Less Petroleum
Petroleum touches so many aspects of our lives, from the fuel in our cars to plastics and waxes in many of our household products. Before joining the BiOH team, many of us had never thought about the fact that our comfy sofa cushions and mattresses were traditionally made from petroleum-based chemicals. While petroleum chemistry will continue to play an important role in our lives, there are increasingly options to use less.
Fuel is #1
Since the majority of petroleum is used for fuel, any steps we take to reduce our fuel consumption are important. While the most efficient means of saving fuel are to use public transportation or carpool, here are some resources on saving gas. And when making your next car purchase, consider fuel efficiency of the vehicles; it’s good for both the environment and your wallet!
Biobased Products
There are increasingly more products made from biobased materials rather than petroleum chemicals on the market today – such as soy wax candles, biobased insulation, corn-based fibers, or packaging materials. And of course, there are a growing number of products made with soy-based BiOH® polyols. Look for renewable options when you’re shopping and share any of your favorites with us!
Every little step we individually take to use less petroleum helps us reduce our dependency on oil. What are you doing to reduce dependency on petroleum? Do you have any products made with renewable materials rather than petroleum to recommend? Please leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
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Brian Naiman said on January 30, 2009:
Hello, could you please comment on the fact that growing corn requires large amounts of Nitrogen-based chemical fertilizer input, which are themselves produced from petroleum. Also what about the fact that the cultivation of corn requires petroleum inputs in the form of tractor fuel/shipment/processing, etc.? Isn’t it also true that the industrial farming of corn also requires massive amounts of water and leads to the depletion of the nutrients in the soil, thus increasing the dependence on chemical fertilizer inputs? Do you have any research or life cycle analysis you can share that shows that corn-based products are really more sustainable than similar products made from petroleum?
Thank You.
Jessica said on January 30, 2009:
Thanks for your comments Brian. You bring up good questions regarding the total life cycle impact of a product. Most of my knowledge around life cycle assessments (LCAs) is related to our BiOH polyols product line, so I don’t have specific answers to many of your questions related to corn. However, I can share one example I’m aware of where a corn product has compiled extensive life cycle data to compare how its footprint compares positively to petroleum-based products it replaces – NatureWorks® PLA. (See info – http://NatureWorksLCA.notlong.com). But to your point, the use of renewable materials alone may not always have a more postive environmental impact; it can be valuable to assess the total impact of a product using standardized LCA methods.
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