Frequently Asked Questions
The bad news is that this FAQ page is going to get long, the good news is that is isn't there yet!
Yes, PlanetPlasters are made from 100% FSC certified recycled paper. They are also recyclable and biodegradable. The liner which holds the PlanetPlasters is also made from recycled paper, is silicone free and can be recycled in your regular paper bins or any other roadside recycling facility.
Our packaging is made from sustainable agricultural waste (leaves and stems) with 100% green energy and is home compostable, representing a 40% saving of CO2 per ton compared to recycled paper.
Our goal is to be carbon neutral, so we will continue to work with our partner suppliers on further improvements and developments where possible.
No. To make PlanetPlasters waterproof, this would require a waterproof film, which would normally be made of plastic. Bio-based plastics would require industrial composting, which isn’t as ‘green’ as many companies would lead you to believe. Anyhow, PlanetPlasters aren’t designed to be permanent.
PlanetPlasters is a protest vote for everyone. Every single living species has the right to breath fresh air, drink unpolluted water and eat uncontaminated food.
Climate Change is the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced, and environmental pollution is explicitly linked to climate change. These issues affect everyone, not just those eligible to vote. It’s still amazing to think that Greta Thunberg still can’t vote in Sweden, and is thus unable influence policy change as an elector. If we truly believe in democracy, would people really vote for toxic air pollution, which already kills over 7 million people a year? The World Health Organisation estimates that 9 out of every 10 people breathe high levels of polluted air. Who voted for that? The polluting seeds were sown before I was even born.
PlanetPlasters is a vote & direct action against the polluters and those complicit in climate change.
This is one of the most common packing symbols. It indicates that the packaging can be recycled, not that the packaging has been recycled or will be accepted in all recycling collection systems. Sometimes this symbol is used with a percentage figure in the middle to explain that the packaging contains x% of recycled material.
This means that the packaging producer has made contribution towards the recycling of packaging. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the packaging itself is recyclable, so watch out for this as many companies use it as a greenwashing exercise.
This means that the product is organic, but has nothing to do the packaging – so be aware. EU certified.
A registered trademark owned by European Bioplastics, the “seedling” symbol proves that a product is certified industrially compostable according to the European standard EN 13432.
The internationally recognised "DIN-Geprüft" mark from DIN CERTCO means that the product is certified industrially compostable according to the European standard EN 13432. It clearly indicates 'INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTABLE' unlike the 'seedling' symbol above.
The internationally recognised "DIN-Geprüft" mark from DIN CERTCO means that the product is home compostable, clearly represented in the symbol.
TÜV AUSTRIA’s certification guarantees complete biodegradability in your home compost. Like the DIN certifications, the mark will state in red bold letters; 'HOME' or 'INDUSTRIAL' in accordance with European standards.
The Forest Stewardship Council logo identifies packaging / products that contain wood from well-managed forests. FSC forest management certification confirms that the forest is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring it sustains economic viability.
The EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence that is awarded to products and services that meet high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle: from raw material extraction, to production, distribution and disposal.
Polyethylene Terephthalate is one of the most common plastics used for packaging (drinks bottles, tubs etc.). It is recyclable.
High-density polyethylene is another of the more common plastics. It is used for milk bottles as well as toys, kitchenware and cable insulation, and is usually recyclable.
Polyvinyl chloride is used for manufacturing window frames and doors, but is also used for wire insulation, flooring and footwear. It is not recyclable.
Low Density Polyethylene, whilst sometimes used in toys, is commonly used for squeezy bottles and film packaging. It is reusable, but not usually recyclable.
Polypropylene is often used in injection or blow-moulded products as well as bottle tops, food containers and packing tape. They can usually be recycled.
Polystyrene is used for protective packaging inserts, as well as CD cases, takeaway food trays and insulation products. It is not recyclable.
Other types of plastic that don’t fall into the previous categories are put into this category (e.g. BPA, Polycarbonate, LEXAN). They are generally not recyclable.
This symbol is used to indicate fully-recyclable aluminium packaging (including foil, fizzy drink cans etc.).
In a nutshell, greenwashing is the deceptive practice of marketing a product or brand as being 'greener' or more environmentally-friendly than it really is. In the 1980s, companies started to realise that being 'environmentally-friendly' was also good for business, with consumers paying a premium for ‘green’ products and services. Unfortunately, companies have worked out how to present their products and services as environmentally-friendly whilst being anything but.
The VW emissions scandal is a perfect example of corporate greenwashing. VW used software to fool testing regulatory devices on diesel vehicles in an attempt to make their cars appear greener than they actually were.
Plastic and Climate Change
When people think about the threat that plastic poses to the environment, they mainly see it as polluting our oceans and threatening wildlife. However, you may be surprised to hear that plastic is set to become one of the biggest contributors to climate change. As demand for fossil fuels as an energy source is set to decline, the fossil fuel industry has switched its attention to the production of plastics! This goes some way to explaining why of all of the plastics ever made, over 60% were produced in the last 20 years, and why plastic production is set to quadruple.
Over 99% of all plastics come from fossil fuels, so not only are we burning fossil fuels at record levels for energy and transport, most of us use fossil fuels in the form of plastics on a daily basis. Over 40% of the plastics we use are in the form of ‘single-use’ plastics from disposable packaging, and production is increasing rapidly. Plastic pollutes in every step of its lifecycle:
• Extraction of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas causes massive environmental damage.
• Production of plastic raw materials requires large chemical processing plants, which in turn add to CO2 emissions and pollute the air with toxic waste.
• Recycling facilities around the world simply can’t keep pace with the enormous output of plastics being produced. It is estimated that 8-10 million tons of this plastic enters the oceans every year. Most of the plastic that doesn't end up in our oceans is either landfilled or incinerated. Landfilling contaminates the land and will become an even bigger problem once the plastic is broken down into microplastics and washed into our rivers and oceans. Landfilling plastics also releases methane, which is even worse than CO2! Incinerating, as you might expect, is the biggest contributor to C02 levels.
• As we start consuming these microplastics, this will start to destabilise ecosystems, affecting all animals and species on the planet.
We welcome everyone’s participation in PlanetPlasters, so we can educate and inform the public and ultimately change the world for future generations. With PlanetPlasters, we can take on the fossil fuel industry, polluting corporations, retail giants and ultimately our governments, who allow business to pollute the world in the name of prosperity.
* Send us your photo's, videos, links etc via our social media sites. For more info, visit our Get Involved page.
As the world's most widely-used vegetable oil, it's estimated that around 50% of supermarket products contain palm oil as an ingredient, from bread, cookies and chocolate to shampoo, lipstick and detergents. Obviously, most people don’t know that this highly versatile commodity is even in the product they are buying, let alone that it has contributed to uncontrolled deforestation, putting thousands of species at risk of extinction and contributing to CO2 production.
Many food producers are aware of the catastrophic environmental damage caused by palm oil, so instead of looking for sustainable solutions, they play hide and seek with consumers, using over 200 alternative label names on products using palm oil and its derivatives.
Check and bookmark our Palm Oil Panic Button list, so you can easily check for greenwashing and corporate hide and seek tactics.
