[lesacks]

I wouldn't disagree with what High Fly says (in some contexts). But if you are going to look at the big picture, it can still be with recycling because it exposes the problem to those who could look for alternative solution. If everyone chucked the small stuff in the normal waste it would really add up in bad places and the recyclers would think they are doing a great job.
Often creating [good] problems motivates finding solutions.
Recycle better, consume less, reduce the use of polluting materials...

 

[skeller047]

Hmmm....

I suspect the plastic reed holders are there not to be fancy or chic or anything else marketing related. I suspect they are there because they work better in an automated reed-manufacturing process. It used to be that people put the reeds in a box (with those nice paper or tissue separators). Now a machine puts the reed in the sleeve, and the sleeves in a box - much quicker and more efficient (from the manufacturer's perspective). From the planet's perspective, maybe not so much...

 

[Bloo Dog]

If all of the west's recyclable plastic were to be shipped to China, you'd hear a lot of hand clapping over there. Recycling has made a lot of people rich. Everyone recycles or is aware of the need to recycle. If you drive on the highways, you'll see vast stacks of soda and beer bottles (and every other recyclable container and package imaginable) sorted by color and size every few miles. In the schools, the paper and the plastic are sorted from the trash bins and raked over for anything of recyclable value: bottle caps, belt buckles, plastic belts and shoes, cloth.

Once, I sat outside a store drinking a soda and a woman stood off to the side watching me. I thought, "Wow. I've still got it!" After I took my last swallow, she relieved me of my bottle before I could get to the trash can.

Not long ago, the richest woman in China was Zhang Yin (she's now the 5th or 6th richest). She got her start in recycling paper. She moved from Shen Zhen to California and began exporting paper to China. When her company went public, she raised a half of a billion dollars on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Her company is (or was ) the single largest paper exporter in the U.S..

And she started by hand--- herself--- digging through garbage dumps.

So start saving those plastic reed boxes. You may be rich some day.

 

[JohnsonPowerSax]

I received a response from Vandoren on this matter.

"My name is Sylvain Carton and I am the West Coast Artist Relations and Product Specialist for Vandoren in the US.

Thank you for your note and dedication to the environment. Vandoren is also committed to the global environment and we are always looking for new and better ways to reduce our footprint while maintaining the highest standards for our products.

Our packaging is currently designed to keep the reeds in a stable environment as they go from the factory to the musician, preventing warping, drying, cracking, etc… and allowing for greater consistency within a box.

Our plastic reed protectors are recyclable (like plastic bottles) and the Flow-Pack is a recoverable packaging in the form of energy recovery (the film has a high calorific ratio in incineration). There should be some options around you for recycling our reed protectors. You may already know this, but just in case, they are made from 100% recyclable polypropylene (bearing the triangular PP5 mark), which many cities and towns now accept. It sounds like you may already have this info, but for more information on your local recycling program, click here:

http://search.earth911.com/?what=#5...x_distance=25&family_id=&latitude=&longitude=&country=&province=&city=&sponsor=

In addition to developing lo-impact packaging, our reed manufacturing process is very lo-impact on the environment. Our cane does not require any treatment and we create little to no waste in the reed making process. Unused cane becomes mulch for the fields or is used to heat the factory. Because our cane is grown in the same part of the world as our factory we also cut down on the transport of raw cane, further reducing our footprint.

Please feel free to email me directly with any other questions and thank you for writing Vandoren.

Sincerely,

Sylvain Carton

Vandoren Artist Relations and Product Specialist
www.vandoren.com / LA Studio / NYC Studio / Chicago Studio"

 

[Wonko]

I received a response from Vandoren on this matter.

"My name is Sylvain Carton and I am the West Coast Artist Relations and Product Specialist for Vandoren in the US.

Thank you for your note and dedication to the environment. Vandoren is also committed to the global environment and we are always looking for new and better ways to reduce our footprint while maintaining the highest standards for our products.

<SNIP>
Sylvain Carton

Vandoren Artist Relations and Product Specialist
www.vandoren.com / LA Studio / NYC Studio / Chicago Studio"

This is a typical marketing response.
Telling that you want to reduce your footprint, and then proceeding to tell how you don't reduce your footprint....
And then she proceeds to say that you have to make sure it gets recycled by using a general recycling program, that may or may not exist where you live..... That is shoving your responsibility as a manufacturer upon society as a whole!

 

[JohnsonPowerSax]

Yep.

*shrug*

C'est la vie.

 

[Jazz Is All]

The only reeds that I can think of that don't use the plastic holders are Marca and Alexander reeds. The latter come in hard paper and the nice metal case, good to keep my synthetic loose reeds in and I put the Marcas in plastic Rico and VanD holders of which I have a zillion. I've never thrown them out because I hate the multiple hard plastic holders. And as someone said earlier, Van D is the worst polluter what with their boxes with the cellophane outer wrap, the calendered cardboard box and the individual plastic envelop for each reed. I have yet to notice that that hermetic bit makes a difference between VDs and any other reed I use like Rigotti, Marca, Alexander or others. A dumb waste of materials, energy and yet more crap destroying our planet.

 

[pitsen3]

It was explained to me at a seminar (By a Vandoren rep) that one the largest stores in the US stored its reeds near a heating ventilator and the reeds were prematurely drying out. This store had enough clout to get Vandoren to respond by adding the wrap.
Again if they feel they have to package in this manner they should supply re-shippers the distributors and take the plastic back and recycle it. They did emphasize that it was recyclable.

 

[robbieg]

It was explained to me at a seminar (By a Vandoren rep) that one the largest stores in the US stored its reeds near a heating ventilator and the reeds were prematurely drying out. This store had enough clout to get Vandoren to respond by adding the wrap.
Again if they feel they have to package in this manner they should supply re-shippers the distributors and take the plastic back and recycle it. They did emphasize that it was recyclable.

I'm not surprised. There were and are probably a lot of dealers keeping their reeds in less than optimal places. Combine that with some places with some really old stock, and the wrapped sealed packs make sense

 

[Pent up Kid]

Hi i agree with Jazz is all....I use Marca Jazz reeds that come in cardboard sleeves ,I just keep a selection of old Reco plastic holders to keep them in until they progress to my reedjuvenate.

I,m passing through the Var region at the end of July, as I'm on a cruise that stops 4 miles from where they make Marca reeds so I'm calling there as they have a shop ,but it's also the site where the cane is grown.

I thought it would be an interesting couple of hours spent.
Better than getting dragged into a shopping trip with the wife and teenage daughter.

I'll ask about the reason they package in card ,is it Cost (most likely) or environmental reasons.

 

[jambsspiii]

I received a response from Vandoren on this matter.

"My name is Sylvain Carton and I am the West Coast Artist Relations and Product Specialist for Vandoren in the US.

Thank you for your note and dedication to the environment. Vandoren is also committed to the global environment and we are always looking for new and better ways to reduce our footprint while maintaining the highest standards for our products.

Our packaging is currently designed to keep the reeds in a stable environment as they go from the factory to the musician, preventing warping, drying, cracking, etc&#8230; and allowing for greater consistency within a box.

Our plastic reed protectors are recyclable (like plastic bottles) and the Flow-Pack is a recoverable packaging in the form of energy recovery (the film has a high calorific ratio in incineration). There should be some options around you for recycling our reed protectors. You may already know this, but just in case, they are made from 100% recyclable polypropylene (bearing the triangular PP5 mark), which many cities and towns now accept. It sounds like you may already have this info, but for more information on your local recycling program, click here:

http://search.earth911.com/?what=#5...x_distance=25&family_id=&latitude=&longitude=&country=&province=&city=&sponsor=

In addition to developing lo-impact packaging, our reed manufacturing process is very lo-impact on the environment. Our cane does not require any treatment and we create little to no waste in the reed making process. Unused cane becomes mulch for the fields or is used to heat the factory. Because our cane is grown in the same part of the world as our factory we also cut down on the transport of raw cane, further reducing our footprint.

Please feel free to email me directly with any other questions and thank you for writing Vandoren.

Sincerely,

Sylvain Carton

Vandoren Artist Relations and Product Specialist
www.vandoren.com / LA Studio / NYC Studio / Chicago Studio"

This is great I can just throw them in my recycle bin glad to know thanks!

 

[Jazz Is All]

Hi i agree with Jazz is all....I use Marca Jazz reeds that come in cardboard sleeves ,I just keep a selection of old Reco plastic holders to keep them in until they progress to my reedjuvenate.

I,m passing through the Var region at the end of July, as I'm on a cruise that stops 4 miles from where they make Marca reeds so I'm calling there as they have a shop ,but it's also the site where the cane is grown.

I thought it would be an interesting couple of hours spent.
Better than getting dragged into a shopping trip with the wife and teenage daughter.

Just about anything is better than getting dragged on yet another shopping trip with the wife. I can only imagine the teenage daughter part....grits teeth and cringes....as I have a teenage son and he prefers to go shopping by himself or with his friends. When he doesn't have enough to pay for it....usually new Vans, or Nikes......he gets his mom to go. I just tell him to pay it out of his savings for stuff like this, but she's a sucker for buying clothes for him cause she loves to shop for that. I love him dearly and never hesitate about paying for small stuff like money for the movies or to go out to eat with friends, but there comes a point when the difference between necessities and caprices must be made clear, ya know? If he complains I tell him that I already gave at the office, the Christmas and Birthday office that is.

BTW, Marcas are damn good reeds for rock, hiphop, and R&B. Loud, bright and very consistent in my experience. YMMV

 

[JohnnyL]

I just looked at the Vandoren plastic reed protector and yes, it does bear the triangular PP5 mark. But it is so small as to be almost unreadable and is located on the thin edge of the sleeve where you wouldn't notice it unless you were really looking. So my guess is that 90% of them will get removed at the sorting facility and sent to a landfill even if you do put them into your recycle bin. Kudos to JohnsonPowerSax for taking the time to contact Vandoren about it though, instead of just talking about it.

But the broader point remains -- there are a lot of ways we can reduce our footprint. Thinking about little stuff like straws and reed sleeves is a good exercise if it gets us to also think more about bigger stuff (like how we travel and the things we fill our homes with).

 

[Sigmund451]

Europe is tring to ban or reduce single use plastic.
Maybe they need to look at the reed companies.
I suppose its far less material than straws and plastic forks but still...

 

[MM]

It gives me some little bit of hope for the future that this is even being discussed. There is so much waste in packaging especially in the food industry. As mentioned packaging is frequently bundled up with marketing/advertising/labeling. Nice to hear Europe is working on the issue; it would be great if the USA and China would jump on the bandwagon but I don't see that happening with today's anti-regulation sentiment. Does anyone believe the free market will self-regulate pollution and environmental degradation? Well, maybe if enough consumers are sufficiently educated AND are offered good choices. End of diatribe.

 

[littlewailer]

I would argue that the packaging and cases are only the very tip of the iceberg in waste in the production line of reeds (or anything for that matter). Certain companies like Rico and Vandoren (specifically) might not be emitting as much carbon or creating as much waste as other companies despite their packaging excess. On the other hand they might be. We're only going off packaging so far. Which I don't think is an accurate way of going about it.

 

[Fader]

I would argue that the packaging and cases are only the very tip of the iceberg in waste in the production line of reeds (or anything for that matter). Certain companies like Rico and Vandoren (specifically) might not be emitting as much carbon or creating as much waste as other companies despite their packaging excess. On the other hand they might be. We're only going off packaging so far. Which I don't think is an accurate way of going about it.

Maybe Legere has the cane beat with it's cardboard package and long play life...

 

[littlewailer]

But how much waste is emitted at the factory? carbon, excess waste from materials.

 

[Fader]

But how much waste is emitted at the factory? carbon, excess waste from materials.

I don't know, but I suspect it's a fairly small operation...at least the reed manufacturing bit...

 

[Jazz Is All]

Well, if they could figure out how to use recycled materials, plastic especially, for both reeds and reed holders, that would be a big step in the right direction. And they could always go back to making the cardboard reed holders like the ones Rico had years ago, but with recycled paper it would be another good step IMO.