San Francisco : Compostable Library Cards
Compostable Library Cards

A-maize-ing Grace

06.01.2009

Submitted by hsnavely on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 11:42pm.
The Bite:
How sweet the sound is from the SF Public Library this month. Get down there to find one of its new 15,000 EcoCards - 100% compostable corn-based plastic library cards. While they wont be rockin' the cool kiddie-drawings of conventional cards past, they'll reduce our use of plastic (most of which comes from finite petroleum resources), which is sweet music to Mama Earth's ears.
Why Care?: 
SFPL hands out about 60K cards per year, so making a quarter of them compostable keeps plastic outta production and puts a dent in landfill waste.
SFPL virgins get their first EcoCard free; repeat customers and card losers (guilty as charged…) pay a dollar.
Wanna Try: 
San Francisco Public Library; find your local branch (415-557-4400).

Map It

Cocktail Fact

The composer of the hymn "Amazing Grace", John Newton, spent a handful of years as a slave trader. 

Small Changes Add Up

If 10,000 SF Biters pick up a compostable library card instead of the conventional kind, we'll keep enough plastic outta production to cover the floor of a two-car garage.

2 comments
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Leslie  on June 01, 2009 at 10:46 AM 1
Why at the self check-out do the computers ALWAYS spit out a receipt? I don't want one,yet have no choice as to whether or not papar and printer ink are wasted on me!
jamie  on June 04, 2009 at 09:49 AM 2
hello, while i certainly agree that we need to move away from plastic-based products and am excited to see more and more companies interested in doing so, i would be hesitant to endorse products comprised of corn as a replacement. corn is an environmentally damaging crop that is generally grown in monocultures (eliminating biological diversity), and requiring vast amounts of chemical fertilizer (fossil fuel based), which runs off into rivers and streams polluting the water and causing dead zones (low-oxygen areas where marine life is killed off), such as that in the gulf of mexico. i wonder if you looked at all of the environmental impacts of corn-based versus plastic-based products in a lifecycle assessment, what the better solution would actually be... thanks, jamie

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