Saturday, October 18, 2008

Well everyone, I suppose this is the first little bit of information I will put up here. It is basic but I hope it is a good start. 

In 1995, the USDA reported that 6.32 billion board feet or about 38% of the annual US lumber production was consumed by wood pallets. Unfortunately, the pallet industry recovered 171 million pallets or 2.6 billion board feet and only roughly 139 million pallets were reused. This means that in 1995 alone 3.72 billion board feet of wood was dumped in landfills. 

We cannot demonise the pallet industry as pallet recycling has multiplied four fold just within the 1990s: In 1992 only 13% of the wood used by the industry was recycled. However, by 1999, approximately 36% of the pallet consumption was fed by recovered pallets. Nonetheless, more than 60% of all pallets consumed are used once and then discarded.

Better recycling programmes and the petition for the use of 100% recyclable alternatives such as plastic, corrugated cardboard and metal are desperately needed to prevent such atrocious waste of natural resources and environmental commons. 




Friday, October 17, 2008

Council on Foreign Relations' Climate Change Crisis Guide


The Council on Foreign Relations is a famous conservative think tank. They have released a "Crisis Guide" of sorts. I do not agree with a lot of what they say in it but they do have considerable influence in Washington and elsewhere.

Here is the link guys:


Hope you guys find it interesting.


Hey everyone!





My name is Adrian. I am in the process of developing this blog to consolidate as much information as I can about packaging alternatives. I would like to begin by focusing solely on wood pallets (skids) which represent a huge amount of the wood consumed globally and are often over looked as a real environmental problem. I would like to provide information about alternatives to wood such as corrugated paper, plastic and metal pallets which are 100% recyclable.

I am a university student so time is stretched and this blog may take some time to come together. I am hoping within the next month this place will be up and running.

For now, for anyone who is listening to me out there, tootles and check back when you can!

Thanks anyone,

Adrian