SMH Greenie Notes Environmental Concern

To help family and friends of modelers get an environmental grasp on this Christmas giving, we are scouring the Internet for new quality gifts that may just help your modeler become a little kinder to his-her surroundings. T

he "SMH Greenie" is the cherished emblem that will be sported by websites we find that are a value to the environmental cause. In other words, they do no harm either by design or by accident.

We are looking for businesses that first cater to hobbyists involved in scale modeling and second, those among them that express environmental concern in their product lines.

This can happen by design, for instance, Apple:

• Packaging for the current-generation iMac uses 59% less plastic and 20% less paper than the iMac G4 flat panel, while taking up 40% less space.

• The 15.4-inch MacBook Pro packaging is 45% lighter and uses 45% less volume than the 15-inch PowerBook G4.

• The packaging volume of our fifth generation 30GB and 80GB iPod was reduced by 69% from earlier models. This enables 120 more units to be shipped per pallet compared to the fourth generation 30GB iPod.

Hewlett-Packard Product Design

HP's Design-for-Environment guidelines recommend that its product designers consider the following:

• Place environmental stewards on every design team to identify design changes that may reduce environmental impact throughout the product's life cycle.
• Eliminate the use of polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame-retardants where applicable.
• Reduce the number and types of materials used, and standardize on the types of plastic resins used.
• Use molded-in colors and finishes instead of paint, coatings or plating whenever possible.
• Help customers use resources responsibly by minimizing the energy consumption of HP's printing, imaging and computing products.
• Increase the use of pre-and post-consumer recycled materials in product packaging.
• Minimize customer waste burdens by using fewer product or packaging materials overall.

It Also Happens By Accident

When Model Planes first picked Mahogany to re-produce their line of over 600 it is doubtful they gave much thought to the fact it is not only a beautiful wood, but one that is environmentally friendly.

Check Them Out Here

If left to rot naturally, mahogany produces a methane gas that kills bugs and they in turn produce more methane.

By manufacturing scale airplane models from mahogany, the carbon it takes to produce this gas isolated from the environment.