A STUDY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC COTTON CANVAS BANNERS OVER PVC VINYL BANNERS Sarah Maki | WEek 15 This document has been created for use by designers, printers, and marketing and advertising professionals as a use- ful guide to advertising banner speci- fication. It compares the environmental impact of a standard 3’ x 6’ PVC vinyl banner to that of the equivalent sized banner produced using organic cotton can- vas fabric. We will look at a life cycle analyses of each and access the areas of greatest en- vironmental impact. The audience for a banner is broad. Anyone who can view a user: small business, non-profit banner is a potential “end user”. These are smaller businesses. Utilized by businesses large and Their chief priority is usually small, as well as individuals, cost. Other priorities include banners are available in markets durability, sustainability and worldwide. availability. user: corporate, municipal user: individual These are large businesses. These are individuals who pur- Their priorities are in meeting chase banners for events or budget requirements and project other personal use. Their prime specifications. They will seek concern is convenience. They may out sustainable options if it is shop for sustainable options if specified or made available. they are reasonably priced. end user: viewer Banners have a wide ranging effect on the Shipping, trucking and rail play a part economy from mining to retail consumers. in banner economics as transportation is necessary for the movement of materials This study will review the processes, ma- from the point of extraction terials and transportation of a typical or production to the point of pvc vinyl banner and a natural fiber ban- manufacture, and again from ner. the point of manufacture to the point of sale and finally, from Fabrication methods are similar for both point of sale to the point of use. banner types. This report reviews banners with edges hemmed by sewing. This creates The printing industry supplies printing an edge that won’t easily tear or fray and retail sales of the banners. Exhibit/ and provides strength for the attachment tradeshow designers, marketing agencies method. Grommets are placed into the hem and advertising agencies would be primary area to allow for the attachment of sources of b2b sales of banners. ropes or other methods to hang the banner. There is a tremendous global demand for advertising banners. There is a retail The environmental impact of a banner be- market for banner sales in most countries gins with the mining industry and the of the world. extraction of metals for the grommets, farming and agriculture provide fibers for thread and fabric and soy for the inks, chemicals make up the PVC materi- al, nylon scrim and the pigments for the inks. vinyl banners cotton canvas banners Pvc vinyl banners have considerable so- Canvas banners made from the natural and cial and environmental considerations. organic materials, do not share the chem- The most obvious being the environmen- ical and toxin dangers associated with tal concerns presented by PVC (poly- PVC banners. vinyl chloride). The environmental protection agency has classified Cotton canvas banners are produced from PVC as a human carcinogen.1 It is organic plant fibers including toxic to produce and toxic to dis- flax, cotton, and hemp. These are pose of creating problems during and af- grown in pesticide-free fields ter disposal as it leaches poisons into without chemical processing. landfills and fills the air with deadly dioxins when incinerated. There is little The material is treated with a natural market or means of recycling commercial- non-toxic sizing which prepares the fab- ly. Companies exist that re-purpose used ric for printing. This allows optimum ink banners into bags and backpacks but this coverage using a standard ink jet printer only serves to delay their entry into the utilizing non-toxic vegetable inks and waste stream. solvents. Social and humanitarian concerns exist Canvas banner are suitable for outside along the production chain of the vinyl use and made weather-proof using the tra- banner beginning with toxic work ditional technique known as waxing. These conditions in factories produc- banners use bees wax exclusively ing PVC. The EPA has stated that for its bio-availablity and su- people encounter the chemical perior performance. through discharge of gases from factories, groundwater, and occupational exposure1 Since it is possible to harvest and weave the fabric regionally in california the transportation footprint of the canvas banner is significantly smaller than that of the vinyl banner which travels the seas several times over. Canvas banners have bright end of life options as they contain no toxins and are biodegradable. They can be safely re- turned to the ecosystem as a nutrient in C2C flow.2 1. http://www.isa.org/InTechTemplate. cfm?Section=Business1&template=/ContentManagement/ ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=65617 2. http://www.greenblue.org/cradle_flows.html Goal: The goal of this study is to di- Funtional Unit: Although it is often rectly compare and illustrate the envi- stated by banner manufacturers that a ronmental advantages of a natural fiber PVC banner has a useful lifetime of 3-5 organic cotton canvas banner over that of years, this study uses a functional unit a PVC vinyl banner. of one day of use (display). This unit was determined with a lifetime use of one Scope: The scope of this analysis is lim- year in mind. The consideration for this ited to the material fabric that make up time period is that the advertising mes- a functional banner as it is used for sage would retire before the material display/advertising. Although we will be would expire. looking at the impact of the entire ban- ner, we will be focusing on the impacts of the fabric material itself. This will include the energy and materials used for production and disposal but will not encompass fabrication, printing or the activity of hanging or removal of the banner as it is assumed that these activ- ities are identical for each banner type. Hems: growing cotton is water/chemical intensive, spinning thread requires energy as does sewing. Grommets: metal ore must be extracted, energy is used to process metal, energy is used for stamping Printing: ink requires Oil Extraction, chemicals for pigment, energy for printing vinyl: materials processing requires chemicals toxic to human and the environment, component manufacturing of vinyl material is energy intensive and disposal is problematic. PVC vinyl banner materials flow Cotton Copper Pigment Crude Oil Natural Hydrogen Salt Mining Production Production Gas Production Ink Distillation, Natural Hydrochloric Chlorine Hexameth- Production Desalting, and Gas Acid Manufacture ylene diamine Hydrotreating Processing Processing dying Metal Ethylene Processing Ink Ethylene Dichloride/ Stamping 1 oz Manufacture Vinyl Chloride Refining Monomer Spinning Manufacture Thread Grommets .33 oz Plasticizers adipic acid Thread .15 oz Polyvinyl Chloride Resin PVC 2.8 lbs extrusion to nylon Stitching Grommet PVC scrim = Nylon Sewing Hems Insertion Material PVC Webbing Printed material 1 lb 3.8 lbs Printing Finished Banner Banner Use: Display Disposal = Transportation incinerator = Electricity PVC transportation miles PVC Travels a total of 17 ton-miles per day of use New York Detroit China China to New York = 8000 mi New York to Detroit = 500 mi MANUFACTURING End of Life material/process amount okala mpts impact material/process amount okala mpts impact banner material Incineration 3’ x 6’ banner PVC 2.79 lbs1 7 47.43 PVC 2.79 lbs 24.86 9 Nylon scrim1 lbs - PVC film extrusion 2.79 lbs4 .6 12.8 grommets .0333 oz - Nylon scrim1 lbs 63.16 3 thread .015 oz - grommets 6 - 5/8” brass ink 1 oz - brass .0333 oz 236.7 (lb) 4.39 End of Life Total 47.43 contouring .0333 oz 11.5 (lb) 0.24 thread .015 oz 51 (lb) 0.48 .15 oz Sewing .25 KWH 12 kwh3 ink 1 oz 2 (lb) 0.12 .16 oz of 6 colors printing .25 KWH 12 kwh3 Manufacturing Total 156 banner material Total 144.8 Transportation material/process amount impact PVC Manufacturing Total = 145 PVC 8000 mi 11.2 ton/mi Freighter from China to N.Y. PVC 500 mi .70 ton/mi Truck from N.Y. to Detroit PVC PVC End of Life Total = 47 PVC 50 mi .070 ton/mi to landfill Nylon scrim 8000 mi 4 ton/mi Freighter from China to N.Y. Nylon scrim 500 mi .25 ton/mi PVC Transportation Total = 17 Truck from N.Y. to Detroit Nylon scrim 50 mi .025 ton/mi to landfill ink 8000 mi FreighterTotal Fabric from China ton/miles to US 16.25 ink 500 mi Truck from N.Y. to Detroit ink 50 mi to landfill Thread 8422 mi Freighter-Cotton to India Thread 8422 mi Freighter-Thread to US Thread 500 mi Truck from NY to Detroit Thread 50 mi Hems: growing cotton is water/chemical intensive, spinning thread requires energy as does sewing. Grommets: metal ore must be extracted, energy is used to process metal, energy is used for stamping Printing: ink requires Oil Extraction, chemicals for pigment, energy for printing natural fiber canvas: organic cotton is produced without the use of toxic chemicals, cotton can be grown and weaved regionally in the US, is biodegradable can be returned to ecosphere, canvas banner materials flow Cotton Copper Pigment Cotton Production grown Ink Cotton Production Ginned Processing dying Metal Cotton Processing Ink spun to Stamping 1 oz thread/yarn Refining Spinning Thread Grommets .33 oz Thread .15 oz Cotton Canvas Stitching Grommet Fabric fabric- fabric Sewing Hems Insertion waxed Printed woven 4 lbs Printing