" from the waste stream. This type of model changes the supply/demand balance between our waste and our consumption. As economic value is assigned to things we used to thrown away, a new industry of collection, reprocessing, cleaning and environmental stewardship will result.
Doug Woodring is the founder of Project Kaisei, a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and solving the problem of marine debris. To help Project Kaisei and the ocean, book a hotel room on Expedia's new site - http://travelrelief.org/project-kaisei/ and click Project Kaisei. Kaisei gets 8 percent of all bookings, at no cost to the buyer.
Post originale: http://featured.matternetwork.com/2010/11/vac-from-sea-applies-new.cfm
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