INGEO™ (INGENIOUS MATERIALS FROM PLANTS NOT OIL)- FOUTH ANNUAL EARTH MONTH CELEBRATION:APRIL-JUNE/ NYC, PARIS, AND TOKYO- FREE POP-UP CREATIVE GALLERY
April 22nd, 2008
201 Mulberry Street, NYC 6PM
“Responsible Innovation Comes To Everyday Life”
Images, Text by J. Ecochard
We are native NYers/Big Apple residents-so turning on a tap and recycling are everyday no-brainers.
But we've ventured abroad to poor "developing" countries and witnessed the scourges of modern civilization; an unbelievable American sized floating toxic mess made of discarded garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean…and plastic water bottles clogging what would be fresh water gathering wells in just about every continent we’ve ever been in (which is all of them).
So on Earth Day we were filled with “yeah… but.”
As in, yes that nifty satchel is cruelty free BUT it’s made of a fossil fuel derived “old” carbon PVC material-dredged up from the earth’s burial grounds for dead dinosaurs.
As in, yes that chi-chi organic cotton tee, denim jeans, or day dress spared the soil of pesticides BUT still sucked up massive amounts of fresh water to grow, and left quite the carbon footprint when factoring in transportation (of raw and finished goods) and energy needed to manufacture the fabric and garb.
As in, yes those glossy magazines all have “green” issues full of inspiring stories and helpful hints BUT they weren’t even printed on recycled paper.
The aforementioned reminds of the annual meeting of a mega large environmental group we went to in Tullum, Mexico…where the heavy hitting, check-writing Board members arrived in their fuel devouring private jets (not even gifting a coach crunched staffer a ride).
So no one's perfect. But we applaud the small steps...and hope everyone starts sticking their feet out.
Ingeo™ -the joint venture (NatureWorks LLC) between agri-moguls Cargill (a company we know from our commodities days as the biggest traders in the hogs & aggie pits)… and Japan’s Teijin Ltd.- falls into the ‘yeah…but’ category. It reminds us of Clorox Corporation (bleach maven), who devoured earthy brand Burt Bees… and launched a line of “green” products.
What Ingeo™ is exactly- is a rather extensive line of 100% man made materials derived from plant sugars transformed into Natureworks® biopolymer-with end results such as deluxe fabrics (that perform and feel better than anything else)… and lifestyle products like plastics (bottles, containers, home wares, and computer covers), packaging, furniture fillers etc.
This is nearly all good as the plants are obviously 100% renewable (though not at the moment grown organically), less fossil fuel is used in production of these materials- with less green house gases being emitted to produce (60%!)…and with more potential recovery options (recycling, re-usable) available.
We missed the panel discussion headed up by model/ environmentalist Elettra Weidemann (who worked with pal Shalom Harlow- outfitted in a gasp inducing Giambattista Valli black lace confection made of Inegeo™ material in EarthPledge’s Runway Fashion show this past February).
We did, however-visit the clean, open space gallery to see/feel trendy attire made form Ingeo™ fabrics…and to grab meaningful face time with Steve Davies, Global Marketing Director of NatureWorks LLC and Giusy Bettoni-a fabrics’ innovator and all around nice person.
Davies acknowledged that Ingeo™ plastics are “industrially compostable in a controlled environment” (a yeah)…but “toss it on the side of the road”- it lingers. We also knew about the decades old plastic grading system from 1 to 6 (turn over a soda bottle for a sample) –to distinguish types of plastic (recycle-able or not). However, Davies enlightened us on #7 plastics, a catch-all for all the newer materials on the market-and the inadequacies of the ratings system that needs to join the 21st century.
Bettoni is part founder of the well-sourced C.L.A.S.S. textiles showroom that we met at the House of Organic Fashion show during New York’s Fall 2008 Fashion Week. She is admirably convinced that “a T-shirt can help change the world” because as noted in the company hand-outs… Ingeo™ bio-materials “outperform PET fabrics for breathability, comfort and insulation, are hypo-allergetic, are easy care…and offer the potential for more disposable options.”
And we clap out loud and say yeah to fashion designers DDCLAB, Elisa Jimenez, Marithé+Francois Girbaud, Monecouture by Daniela Barba, Christine Chang and Scott Amen – a 2008 graduating class of Parsons for deftly creating outfits using Ingeo™...as did furniture innovator Cappellini in a ‘we want to take it home’ modern chair.
Plus eveningwear talent Maggie Norris devised an eco-collection using Inegeo™ fabrics-which should make several appearance at Red Carpet events given her celeb following.
On a final note-the fierce blown-up pics (ie an insane surreal pile of discarded cell phones) from internationally acclaimed photographic artist Chris Jordan were eye-popping. His series titled “Running the Numbers” graphically depicts “the staggering statistics that define our mass consumption”-and is projected on the gallery walls.
And all of this makes us :)