Plastic is Forever

National Oceans Month comes to an end

2009-06-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

June is National Oceans Month and the month is coming to an end. What have you and I (we, all of us) done this month to make our oceans a better place? What more could we have done and can we still do? Here is a video reminder from the Algalita Marina as to why we should all do something about our plastic consumption to help our oceans.

Take action against toxic plastics

2009-06-13T12:38:00.004-04:00

Reducing all plastic just isn't feasible in the world we live in today (as much as I wish it could be). So, as a first step getting rid of toxins like dioxin and phthalates/DEHP in commonly used (medical related) plastics that affect children (and adults) is a big first step-a very necessary important step!

Check out the discussion about this at Health Care Without Harm and take action by supporting the petition.

no impact man

2009-06-10T11:40:00.002-04:00

hi all,
sorry i've been quiet on this end!!

just wanted to share about a screening of No Impact Man in williamsburg tomorrow night.
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/

do you all know about no impact man? check it oot.

xo
kerry

Pictures: A year's worth of plastic waste.

2009-06-01T11:26:00.015-04:00

Here are the pictures of all the waste plastic I accumulated over the last year.

First I needed to unpack my collection...

Aerial view of one year's worth of plastic waste (446 pieces)!

All the the hard molded plastic waste...most pieces don't have numbered recycle symbols.

Long thin bags I don't remember what they were from, but there sure are a bunch of them.

Milk caps, shrink wrap seals and cheese related plastic. A very colorful array of plastic.

The largest single piece of plastic in my collection-plastic wrap my new mattress came in.

One of the smallest pieces of plastic in my collection-clothing tag thingy.

Okay, that's it. Now everything back in the big plastic tupperware container where my plastic waste is most at home.

ONE YEAR OF THE PLASTIC DIET!

2009-05-31T21:37:00.002-04:00

So here we are, Kerry and I decided to start reducing and tracking our plastic consumption (trials, tribulations and discoveries) a year ago tomorrow! Throughout the year I have been reducing my plastic consumption as much as possible with the goal of not using more than one piece of disposal plastic a day! Along the way I have been holding on to all the plastic I have consumed/wasted, inherited and been given. So, here is what I ended up with after being very conscious of my plastic related consumption for one year. I have counted it all up and I have 446 different pieces of plastic. That is more than one piece a day on aggregate :(. It comes out to be 1.2 pieces a day. Not bad, but not exactly what I was shooting for. Also, I think it is fair to say I have not been able to hold on to every last piece of plastic waste I have created this year so my estimate is that that my actual consumption is somewhere between 5-10% more than 446 pieces (+ 23-25 more pieces). Food related plastic accounted for a whopping 45% of my plastic waste! But I’m not that surprised about the food related plastic waste really. It has been the hardest to reduce on a daily basis. Not counted in my total is any disposable plastic that I owned prior to June 1, 2008, even if I consumed it in the last year. This is tally is of the disposable plastic (even if it is recyclable) that came in and went out of my life in one year’s time. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be if I wasn’t consciously trying to reduce! As I looked through everything today, there were things that I thought "oops", "was not worth it" and "well worth it!" about, but I'll spare you my commentary below :)
Here is how I have broken down and categorized my plastic consumption...

Food related
Plastic caps from glass milk bottles-28
Individual wrappers for bags of tea-20
Cheese wrappers-18
Junk food wrappers (i.e chips, snack packs, protein bars)-15
Little hard candy wrappers (i.e., mints, etc.)-10
Candy wrappers-8
Styrofoam of some food related container type-8
Snack size candy wrappers-6
Bags of some unknown kind-6
Bags cereal comes in-6
Ice-cream sandwich wrappers-5
Plastic packaging from meat-5
Cookie related packaging-4
Yogurt containers-4
Frosting containers-2
Bags of turbinado raw sugar-2
Bags of local pistachios-2
Clear plastic clam shell for take-away food-2
Raw butter wrappers-2
6-pack ring-1
Tofu container-1
Completely unidentifiable/miscellaneous-5

All the rest
Completely miscellaneous clear thin plastic wrapping from products unknown-31
Hard formed plastic that products come in (i.e., LED light bulbs, etc.)-25
Plastic that shrink wraps around a bottle and it’s cap (i.e. on a bottle of salad dressing)-24
Miscellaneous plastic wrappers/bags from buying nails and other construction related things-21
Straws-20
Bags used in packaging of product (i.e. that say 'this is not a toy' on them)-19
Miscellaneous cellophane-18
Long thin plastic sleeves (I have no idea what they were from probably Ikea furniture related)-17
Little plastic T-shaped things that clip the price tag to clothing-13
Toiletry related wrappers/packaging (i.e. toilet paper wrapper, medicine)-13
Mailing envelops-12
Plastic wrap that some magazines/journals come in-12
Plastic sleeves some cards come in-9
Plastic packaging from buying curtains/curtain rods (for 5 windows)-9
Bamboo knitting needle plastic sleeves-6
Miscellaneous hard plastic bits/clips-6
Spoons-4
Little hangers (maybe related to buying curtains?)-4
Itty-bitty ziploc bags that extra buttons come in on clothes-4
Bubble wrap-3
Printer cartridge related plastic (not the actual cartridge)-3
Plastic sleeves flowers come in-3
Membership cards-2
Oil change sticker for car windshield-2
Plastic that wrapped 3 rolls of paper towels together-1
Plastic that wrapped 4 sponges together-1
Highlighter pen-1
Mechanical pencil-1
Bracelet to enter Go Green Expo-1
Instant heat compress-1
Plastic bag that my new mattress came in-1

Phew!

So, the next question is… Is it over? And the answer is of course NO. The best part of this year has been rubbing of my plastic reductionist lifestyle on friends and strangers! The plastic diet continues, once a plastic reductionist, always a plastic reductionist! How about the blog? The beauty of cyberspace is that the blog will always exist :). I will continue to post now and then as ecological, plastic reducing and plastic abusing things come on to my radar. Kerry and I started out with the hope of posting once a day and that of course dwindled over time. I have had the goal of posting once a week for the last few months and that may dwindle now too, but the plastic diet is never over!

Tomorrow I’ll post the pictures cataloging my year’s worth of plastic listed above!

Now the big question is...what to do with all these pieces of plastic? Recycle what can be recycled of course, but what to do with the rest... Anything bag-like I will reuses as a bag and anything bubble wrap or packaging related I will reuse for packaging. It is all the other stuff that is now (and always was) just plastic waste!

Sigg boxes!

2009-05-26T12:47:00.005-04:00

Have you come across these yet? I just found them the other day in the store All Shades of Green in Silverlake, CA. As you may know, if you have been following this blog from the beginning, I'm a big fan of Sigg water bottles (of course I also have a lot of love for Klean Kanteen :). So these Sigg lunch/snack boxes were a very cool find in my opinion. I'm not sure how long they have been on the market, but this is the first I have seen of them. What I like...the box lid clips down on the sides for a nice seal, they come in two sizes and of course I like the great colors. On the downside they are a little pricey: $36-$32. I recently bought a pair of Lunchbots (the uno and the duo) and love these stainless steal containers, which cost about half the price of the Sigg boxes, but are smaller. As opposed to the Lunchbots, the Sigg boxes have a bit of rubber (not sure if it's synthetic or natural) to seal closed. All-in-all it is nice to see there are a number of these plastic free food container alternatives out there!

recycle and recover

2009-05-25T00:19:00.004-04:00

Have you heard of Origins new recycling initiative...check it out.
They will take back any empty cosmetic tubes, bottles and jars (from any company!) and send everything to a central location where products will be recycled or used for energy recovery. What a great way to make the most of those plastic cosmetic products you have as you are phasing out your use of plastic all together!

reducing plastic...in the kitchen

2009-05-21T00:15:00.007-04:00

Some pictures and thoughts of how I have reduced plastic in my kitchen this year:

I buy food from bulk bins at Whole Foods/food co-op/farmer's market and store it in jars. On the lower shelf is loose leaf tea in reusable and refillable tins.

I wash out ziploc and all other plastic food bags (i.e. from chips, candy, etc.) to use over and over and over and over again.

For the trash I use paper bags (small or large) acquired while shopping. I just say no to plastic bags.

I've acquired a number of non-plastic reusable containers for food and I reuse the glass jars my food comes in for containers too.

I use bar soap to clean the dishes and hope to find liquid soap from a bulk dispenser to refill that glass corn shaped soap dispenser. I use a Skoy cloth instead of a synthetic plastic sponge.

Bird Balls?

2009-05-17T19:28:00.007-04:00

Ever heard of Bird Balls? Me neither! But I saw them (pictured above/below) the other day and had to find out more.The other day I wandered my way up into the beautiful Elysian Park (just minutes from Downtown LA). While driving around this huge park that has gorgeous vistas I stumbled upon the Elysian Reservoir. It caught my eye because the water didn't look like water, but I couldn't figure out what was up. The reservoir is fenced in and was pretty far away and I felt like my eyes were just not focusing well, but that water didn’t look like water. I was about to walk away when a security guard came by the fence. I asked him what was up with the water. He told me that the reservoir was covered in small (baseball-size) plastic balls! Oh, I thought, that’s what that looks like. Next questions, why? Apparently to protect the water (which is drinking water for Angelinos) from sunlight because when sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in the water, the carcinogen bromate can form. Yikes! Hummm….but what about the toxic effects of hot plastic sitting in water for hours on end? Do they leach out chemicals? The security guard didn’t think so (very reassuring) and now I am worried. That means more research to do.At any rate that’s a lot of plastic! I’m not really sure what the alternative is to using hundreds of thousands (millions?) of plastic balls to keep this water drinkable, but there are likely to be consequences to the local ecosystem and maybe those of us who are drinking the water too. Is there a better alternative....? Oh plastic, you are just everywhere I turn!

camp lantern: to be plastic or not to be plastic, that is the question

2009-05-14T01:18:00.006-04:00

I am going camping this coming weekend and thinking of buying my own camp lantern. (I'll probably just borrow one from a friend again this trip, but in the near future I do need/want to purchase my own). So, I have been looking into my options.

There is the good old metal and glass option (which uses butane/kerosene/unleaded gas as fuel).

Then there is the modern plastic and CFL option.

I have borrowed a friend’s CFL lantern a few times recently and really liked it, but it's a whole lotta plastic for a plastic dieter to buy. Obviously the plastic reductionism in me says "No way" to the plastic CFL version, but having used one I must say it is very nice and it is by no means throw away plastic—I'd be using it for years and years and years. But there is something to be said for a good old fashion lantern—like my family used camping when I was growing up. I just remember it is tricky to light the mantle (the white part that glows) and I wonder how easy it will be to find butane or kerosene... You would think I have nothing to do with my time (which just isn't true) if I told you how much time I have spent debating which type of lantern to buy. I even had a 20-minute conversation with my mother about it the other day. We weighed the pros and cons, she did not offer to give me my parent’s lantern (which was what I was really hoping for :), and then I told her how I wanted a lantern that would pass my worst case scenario test, i.e. if all hell breaks loose from a natural disaster/nuclear meltdown I want a lantern that will get me through. Well, decidedly neither will get me that far without a working infrastructure, but the CFL one will go first if there is no electric grid for me to plug into to recharge. Although I would also need an infrastructure to find butane or other fuel. My mother's last words on the debate were “at least if something like that did happened you may be able to walk all the way across country [CA to VT] to get to us on one gallon of butane, just keep a gallon on hand for emergencies." Done. Glass and metal win out-yet again-over plastic and technology.

LA river clean-up

2009-05-10T22:23:00.005-04:00

I participated in the 20th Annual LA Gran Limpieza-Great LA River Cleanup this weekend and was appalled by the number of plastic...guess what?....straws(!) that I picked up. Plastic straw really are my nemesis! I didn’t expect so many straws. Of course I picked up a lot of plastic bags, food wrappers, some computer/electronic cords, a few barrettes, and other miscellaneous plastic and other trash, but I was really surprised by how many straws I picked up. I have had it in for straws since day one of this year of plastic reduction. I picked up more straws out of the river basin in two hours on Saturday than I have turned down in restaurants this whole year. I have become notorious for saying "No straw" when I am out to eat and this is the very reason why straws are the epitome of one-time use plastic waste. Ugh! After plastic bags straws would be the next plastic item I would like to see banned.

Of course plastic was consumed in this cleanup effort...plastic gloves for protection, plastic bags for collecting garbage, and they had water in plastic bottles of volunteers. I used the gloves and cleanup bag, but no plastic encased water for me.

It was nice to get out to the LA river and really see it up close. You may know the LA "river" as the great paved basin that it is portrayed in movies like Grease, Terminator 2, and many many others. It was nice to see it is not all concrete and trash. There is wildlife—plants, birds, insects, crawdads—and not all parts of the river are completely paved. Some parts of the river are down right pretty. The river certainly does need a good cleaning though, it is by no means sit-by-the-shore-for-a-picnic ready in most parts (and probably never will be). All in all I'm glad I was reminded that this river has a unique ecosystem that needs loving care and....how stupid straws are.

reducing plastic...in the bathroom

2009-05-08T23:34:00.004-04:00

Before the plastic diet:

After the plastic diet:

I had the forethought to take this picture back in July 2008 of my plastic related toiletries in order to compare to (my then hopeful) reduction of these toiletries over the year.

So, here is what I have done...

Conditioner: I went from plastic encased to the LUSH condition bar. (That is the funny shaped soap like object in the 'after' picture.) The use of the conditioner bar did play into my decision to cut 14 inches off hair (it just didn't work with long hair!), but over all this change was not the worst sacrifice I have had to make.

Shampoo: I have not bought any all year! I had a backlog to go through for some reason. Now I am at the end of my shampoo supply and I'm looking into bar soap shampoos. Currently taking suggestions...

Face cleansers/scrubs/etc: I went from plastic encased face cleaning products to good old soap! I have opted for handmade and local options (I'm using a goat milk soap now :) and found them to be great and moisturizing. Goodbye foaming cleanser and scrubs forever.

Deodorant: In the winter I used baking soda and tea tree oil, in the summer this plastic free option just doesn't work in the SoCal heat. So I am back to normal old plastic encased deodorant, but my winter deodorant is completely plastic free :)

Toothpaste: I've been using Tom's of Maine for a while. It is one of the only brands where only the cap is the only plastic in the product-tube is recyclable metal!

Toothbrush: No change...any thoughts on non-plastic toothbrush options out there?

Floss: Since I use it so rarely :( I have yet to need any more since last year. But as far as I know all types come in plastic...

lost plastic, found plastic

2009-05-05T23:02:00.003-04:00

I am morning the loss of a pair of earbuds today. The left side stopped working awhile ago, but the right side bit it today. Now this piece of plastic and metal is completely useless and non-recyclable, sigh. But while out for a run with my earbuds today, during which they met their final demise, I found a cool piece of plastic! It was kind of a full circle moment—one piece of plastic in my life bites the dust another piece of plastic finds it’s way to me. I found this body of a plastic…baby doll? It's a very weird body shape for a baby doll in my opinion. It is definitely not the Barbie-style body shape of many plastic dolls. I think it is this uniquely lovely body shape that caught my eye and led me to pick it up off the street, bring it home, and make it mine. A new piece of modern art(!)—it looks good on the bookshelf. It is completely useless, but it intrigues me, which is more than I can say for my useless earbuds. The earbuds will not get to live a life of glory as modern art on my bookshelf, into the draw (a.k.a. person landfill) for you.

The 11th month

2009-05-01T21:50:00.002-04:00

There is month left of Kerry and my "official" year long plastic diet.
I will need to start cataloging my plastic consumption soon, as I have kept most of what I have consumed.
I also was able to see the movie Addicted to Plastic, which I wrote about last week, and found it to be a nice reminder of why the plastic diet is not just a year long adventure but has become a way of life.

Addicted to Plastic

2009-04-24T14:36:00.005-04:00

Have you heard of the movie Addicted to Plastic : The Rise and Demise of a Modern Miracle?

Check out this movie trailer: http://www.enviroblog.org/2009/04/are-you-addicted-to-plastic.html

It looks great! I'd love to see it. Fake Plastic Fish recently reviewed it as well. It is not available (yet) through Netflix (or my local movie rental shop) so for me seeing it means buying it...which involves buying/consuming PLASTIC! So, I guess I'll wait even though it looks great.

BUT for those of you with a TV and cable it will be playing on the Sundance Channel on April 28, 2009, at 10PM (according to the film's website) and at some upcoming film festivals. Check out the movie's website for more info: http://www.crypticmoth.com/plastic.php

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T02:25:00.002-04:00

Happy earth day fellow plastic reductionists. For some this is a day, for others it's a way of life. I think the earth is particularly thankful for the other way-of-lifers out there!

plastic gloves

2009-04-20T23:49:00.003-04:00

I'm sure it's no surprise that I am not a fan of plastic gloves, which are the epitome of one time use plastic. They are not just used in medicine any more either…they are at the bakery, schools, etc. I was visiting a kindergarten classroom last week and watched as the teacher lined all the kids up to wash their hands for snack. Then the teacher washed her own hands and then she put on plastic gloves to reach into a plastic barrel of pretzels to hand kids their snack. The teacher had just washed her hands…isn't antibacterial soap in a plastic dispenser and city water good enough any more? Apparently not.

Well, it just so happens that I started reading the book Why Dirt is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends this weekend and I am more convinced than ever that plastic gloves are far from necessary and down right gratuitous! We need to be exposed to dirt, germs, and ick to keep out immune systems working (the immune system needs and wants exercise!). So, unless you are being exposed to unfamiliar bodily fluids stop using those plastic gloves and start letting your immune system have some fun for a change :) It will make you healthier in the end. My favorite quote from the book so far: "Let them eat dirt."

making my own cleaning products

2009-04-12T23:45:00.004-04:00

I recently bought the book Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living by Annie Berthold, which comes highly recommended by many. I bought it so I could start making more of my own home cleaning supplies and stop buying commercial cleaning supplies packaged in plastic. The major impetus for the purchase is that I am running out of the Mrs. Meyer's all purpose cleaner, which I bought about six months ago for moping the floors and cleaning my car. The Better Basic's book is chalked full of great cleaning recipes(!), but I was a little saddened by this one:

Basic Floor Cleaner Formula
1/4 cup liquid soap or detergent
Up to 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar or lemon juice
2 gallons warm water

It calls for liquid soap...which I have only be able to buy in plastic. I wish I knew of a co-op where I could refill my preexisting containers with bulk liquid soap, but I have not found on. This is LA there must be a co-op that carries liquid soaps, shampoo/conditioner somewhere, but where? I'm thinking I could use power soap (i.e. laundry or dishwasher) instead of liquid soap, I guess it is worth a try. Any other thoughts/suggestions?

buying milk

2009-04-11T00:13:00.004-04:00

Are there any city dwellers out there who are able to purchase milk without also purchasing plastic?

My rural dwelling parents and older brother's family are able to get milk directly from farmers that they know in reusable Ball Jars (no plastic at all!), but I am not so lucky. I buy milk in glass bottles, but the bottles all come with plastic lids. I have a growing collection of plastic milk bottle lids and pull tabs. I'm just wondering if anyone (without a farmer-direct connection) has found a way around this....

BPA and plastic-some victories

2009-04-08T00:18:00.005-04:00

Bisphenol A or BPA is a toxic chemical found in a lot of plastics. I have found it is most outrageous to people that this chemical is in a lot of childhood toys, teethers, and baby bottles. But I don't think the outrage should stop there. We should all be outraged about BPA in all plastics and the cumulative effect the chemical will have on our bodies over time.

On the eliminating-BPA-front, there has been some good news lately. This is a nice short article that talks about some of the legislative victories and proposals related to banning BPA.

http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/the_beginning_of_the_end_of_bpa/

This news makes me particularly happy...

"The true pièce de résistance is the federal legislation recently introduced into Congress, the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2009 which would end the use of the additive in all plastic packaging and other food containers, not just those used by children.

The Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2009 requires that:  

Reusable beverage containers (including baby bottles and thermoses) that contain BPA cannot be sold;

Other food and beverage containers (such as canned food or formula) containing BPA cannot be introduced into commerce.

If a manufacturer can show that there is no technology available to make a particular food or beverage without the use of BPA, the FDA can issue renewable one-year waivers to the ban for that particular food or beverage. However, the food or beverage container must be labeled indicating that BPA was used. The manufacturer also must submit a proposal for how it plans to comply with the ban in the future.

The FDA also must periodically review the list of substances that have been deemed safe for manufacturing food and beverage containers, to determine whether new scientific evidence exists that these substances may pose adverse health risks.  "

My thoughts on BPA in plastic can be summed up this way: First step, get chemicals out of plastic. Second step, get plastic out of plastic (or get plastic out of our lives). Actually, those steps could be reversed and I'd be just as happy :)

you have got to be kidding me!

2009-04-04T19:57:00.004-04:00

At work the other day I found the printer out of paper. No problem, even I can solve this printer paper dilemma without having a plastic emergency, right? Apparently not. Off I went to the work room and ta-da I found Recycled Husky Xerocopy Paper in abundance. This paper's positive environmental characteristics include: SFI Fiber Sourcing Certified, paper contains 30% recycled fiber, and it is manufactured under alkaline (acid-free) conditions. I was unwrapping the ream of paper on my way back to the printer and stopped dead in my tracks. The ream of 30% recycled paper looked to be wrapped in just another piece of recycled paper but NO. It was wrapped in a piece of paper coated with polyethylene! Plasticy smooth on one side and papery smooth on the other side. Yes, polyethylene is a kind of plastic. This is what Wikipedia has to say about polyethylene's negative environmental characteristics: "The wide use of polyethylene makes it an important environmental issue. Though it can be recycled, most of the commercial polyethylene ends up in landfills and in the oceans (notably the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Polyethylene is not considered biodegradable, as it takes several centuries until it is efficiently degraded."

Why? Why I ask you is polyethylene needed to protect this ream of paper? A ream of paper that is touting environmental consciousness at that. The polyethylene coating on the copy paper wrapper is so unnecessary. So unnecessary and so wrong. Polyethylene coatings are on so many things...coffee cups, milk cartons, ice cream containers, postcards...mostly everything that looks like paper that you put liquid in and doesn't leak. Enough already. We do not need to plasticify everything! Grrrr.

more on electrolyzed water

2009-04-02T00:34:00.004-04:00

Yes, I am still amazed by the miracles of electrolyzed water and how wonderfully non-toxic and plastic reductionist this 'miracle water' is.
Check out this great article on electrolyzed water by the Organic Consumers Association:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17014.cfm
Are there any negatives to this? I don't see any! Let the revolution begin.

running green

2009-03-31T21:54:00.003-04:00

Erin and I are running the Big Sur Marathon on April 26!

We both ran 20 miles this weekend, on our respective coasts. I ran over the Manhattan bridge at least 4 times, I lost track after awhile.

Anyway, just got a newsletter from Big Sur and this is what they say:

Going Green

The Big Sur Marathon is fully committed to supporting sustainable practices not just during race weekend, but throughout the year. We have implemented race day recycling both on the course and at the finish, along with recyclable bib numbers, our BYOB program, PickUp Pal ridesharing service and 97% online paperless registration. In the course of the next few years we hope to be a fully "green" event.

This all sounds good but I'm curious about cups. Are they using throwaway cups? Because I drink at every water station and that seems like a waste. Erin, should we write them to ask?

emergency...

2009-03-31T01:28:00.002-04:00

...okay not yet, but just in case of emergency, you should be prepared! Do you have an emergency pack/kit? If you do chances are there is plastic in it. Plastic is sadly inevitable in the emergency preparedness arena. I made an emergency pack about two years ago after attending a workshop on working with disaster victims. I was sufficiently scared about impending doom and insuring mayhem that I went home and put something together (over about a period of a month-I guess I wasn't that scared).

I was reminded recently that the emergency food in my emergency backpack has expiration dates. So, I fished the pack out of the trunk of my car and found that all the power bars I had put in there two years ago are in fact one year past due. (Of course I’ll still eat them now, but they are no longer 'emergency ready' because they might make me sick and I don't want to be sick in an emergency.) I have bought 5 more power bars (in plastic wrappers of course!) as replacements. I figure the two year old beef jerky and fruit leather can probably make it another year. They are sealed in plastic after all they should last forever!

In my rekindled emergency preparedness flurry I have decided to add a few more things that I can't believe weren't in my pack before! I can say happily most of these new additions are decidedly not plastic. In case you want to make your own in-case-of-nuclear-meltdown-and-major-earthquake-bag I suggest these basics: some light non-perishable food (power bars, beef jerky, fruit leather, etc. enough for 2-3 days), a couple of bottles of water (I know, but in a pinch you will be glad you invested in that plastic encased water), a change of clothes and good pair of walking shoes (you may have to walk a long way if mayhem breaks out-so sneakers will be nice to have), sunscreen (plastic again), basic toiletries + toilet paper, and a pocket knife. Okay, so here are my new additions: rubber band for hair, deodorant stone, two sets of bamboo utensils (so I can share one set with someone who forgets utensils-someone is gonna forget utensils), two face masks (like for painting, which will also be helpful in trying to breath in smoke or around toxic particles), matches, paper and a pen...okay here is where I went a little MacGyver for no apparent reason...9 rubber bands, 5 paperclips, and a bunch of popsicle sticks (all non-plastic!). Who knows these 'essentials' might come in handy. I'll probably be kicking myself about not making it 10 rubber bands.

Now you all should go get something together, just in case. Try to use as little plastic as possible-it's a challenge!

eco-friendly cleaning products

2009-03-29T22:10:00.004-04:00

One area in my plastic-less life that I haven't looked at too closely is household cleaning products. I think that's because they last a long time, so I don't buy new ones too often.

But last month I had the chance to meet with someone from Shaklee. Shaklee is cool because they're one of the first companies to offset CO2 emissions and really take a stand for sustainable business practices. They use natural ingredients and make biodegradable household cleaners.

We talked about my aversion to plastic, and she let me try Basic H2 Super Cleaning Concentrate. It's all purpose, which I love. And it's super concentrated, which is even better. (16 oz makes 48 GALLONS of cleaner). I feel good about finding a cleaner that's biodegradable, and that uses a lot less plastic since it's so concentrated. And it makes a lot of sense to use stuff on your stove and countertops that isn't toxic.

On a separate note, I also tried some Shaklee skin care products which were amazing!

where does plastic reduction fit in...

2009-03-27T01:38:00.002-04:00

There has been a lot of buzz in the organic/local/sustainable food world lately about the new White House vegetable garden. Victory cries reverberate from Food Democracy Now and Slow Food followers alike. In fact this kind of food (the organic/sustainable/local kind, a.k.a. my kind) is getting more and more mainstream.

This is a great article about just this topic from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/business/22food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

You may or may not know this but I'm about as crazy about local/sustainable/fair food (a.k.a. Slow Food) as I am about reducing plastic. These causes are both about a better environment, so they go hand in hand, right? Well, I am becoming more and more impatient about the lack of concern from organic and sustainable food manufacturers and consumers about the non-organic non-sustainable nature of the plastic packaging that most of this food is sold in. It makes no sense to me. Why care so much about growing great environmentally conscious food and care so little about what it is packaged in?

Take this quote from the NY Times article I linked to above. “This has never been just about business,” said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, the maker of organic yogurt. “We are here to change the world. We dreamt for decades of having this moment.” Hummmm...Mr. Hirshberg your entire yogurt line is sold in plastic! Is the Great Pacific Gyre’s impact on the marine ecosystem the kind of change you have been dreaming about for decades? I have found individual cups of yogurt sold in glass (Spega) at a national food chain (Whole Foods)—so I know it can be done. If Stonyfield Farm yogurt dumped the plastic, I would know ‘it’s not just about business’ and that would be a movement I could really get behind!

angst

2009-03-21T14:42:00.004-04:00

I wish I wasn't filled with so much angst over my recent purchase of an external hard drive....BUT it is made of plastic and came in plastic packaging (2 pieces and tape)! Maybe I should have looked for a used external hard drive on craigslist (why am I just thinking of this now? is that a good idea buying a used hard drive?). I'm not very technologically savvy (read: I had my younger brother buy the external hard drive for me because I didn't know where to start and he had to show me how to use it) but I have begun to feel it is completely reckless of me to not back up all my digital pictures, i-tunes library, and dissertation work. So, I took the plunge. Now I am trying to justify my decision in my head and I have a real negative bias against spending unnecessary time and energy justifying decisions that have already been made...this is where the angst comes in. Technology and the plastic diet seem to bump heads a lot.

irony

2009-03-19T01:19:00.004-04:00

What to hear some irony? The Los Angels Department of Water and Power spent $70,000 on bottled water last year. Yes, you heard that right LA's water department is buying bottled water for employees to drink. Keep in mind Los Angeles is touted for having some of the best tap water anywhere. (Debatable I know, but statistically it is very clean.) Granted we steal our water from Colorado and Northern California, but all the same it is good water and our Department of Water and Power is buying bottled water! In plastic bottles! Our mayor Villaraigosa tried to put his foot down on this expense after his first election, but it’s still happening. Less money has been spent each year, for the last four years, but still $70,000 last year is a lot of money. Well, in walks 'The Great American Economic Crisis' and now the foot is really going down. No more water encased in wasteful plastic for you Department of Water and Power—it costs too much!

The economy has had the same effect on my university's bottled water buying proclivity. I was recently at a meeting where we were told there is no more bottled water for lunch meetings due to budget cuts. Apparently, the presentation I gave a the monthly faculty meeting back in October about reducing, reusing, recycling and ecological stewardship was not as effective as the “presentation” the economy is currently giving the budget office. Either way I am happy...I guess. If economic destruction is the only way for people to start reducing their unnecessary plastic consumption I’ll take it…although I think we could have made these practical change just as easy without the whole economic crisis thing.

Reduce toxic plastics in the home

2009-03-16T00:54:00.003-04:00

Have you checked out the www.healthychild.org website?
I love it. I also love their book Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, and Safer Home.

This nonprofit is committed to a healthier world for us all...and that means less plastic!

They have a new new Health eHome interactive guide that I highly recommend checking out. Many of the tips for the kitchen are about the toxic effects of plastic and why people should reduce their plastic use. Also, they have great 'Pocket Guides' that discuss the dangers of plastic and talk about alternative choices. My favorite pocket guides are: Healthier Teether & Pacifier, Healthy Toys, and Safer Plastics!

The main reason I love this organization is that it is about helping people make changes for the better based on sound information. It is not all doom and gloom, which leaves people overwhelmed and discouraged-they have tips and solutions!

L'Occitane Deodorant Stone

2009-03-15T23:10:00.003-04:00

I bought the deodorant stone from L'Occitane!

So far, so good!

No aluminum, no plastic.

Imagine a world where the electrolyzer is king.

2009-03-12T01:32:00.002-04:00

I heard about the Electrolyzer cleaning system this weekend and my mind went wild with the possibilities of how this electrified salt/water solution could reduce the use of plastic and chemicals in the world!

Never heard about electrolyzed water as a cleaning agent before (I hadn’t either before Sunday). Check out this website: http://www.electrolyzercorp.com/

This is how it works…“A diluted salt water solution is passed through an electrical field and two separation membranes. This process generates two separate outputs simultaneously. The first is alkaline water with a pH of approximately 11.3. The alkaline water is used as a cleaner and degreaser. The second is electrolyzed acid water with an approximate pH of 2.7. The acidic water, containing 30 ppm hypochlorous acid (HOCI), has an extremely powerful bactericidal/viricidal effect. No special storage, handling, protective clothing, or environmental controls are required. No tainting or residues are left behind after use.” And you can just go and refill a cleaning/spray bottle from the electrolyzer system whenever you need more! Plus, it is nontoxic. Using this means no more buying, using, and recycling (or trashing) plastic containers for cleaning!! Well, it’s not that easy of course...the system costs thousands of dollars (but not tens of thousand mind you) and it is only commercially available. I heard about it because the show ‘Off Ramp’ did a story on the Sheraton Hotel chain piloting the use of the Electrolyzer system in their Delfina hotel in Santa Monica, CA. Apparently Sheraton will be rolling this new cleaning tool out in all their hotels soon! (That’s a lot of plastic reduction right there–thanx Sheraton.) But all I can think about is a community electrolyzer fill station in every town (or every natural food store) where people go to fill-up/refill when they need to clean the house. The plastic waste reduction and chemical exposure reduction possibilities have me swooning.

Back to nature.

2009-03-09T00:30:00.004-04:00

Plastic-free camping isn't that hard. It's camping after all, the whole point is to get back to nature, it's an activity that has plastic-free written all over it!

I was up in the Los Padres Forest outside of LA this weekend and it was cold at night! My polyester sleeping bag was so polyestery and scratchy. (It made me realize I don’t appreciated my organic cotton sheets enough.) I remember as a kid everyone in my family had matching brown cotton sleeping bags. They had a pattern of flying ducks on the inside, cold metal zippers, and the cotton stuffing bunched up around the seams as they got older and worn. They smelled mildewy the last time I thought of using one in college and I think they met their demise soon after that. So there is no going back to the sleeping bag of my youth. I wonder how hard it would be to find a cotton or all-natural sleeping bag these days and would it be warm enough? This is the best option I could find on a quick search just now: http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/cf-be-dreambag-sleepsack.html It doesn't look that warm. It was in the 30's last night in the foothills. Some how I don't think this one would keep me warm enough (the bag I actually had wasn’t warm enough either so I guess I shouldn't be too picky). I'll keep looking for something...better...hopefully...

On another note I did make my own marshmallows for roasting so as to avoid buying marshmallows bought in plastic. My homemade ones roasted up lovely! Homemade marshmallows are surprisingly easy to make and always a hit. There was a time (a long long time ago when I had more time) when I actually made my own graham crackers too! This weekend I let someone else take care of getting the graham crackers and I didn't partake...all I care about it the roasted marshmallow anyway. Do you remember when graham crackers came wrapped in brown wax paper not clear plastic...when did that change?

All in all camping is very compatible with a plastic-less lifestyle and I highly recommend it :)

That's so annoying!

2009-03-06T00:15:00.006-05:00

I dropped some sweaters off at the dry cleaners today. I go to a place that is more expensive than another that I (used to) like but this place respects my wish to have no plastic sleeve put on my clothes. The other place wouldn't stop using the plastic sleeve no matter how I pleaded. Why? I pleaded, it doesn’t harm you…dust doesn't bother me I live in this great big dirty world and dust is the least of my worries...
Anyway, my plastic-reductionist-friendly dry cleaner is hilarious (so I do factor the entertainment value into the price). Going there always involves a 15-20 minute conversation about his other customers and unsolicited advice for my love life. Believe it or not one of his other customers is a secret agent and he can prove this because she always brings in clothes with weird holes in them. I know hard to believe, but can’t argue with that kind of evidence can you? My dry cleaner knows me even though I have tried to cut down on my dry cleaning needs (nasty chemicals and all) but just in case he has forgotten me since last time, every time I bring something in I say, "Oh and no plastic remember (smile)." So, today he says to me in his lovely stilted ESL, "It so funny some people want no plastic (wait there are others like me?) and some want too much plastic, one plastic on each piece." He proceeded to show me someone’s dry cleaning order that had individual plastic sleeves put over each shirt! Of course my reply to this was, "Oh that is so annoying!" And then my dry cleaner man says, "I know and he is man! It would be better if it was women who said please, can you please put plastic on each just for me. No this is man who is worried about dust. So annoying!" I laughed a little inside at my dear dry cleaner's old world views of masculinity and femininity. To him this guy who wants each shirt individually covered in plastic has let all other men down for making such a sissy request. To me he has just let down all mankind. Either way he (and others like him) are letting us all down.

P.S. Some plastic-free camping (other than the tent of course) is on tap for the weekend-I don't think it should be too hard to pull off.

Lunch time!

2009-03-04T00:27:00.003-05:00

When it comes to packing/bringing your own lunch there are so many great plastic-free options! Yeay!

These are the three I usually choose from:

Ball jars, Pyrex with top (okay the top is plastic), and stainless steal To-Go Ware lunch box. Also, I love my reusable Happy-sacks which aren’t pictured.

Beth of Fake Plastic Fish recently reviewed a new stainless steal option — Lunchbots. Have you seen these? They are very cool! They are a stainless steal replacement to plastic tupperware. I will probably end up getting some Lunchbots sometime soon, but thinking about buying them made me realize I really do gravitate more toward glass than stainless steal for my food storage. I like stainless steal—a lot—but glass really serves my food storage needs better. Especially when it comes to packing my lunch, which I usually do in glass because I eat leftovers that needs reheating. Heating in stainless steal with the microwave at work is not an option.

I love that there are so many plastic free food storage/packing options out there. I wish more people took advantage of them! (No more onetime use plastic at lunchtime people—please.) My desire for less plastic at the lunch table was especially poignant today when I was in a working lunch meeting. All but one of the other eight people with me ordered take-out Thai food and then ate their food out of the styrofoam boxes the food was delivered in (ick!) and then threw out the styrofoam!

What do you readers out there prefer glass or stainless steal or some other miracle non-plastic option I have yet to discover?

Where are we at?

2009-02-28T19:33:00.005-05:00

Where are we at?....we're still here! If you have been following our blog for a while now you know that over time Kerry and I have let more and more time go between posts...a whole week this time! Don't worry we didn't get sucked into the Great Pacific (Garbage Patch) Gyre...though it is not out of the question.

I thought I'd reflect on our posting (or lack there of) a little today and talk about where we are at. It has been 9 months* of the plastic diet (!) and plastic reduction has become a way of life for Kerry and I. It has become everyday, normal operating procedure, status quo, etc. This is a good thing! We don't have quite as many questions and maybe a few less plastic related frustrations (this is debatable). I think this has reflected on our posting habits. Reducing plastic is less of burden and is less unknown now. So, there is less to report...but there is always something to report...in fact the other day I was asked by my mother, "Do you think you will still keep this up after the year is up?" My automatic response was "YES, of course". It would be hard (near to impossible) to all of a sudden one day (June 1st, 2009-but who's keeping track?) stop caring about reducing my plastic consumption…stop caring about the impact of plastic…stop wanting to make this world a better place—just because our one year project is "over". I think this is especially true because I have always been an environmentalist. What I (and others around me) have learned in the last 9 months is how strongly I care about being a steward of change for the environment. I mean really this is the only planet we have, it is AMAZING, and I kind of like it here :) Reducing my plastic use is just one thing I (and you can) do to be more responsible and I am sure I will keep up my efforts as long as there is plastic (a.k.a. forever). I have wonder if I will be as committed (dare I say militant) about not consuming plastic after June 1st 2009. I really find it hard to believe that I will stop questioning my choices, purchases, and decisions just as much as I do now. Just like they say about any diet…diets don't work you have to change your lifestyle—and I have changed my lifestyle! So, I guess in June I will no longer be on the plastic diet I will just be living the plastic-less lifestyle :)

* We are full-term! We have been gestating in the plastic-diet-womb for 9 months now. We are ready for life in a plastic-less world!

recycled, reusable and non-plastic produce bags!

2009-02-21T14:54:00.006-05:00

Check these out...they are great reusable "baguettes" for buying/storing your fruits and veggies.
They are made from old tee-shirts, cloth mesh, and have a drawstring top!

I got one that I love to use from Anna Cummins (of JunkRaft/JunkRide fame) at the LA Go Green Expo. Now you can get one too! They are available for sale at the bring your own website shop!
Check it out: http://www.bringyourown.org/blog/?p=158 and remember to BRING YOUR OWN :)

I LEGO N.Y.

2009-02-19T15:43:00.002-05:00

cool article

canal plastics center

2009-02-18T17:27:00.002-05:00

i have to go here tomorrow to pick something up for work!
it's a plastic dieters worst nightmare!

also something kind of comical happened today. i had to pick up a sign from kinkos and it was wintry-mixing outside.. snow and rain.. and i was on the phone with erin aka plasticfreela and she HEARD me ask the guy at kinkos for a plastic bag! i was so mortified but i couldn't let the sign get ruined!

dish soap

2009-02-13T15:18:00.002-05:00

I need to find a new soap for washing dishes (by hand) that comes in a bar...any suggestions?

I'm getting near the end of my environmentally friendly liquid dish soap that comes in a plastic bottle and I would like to find something even more environmentally friendly by eliminating the plastic bottle. I like a lot of suds/bubbles when I'm washing dishes, because it makes me feel like the soap is working, but if that's not possible in bar soap form (I guess I assume it is not available) I can live.

If you have a good bar soap source for dish washing let me know!

convenience

2009-02-10T11:53:00.003-05:00

I've been doing boot camp and marathon training and thus eating more protein.

So I've started eating yogurt every day for breakfast.

Convenient for me, not so much for the environment.

Not only is the yogurt pre-made but it's portion-controlled and I know exactly how much protein I'm getting.

I know that Erin makes yogurt.. I've made yogurt once before but don't know about doing it on a daily basis.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Kerry

mushrooms are temporary, plastic is forever

2009-02-10T00:55:00.004-05:00

I went on a mushroom foray this weekend and learned much, but most importantly I learned don't eat just any mushroom and second most importantly I learned that (like most other living things) mushrooms don't like plastic! If you store mushrooms in plastic they will not be able to breath (just like if you were to store humans in plastic) they will sweat (like humans) and then decay and turn mushy (you know where I am going with this). I had noticed that the mushroom sellers at the framer's market are the only people who use paper bags—now I know why—it's not just that we are kindred spirits :)

If you buy loose mushrooms the best way to store them is in the refrigerator in a paper bag or folded in an envelop of wax paper or place them in a glass container and cover it with a dish towel or moist paper towel—no plastic wrap or plastic bags please!

So, why is it that you can find mushrooms sold in plastic wrap at the grocery store—probably because you shouldn't buy mushrooms at the grocery store—or maybe the mushrooms are sealed with nitrogen (or some gas other than oxygen) to keep them looking fresh...either way go natural! Join your local Mycological Association and learn to find your own mushrooms (if I can do it in LA you can do it anywhere) or grow your own While Button or Portabellas (sadly this option involves plastic).

The take away here, at any rate, is that mushrooms can be added to the ever growing list of living things that DON'T LIKE PLASTIC!

2009-02-06T23:53:00.004-05:00

These are the only kind of mailing envelops that should be on the market!
(Are you listening Amazon? You who ships books to people in plastic.)

Look how great they are...

Description:

Double reinforced corners offer superior edge protection (okay)
Cushioned with recycled newsprint (sure)
Self-sealing (nice)
Plastic free! (WOW)

Sustainable Attributes:

Made from renewable resources (yes)
90% total recycled content, 50% post-consumer (awesome)
Exceeds CPG guidelines (great)
Recyclable with mixed papers (perfect or it could be composted)

Viva CareMail mail packaging products! These envelops are soooooo much better than the plastic, bubble plastic, and plastic-paper hybrid mailers on the market—that can't even be recycled. Just goes to show if you look around enough you will find a better option, and by better I mean plastic-free. Happy mailing :)

making a difference! new year of the trees

2009-02-05T10:34:00.002-05:00

wanted to share this very cool newsletter article i just received. you can check out the whole newsletter online here.

Dearest reader

A lot is happening on planet earth. On one hand it seems like we humans continue to bite the life out of mother earth. On the other hand, awareness to natural health and ecology is constantly on the rise.

Three years ago I wrote in this very newsletter about a ceremony I was invited to lead at an orthodox synagogue for Tu B'shvat - New Year of the Trees. I deliberately didn't write how disappointed I felt after seeing all the disposable plastic plates, cups, and utensils that were used during the event. I decided to focus on the bright side - that the participants were open to learn about the advantage of whole foods over processed foods. One step at a time.

Last year I participated in a different New Year of the Trees, that took place outside of the USA. This time, in addition to the plastic plates, cups, and utensils, sodas and artificial snacks dominated the tables. Since it was a charity event, I didn't want to be a party pooper and kept my mouth shut.

Recently I received an invite for this year's event. This time I decide to write to the organizers. I began by thanking them for organizing these important charity events. Then I added that I find it contradicting that a celebration for the trees, for nature, turns into an ecological disaster with plastic plates and junk food.

To my surprise the organizers wrote back to me, asking how they can handle the situation differently. We had a meeting in which I presented them with various options like serving finger food - mainly fruits and nuts which are the traditional foods of this holiday and for which there is no need at all for plates and utensils. To use biodegradable cups (made from plants like corn and sugarcane instead of oil). To put a marker next to the cups so people can write their names on the cup and re-use it during the event. To avoid sodas and processed snacks and instead to serve water, natural juices, fruits, and nuts.

The organizers were so excited from these suggestions that they asked me to make a presentation during the event itself on how New Year of the Trees is related to our commitment to the ecology and what we humans can do to help.

On a personal note, not only that I'm happy to be sharing this information with a large audience of adults and kids, but also I'm happy to attend an event that I will feel comfortable at.

On a similar note, in this month's newsletter, I'm introducing a new company that I've joined - Elements for Life. In addition to the focus on financial profit, this company is also committed to human health and the environment, not only on a philosophical level, but also in a very practical way. You're invited to visit their website, which has a lot of information, so take your time to read the information.

In April we're headed to a special journey in Israel. You're invited to join us. See the details in this newsletter.

To a greener, healthier, peaceful world,

Zohar Zemach Wilson
Founder & Director
Alok Holistic Health

Plant lovin

2009-02-03T20:47:00.004-05:00

My plants need a little lovin. I am by no means a green thumb but I have begun to suspect that my plants can't live by water alone—they need nutrients too! So I have had a mission to find plant food that doesn’t come in plastic packaging. Plant food does exist in this form in paperboard boxes, in plentiful amounts actually, like in this picture:

But it does not exist in plentiful (or even pitiful) amounts for indoor plants...at least not what I could find. I was so excited to find plant food in paperboard boxes and so sad to find out it is not “formulated” for indoor plants. The outdoor formulas, I was told, could kill my indoor plants :( I ended up buying this all-purpose indoor plant food variety (pictured here with my nutrient-needy Donkey Tail plant).

This one is concentrated so it will last a looong time (and it is #2 recyclable plastic), but mostly I was sold on the little eyedropper feature. I can see myself reusing this someday looong in the future for something else...after a very thorough washing out of course as plant food ≠ people food!
Does anyone know of a plastic-packaging-free alternative for plant food? It is a little too late for me this time but maybe not for others.

8 months of plastic

2009-01-31T20:33:00.005-05:00

February 1st will mark 8 months of Kerry and my plastic reductionist lifestyle!
This was our one rule in starting this adventure:
Limit/confine/reduce plastic intake to no more than one piece of plastic per day.
I decided to keep all the plastic I use/consume (even if it is recyclable) over the year. I wanted to see how much would accumulate. My dream is to find an artist to make something out of my plastic after the year is up! I would like something creative to come of my mass of plastic. On June 1st 2009 I will count all my plastic and see how close I have gotten to keeping my plastic consumption goal—no more than 365 pieces. But for now here is a picture of how much has accumulated...

I decided early on to keep my plastic in this tub, but the tub is getting full! I'm not sure what to do if it gets too full.... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Note: There have been times it just wasn't possible to keep a piece of plastic that came into my life (i.e. I decided not to bring any plastic waste back from my month in Brazil) and there were a few times I have forgotten to bring a used piece of plastic home with me. So, I'd say I have kept (and pictured here) about 90-95% of the plastic that has come into my life since June.

That ship has already sailed

2009-01-29T23:39:00.005-05:00

Let me tell you about my 'that ship has already sailed' philosophy as it relates to the plastic diet. So, I go to great lengths in general to avoid plastic, i.e. making a cake from scratch to avoid the plastic-bag-encased-much-less-time-consuming store bought cake mix. (Of course, I have my weaknesses, i.e. local cheese that only comes in plastic, that I never seem to avoid even if I should.) For the most part though I try very hard to avoid plastic food packaging. This is because this is an area of plastic reduction that can make a big difference. In general we get a lot of plastic when we buy/consume food (take-out, eat-in, grocery store, farmer's market-you name it). There is a big exception to this avoidance though and that is when the food item is bought by someone else and offered to me—post purchase. In this case I live by the philosophy of 'that ship has already sailed'. By this I mean, I can't undo that plastic purchase, it is done, nothing I do can change it—so, I think ‘I might as well not be a martyr’ and I partake! I usually get really excited about the partaking too because the food item is generally something I no longer allow myself to buy and often something I miss, like crunchy carbs…yum crackers. I talked to Kerry about this plastic food loophole when I was in NYC with her a few weeks ago. We discussed the merit (or lack there of) of my justification working across the board. For example sometimes it might be the case that if I didn't partake, less would be consumed, then less would be bought in the future, and then less plastic would enter the system. I agree this is the case sometimes, but today while I partook of two wonderfully crunchy Mint Chocolate Pirouette cookies in the common room at work, I was happy for my 'ship has sailed' philosophy—even if it is a loophole :)

no bag! save a tree!

2009-01-28T10:48:00.003-05:00

I bought shoes the other day
and told the guy that I didn't need a plastic bag.

He goes "no bag! save a tree!"

what? :)

maybe he meant save a tree from getting choked by plastic bags,
like this one:

Glass kicks a**

2009-01-26T23:53:00.005-05:00

Check out this bumper sticker...who knew there were enough other glass lovers out there for such a thing to exist? The plastic diet has made me love glass. I was big fan of Ball jars for storing food before, but now I go a bit gaga for glass containers of all kinds. I even recently thought to look for vitamins in glass bottles. I ran out of my trusty children’s chewable vitamins a few months back (gotta love those Flintstone flavors:) and thought I would just give up vitamins (I eat pretty healthy so I figured I could handle it) but then-stroke of genius-I asked at Whole Foods if they sell any children’s chewable vitamins in glass bottles and low-and-behold one company (Country Life) does. Now I’m back on track with my daily supplements of Zinc, Selenium, d-Biotin and the like. Hooray for glass! Hooray for health! Next I will be sure to find Omega 3 Fish Oil sold in glass when I run out.

mouthwash?

2009-01-26T09:35:00.002-05:00

sorry i've been quiet!

i just had yogurt from a plastic container. will recycle.

and want to replace an empty bottle of mouthwash.. do we know of any plastic-free options?

Go green LA!

2009-01-24T16:07:00.009-05:00

Today I went to the Los Angeles Go Green Expo (arriving in NYC, Atlanta, and Philly later in the year). In deciding to go I was feeling both curious and a little skeptical because my cause is, of course, plastic reduction but the green movement doesn't always embody this cause. This is especially true when it comes to packaging. Often very ecofriendly and green products get packaged in very un-ecofriendly plastic. I find this frustrating, ironic, and sad :( But I wanted to see what this expo had to offer, learn, ask questions, and just be around other people who also care about bettering the environment.

Here are some pictures from the expo...

My first qualm...a plastic bracelet needed to get into the exhibit area! A greener option would have been a hand stamp (soy-based ink of course ;)!

The nonplastic swag I got or bought. I turned down anything from a booth if it was plastic-even if it was made from recycled plastic-and as I turned it down I said why I didn't want it. No plastic, please!

.
Oh rejoice! Disposable plates, take-out containers and more made from tapioca and bamboo fiber! Find out more at: http://www.biosphereindustries.com/. Very cool!

Oooooh bamboo furniture! I want some :)

I still need to learn more about these biodegradable trash bags. They are biodegradable, but also plastic..."we use ecofriendly applications methods with proprietary plastic additives that are ASTM D6p54 compliant ....our plastic totally degrades in 2 years [and] leaves 0 harmful toxins behind". Plastic, yes. Biodegradable, yes? Confusing, yes...

Plastic grass! Ick. Yes, watering a lawn uses a lot of water, but there are other landscaping options that are not plastic grass.

Overall, it was a good experience. I would have liked to see less plastic but I was happy to see other like minded people and great products not made from plastic...oh I want one of those all natural mattresses that costs waaaaay too much money for me to even think about...it was nice to get to try the mattress out though :)

Oooooh Bamboooooo!

2009-01-18T18:27:00.005-05:00

I’ve been a little bamboo crazy lately. I recently bought the To-Go Ware Bamboo Utensil Set (as many other plastic reductions have done), a fork-spoon set for my nephews (pictured) plus some products made by Bambu . There are so many reasons why bamboo is such a great alternative to wood (bamboo is actually a grass – not wood!), plastic, and metal, here are just a few of the reasons why:

Bamboo has an amazingly short growth cycle; it can be harvested in 3-5 years (versus 15-20, typical for many hardwoods).
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet (!) it can grow up to 3 feet per day.
Bamboo is durable and strong – it is harder than Red Oak and Maple.
Bamboo plays an important role in the reduction of timber consumption and it releases 35% more oxygen than equivalent timber stands.
Bamboo needs no replanting; it grows without fertilizers or pesticides!

I think the reason I am so crazy about bamboo is that it is such a renewable resource – the absolute opposite of plastic! Plus bamboo can and is grown organically very often. Also, it is a really versatile product – it can be used to make utensils, toys, flooring, sheets…and I am sure many other things that I have yet to come across which are also made with plastic-y substances .

Feel free to join me in my bamboo craze – it’s fun!

JUNK Raft revisited

2009-01-16T21:42:00.006-05:00

Remember the JUNK Raft journey from this past summer...a boat made of junk/plastic sailing from California to Hawaii to raise awareness of the plastic problem in the ocean? Not ringing a bell... No worries we have a link to their blog down there on the right hand side of your screen under 'Get Inspired'.

Well, today I was lucky enough to go to a presentation by Dr. Marcus Eriksen (JUNK Raft sailor, researcher, etc.) and Anna Cummins (JUNK Raft blog runner, educator, etc.) about the JUNK Raft journey, the plastic problem in the ocean, and their upcoming JUNK Ride which will go from Vancouver to Tijuana spreading the word about the problems of plastic in our oceans. These guys are inspiring!

Here are some of the points from the talk that really stuck with me that I thought I'd share:

You can think of the North Pacific Gyre like a big toilet bowl..our plastic crap gets in there and just goes round and round and round...but this toilet never flushes
Marcus and Anna talked about walking on a beach in Hawaii where they were knee (and even waist deep at times) in debris, mostly plastic, that had washed up on the beach
44% of all sea birds species in the world currently live with plastic in or around their bodies
The fish we eat often are caught with plastic in their bellies...that means the chemicals in the plastics that the fish have ingested are in their bodies, in their flesh, the flesh that we then eat...doesn't make you want to go out and get sushi does it

Check out more about JUNK Raft at their blog (http://junkraft.blogspot.com), find out more about (and help fund) the work they do at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (www.algalita.org) and...they run a site called PlasticsAreForever (www.plasticsareforever.org) with information and facts...I like the name of that site ;)

P.S. Much like Kerry and I these guys highly promote 'bringing your own' and eliminating single use disposable plastics in your daily life as ways of making a difference!

did you know you can ask for a mug at starbucks?!

2009-01-14T19:35:00.002-05:00

I was meeting Becca for coffee and I didn't have my reusable mug with me. So I went to the counter and said "I have a question." The barista said "I have an answer." I said "If I'm getting coffee for here, can I please have it served in a mug?" The guy said "Yes, we have tall and grande-sized mugs." And then we chatted about how good for the environment AND THE SOUL it is to have your coffee served in a real mug and I promised him I would blog about it. People around me were exclaiming "I didn't know you could do that!" It was marvelous.

I love those comment boxes...

2009-01-13T22:57:00.005-05:00

So, I decided to buy some yarn online to make this very cute purse and I really wanted the exact yarn it is pictured/patterned in (because it is so cute)...so I searched and searched and the only place I found it was online. I know that buying anything that has to be shipped usually involves plastic so I try to buy online as little as possible. But I bought the yarn online and wrote in the 'comments' box the following message.
"Could you please ship my yarn without plastic, i.e. no plastic bags, mailing envelop, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc....me and the environment THANK YOU!"

...and I got a response to my comment:

"Welcome Erin!

That is no problem, we are also concerned with the environment. I'd like to explain how I ship, & why I ship the way I do.

I ship with the least amount of packaging possible. My packaging is meant to insure that your products arrive safely (in the same condition they leave this shop,), quickly, & at the least amount of expense to you.

I must admit to shipping yarn in bags. The plastic bags 1) to keep it clean, & 2) to protect it from damage. Let me explain: If I ship in a cardboard container, and it is either unwrapped or wrapped in undyed tissue paper, & the package is in the rain or snow, i.e, mailbox, mailbag, the yarn will be wet. (I have had this happen to me, which is why I worry.). I also find they are a great way to store the yarn, (the bags are archive friendly,) & a great way to carry your yarn around.

I normally ship 5 Cinnabars in a Tyvek mailer, further protected by a bag. If you would rather I ship differently, please advise. I also want you to understand, that we will not be responsible if the yarn is damaged. I do not mean to sound harsh, I certainly respect your wishes. I just want to be certain that your yarn arrives safely, and in a manner that is acceptable to you.

Please let me know how you would like me to package your order.

Respectfully,
Carol"

I love to get responses for my no plastic please comments. It makes me realize that I do and can make a (little) difference and others also care! I think you can guess how I will respond to Carol :)

So...moral of the day: speak up, say something and while you are saying something say no plastic please.

great website for inspiration and renewal

2009-01-10T11:57:00.002-05:00

A friend who knows of my plastic purge lifestyle (and what friend doesn’t know at this point!) asked me if I had heard of the website dhlovelife.com. I hadn't, but I have been checking it out a a lot lately and I would like to encourage you all to do the same. It is a general pro-environmental change site maintained by Daryl Hannah. It has info about important environmental issues, facts, knowledge, entertainment...it is really quite interesting...but it is not plastic reductive specific. It has three sections: know dummy, show, and the goods. All have great info/products. I will be going through the 'shows' (short informative video clips) for a while still, but the ones I have seen have been informative and inspiring. The products in the 'the goods' section are also cool-some are plasticy of course-but some are not.

I have found one important part of the plastic diet is a need for continual reinspiration and renewal for why I should do what I do, why it matters, and small reminders that I do make a difference. Some how this website has done that for me. I think it is knowing that there are others out there who also care. It is hard to be on a plastic diet island all the time in a sea of plastic addiction. It is nice to know there are other islands and that maybe we islands can provide some refuge for those poor marine animals (and others) who are suffering because of our plastic addiction. Check it out: http://www.dhlovelife.com/v2/opening/

plasticfreenyc and plasticfreela reunion!

2009-01-08T12:10:00.002-05:00

Erin was in New York for 2 days over the holiday!
Oh sweet joy!
We talked about plastic, ate some popcorn, saw a play.. it was glorious!

Maybe Erin can even post a picture when she comes back online.

Thought you all might like this article A Life Without Plastics? from the Chicago Tribune.

xo

Good-bye 2008...HELLO 2009!

2008-12-31T15:39:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have been a little absent, but it has been a busy end of 2008 soon to be followed by a busy beginning of 2009 (with a few days in NY with plastifreenyc!).

I am currently on vacation in Vermont with family and as always when I venture away from the plastic-free bubble I have created for myself in LA plastic starts creeping into my life. Plus with the holidays and presents-what is a girl to do!?-plastic will find it's way in.

Here is a picture of my favorite plastic-free Christmas presents!

A cool wooden rolling pin, a handmade tile, yarn, homemade jam, maple syrup, and loose-leaf tea from www.vermontlibertytea.com.

There is definitely a theme to these gifts: they are minimally processed and for the most part unpackaged or packaged in glass. This is one trick for cutting down on plastic: get back to the basics, don't buy things with lots of parts, gadgets, or packaging.

I advertised my desire for plastic-free presents this year and for the most part people were accommodating. I even got plastic free and local in many cases-way to go fam :) On the other hand there were also some conventional gift like DVDs-a.k.a. plastic, encased in plastic, wrapped in plastic...really altogether too much plastic.

So, as the year draws to a close and my plastic consumption has been diminishing over the last 6 months I am recommitting myself to the plastic diet as a New Year's resolution. If you haven't made a resolution yet the plastic diet is a great resolution to take on. I highly recommend it! You don't even have to make it a resolution-you can make it a way of life. Remember start small and build up and no need to give it all up if you have one little slip up :)

Happy 2009! We look forward to your continued readership.

happy new year!

2008-12-31T09:55:00.003-05:00

A new year, a fresh start!
How much plastic have you used in 2009?
None!

Consider making a resolution to use less plastic in 2009--
perhaps to give up plastic bags, or give up disposable coffee cups.

Happy New Year!

plastic-free chinese food

2008-12-29T09:39:00.003-05:00

here's how it's done:

1. go to restaurant
2. order
3. say "could you please use this container?"
4. hand them your tupperware or re-use a chinese food container
5. when they're putting your order into a bag, say "i don't need a plastic bag."
6. be ever-vigilant. they will try to sneak a plastic spoon in there. you don't need it.
7. enjoy!

it works.. try it!

what to do when someone serves you dessert with a plastic spoon

2008-12-24T09:36:00.002-05:00

Our chef at work is amazing and on special occasions she makes us these extravagant desserts.
Yesterday we had Mont Blanc which is this chocolate pudding stuff with whipped cream on top. She came around to each of our desks and dropped off a bowl of it with a plastic spoon. I didn't want to offend her, or refuse the dessert. So what's a plastic dieter to do? I grabbed my plastic spoon and my friend's, snuck into the kitchen while Anita was delivering Mont Blancs in the opposite corner of the office, washed the spoons, put them back and grabbed 2 silver spoons. Success!

No need for a bag-I have these here arms

2008-12-21T23:11:00.002-05:00

I do my best to remember to bring reusable canvas-type bags with me everywhere-I have about 5 in the back of my car-but without fail those bags some how stay in my car when I go into stores (I have poor short term memory apparently). You'd think I would learn or at least be less reluctant to trot back to my car and get a bag when I realize I need one-but no on both fronts. So, I find myself turning down bags left and right and using my arms as my "bag". In fact I do this so often I have developed a patent response to the looks of craziness and the common remark of "Want a bag?" that I get from store staff as I walk toward the exit with my arms loaded down. I smile and say "No thanx, I have these two good arms, I might as well use them" sometimes I go as far as "God gave me two good arms because s/he wants me to use them" (if I think the religious bent will be more convincing) and then I go along my merry way. I like to think I am inspiring others to go without a bag as well, but judging by the looks maybe not so much. Sure would be easier if I was more consistent on bring my own canvas bags into stores with me... Wouldn't it be great though if we all used our arms and hands for what I can only imagine is one of their most functional usages-carrying things ?

comparing apples and oranges

2008-12-13T02:28:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned my love for local farmer's markets before, but let me mention it again—love them!—here is another plastic related reason why.

To set the stage:
Sometime around when I entered college my innate hunter-gather gene got turned on—when it came to hunting and gathering free food that is…free pizza—I'm there…grabbing an extra apple or banana at the cafeteria for later—sure why not?...ice cream social—I can be social if ice cream is involved! Well, time has passed since I was an undergrad and I have become much more selective about what I eat, but when I was at a conference the other day there was a bowl of fruit out and I just grabbed a couple of apples for later—yum apples! It took me a couple of days to get around to eating these apples but when I did I was caught off guard. These apples have stickers on them! Stickers (?!) made of a plasticy material (!!).

Farmer’s market reference:
I have been buying produce exclusively at farmer's markets for so long I forgot produce from stores have stickers! Plasticy stickers! One more reason to shop local at the farmer's market I say. Plus after removing the sticker I thoroughly scrubbed the apple remembering it is likely conventionally grown as well...

Comparing apples and oranges:
My stickered apples went into a bowl in my kitchen with my non-sticker oranges and it painted a nice picture of the difference between my apples and oranges. They were hard to compare as there is very little compassion between my apples (store bought, stickered, far flung fruit) and oranges (farmer bought, stickerless, local fruit).

why can't i just recycle it-Part II

2008-12-10T01:24:00.004-05:00

On the same day that Kerry read the NY Times article she posted about on the slowdown in the recycling system, I heard a story on NPR about the same thing! We both thought 'yes' this makes our point. Recycling is not a cure—it is band-aid. Band-aids are important mind you, but you really have to find a cure or what is under the band-aid will fester.
Take a listen to NPR's story I heard:
Falling Prices Take Toll On Municipal Recycling
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97933374)
and find out why recycling is not all it is cracked up to be and why we need to choose first to use less, then to reuse, then choose to recycle.

A couple of other thoughts...
1) I'm very skeptical of recycling generally just because a) I know/have seen more people put trash in with their recycling (in municipal pick up bins) than I have seen people do recycling the right way—very discouraging, and b) I have been told by trash/recycling LA County officials (at a booth at a local farmer's market) that "soiled" or "contaminated" recycling materials are unusable and sent directly to the dumb. So, that pizza box you think is recyclable isn’t if it has grease from the pizza on it or the newspaper thrown in with the beer cans that get wet from the beer are no longer usable… You put a) and b) together and you get a lot less recycling actually happening then we would like to think.
2) I've been reading the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by McDonough and Braungart (I'll probably post more on the book in the future but I definitely recommend it). The book talks about the idea of 'downcycling' as opposed to ‘recycling'. Why? Because practically nothing is re-made or re-cycled into what it was before it is down-graded or down-cycled into something lower on the recycling food chain that will be less easy to recycle in the next go round and will eventually end up in a landfill. Example: plastic soda bottles can be made into a fleece jacket but the fleece jacket can't be recycled into anything else and will end up in a landfill, so the re in recycle doesn't go that far—the cycle ends rather abruptly.
3) The Chinese environment (rivers, forests, wetlands, etc.) are reeling from contaminants that are the by products of recycling, i.e. beach runoff from paper recycling ( no one wants to buy grayish reused paper). So, not only is it consuming energy to send our recycled products ‘out of sight out of mind’ and make them someone else’s business/problem, this industry also hurts the environment. We Americans are exporting our waste so we don’t have to deal with the consequences of it—shame.
Just some thoughts to keep in mind...

why oh why

2008-12-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

seriously.

why can't i just recycle it?

2008-12-08T22:24:00.003-05:00

For as long as Erin and I have been cutting back on plastic,

people have been asking us "why can't I just recycle it?"

Well, this post if for you!

There's a major problem with recycling.

Because of the recession, the demand for recycled materials has dropped.

A ton of tin used to go for $327 a ton, and now it's worth $5 a ton.

Paper used to sell for $105 a ton, and now it's selling for $25 a ton.

A big part of the problem is that we export recyclables to China. (Did you hear that? Your stuff goes all the way to China! Recycling is not some magic cure. It's an energy-intensive process.) But since the global economy has slowed down, demand from China has slowed. And now your paper, plastic, metal and cardboard are being warehoused at great expense to the recycling facilities and to Mama Earth.

So like we've been saying: use less.

Read more in "Back at Junk Value, Recyclables are Piling Up" from today's New York Times.

Integrative Nutrition asks: are you living in alignment with your values?

2008-12-07T22:27:00.006-05:00

There’s a fellow no-plastic blogger at www.theunplasticlife.blogspot.com who writes about cutting out plastic as a way of becoming more authentic in all areas of your life. She makes the connection that when you’re not intentional about your consumption choices, it’s likely that you’re not being intentional about other things—such as your job.

So in the spirit of celebrating authenticity, I’d like to share about The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

This time last year, I worked in public relations. I didn’t like my job and I wasn’t doing work that I believed in. My mom told me that “work is work,” but I said that's baloney! I was convinced that I could do meaningful work that matters, and get compensated well for it.

I also struggled with figuring out what to eat. I was stumped when I wheeled my cart around the supermarket or looked at a restaurant menu. I was an unhealthy vegetarian-- not getting enough protein and loading up on desserts to be full. Also an unhealthy marathon runner, eating lots of Zone bars with no clue how to fuel my workouts. I was convinced that something as fundamental as food shouldn't be so complicated!

So when I learned about Integrative Nutrition, a holistic nutrition school where you get certified as a health counselor, I enrolled right away.

During class, the founder of the school talked about doing work that is in alignment with your values. Aha! I knew I was in the right place. Love that word—alignment. I learned how to eat healthy and cook(!), met amazing people, had a wonderful experience, became certified as a health counselor, left the PR job and have had many doors open in my career (in fact, I now work at the school).

If you know anyone who might be interested in attending, class starts in January. Since I'm a graduate, if you mention my name you will receive a $1000 tuition discount. More details here.

Feel free to contact me with questions.

Make it a healthy 2009!
Kerry

plastic free party

2008-12-07T18:51:00.005-05:00

I threw 3 holiday parties this week (2 at work, one for play).
Let me tell you, it's impossible to have a plastic-free party, especially if you're throwing it with co-workers and roommates who aren't on an anti-plastic crusade.
I wanted to cry when we went to Whole Foods and picked up the food for the work party.
We filled the entire back of a van with plastic containers.
The most egregious offense was plastic containers with crackers floating around-- they could have just given us the crackers in boxes for us to set out.

There are highs and lows on the plastic diet, and I had some proud moments yesterday. When my roommates and I went out to get supplies, I brought a bunch of reusable bags. Guess how many I brought-- the perfect amount. We didn't need to use a single plastic bag.

And we didn't use any plastic cups or plates or forks for our party. We pulled out all of our glasses, mugs and cups and put them on the table and that's what everyone used. It made for a big clean up effort this morning, but was totally worth it. And led to some funny pics, like this kid with my hiking cup clipped to his belt loop:

Plastic bag law in NY

2008-12-06T00:19:00.003-05:00

Check this out, it is from a new plastic blogger Juli in NYC.
Welcome to the plastic-less lifestyle Juli :)
There is going to be a new law re: plastic bags in NY. If Governor Paterson does nothing, the new state law will take effect after Dec. 11. and will nullify NYC's stronger law re: plastic carryout bags passed last January.
Click here to take action:
http://council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/no_to_plastic_bag_bill.shtml

shame on me

2008-12-05T18:33:00.003-05:00

i got a tall hot chocolate from starbucks today in a despicable one-time use throwaway cup.

i'm sorry :(

Warning...

2008-12-05T00:24:00.006-05:00

I'm flabbergasted. I bought an 8 quart "multi-pot" made by Calphalon tonight. I scored a turkey carcass on Thanksgiving so I could make delicious homemade turkey noddle soup and realized when I got home I didn't own a pot big enough to boil this turkey in. So a week later I have gotten around to buying a big enough pot to make my soup. It came in cardboard box and I'm a bit exhausted tonight so I didn't think to inspect inside the box before bringing my new Calphalon pot home..
Low and behold...

FOUR bags for each of the four parts of this multi-use pot! Yikes! This is absolutely crazy!
But what is more crazy is the warning (in three languages mind you) on each bag.

Here is verbatim:
WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this bag away from babies and children. Do not use in cribs, beds, carriages or playpens. This bag is not a toy. Discard bag and any other packaging materials immediately after removing product. Do not re-use this bag.

Here is how I would amend this warning:
WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation and death, keep this bag away from babies, children, and all animals-especially animals who live in and buy the sea. Do not use in cribs, beds, carriages, playpens, outside, inside, on land, in the ocean or basically anywhere. This bag is not a toy-this bag may bring death to many animals. Do not discard this bag and any other packaging materials immediately after removing product. Please find a way to reuse them before recycling them. Re-use this bag at the very least! Then write Calphalone and ask then to stop using these wasteful bags in their packaging.

And a picture like this might be a good warning too!

can i wear makeup on the plastic diet?

2008-12-02T21:00:00.004-05:00

I love makeup.

I don't wear tons of it, but i do love it. (also: perfume)

Lots of makeup, unfortunately, comes in plastic tubes and bottles.

But in the spirit of making better choices, I have tried out Cargo PlantLove cosmetics.

I'm loving their powder foundation, blush and shimmery eye shadows. The power foundation has a similar consistency to my Bare Escentuals.

In terms of packaging, these products come in PLA (which is made from corn starch and can biodegrade over time) containers and the boxes are made from recycled cardboard.

And their ECOCERT certified products have organic ingredients (like sunflower seed oil, shea butter, almond oil, etc).

Nice to have some new options!

lest we forget

2008-12-01T00:58:00.005-05:00

This is a must visit (or revisit) web page, lest we forget how important our actions are and how important it is for us all to do something! We need to take action for ourselves and for those helpless creatures who are unfortunate enough to inhabit a world where humans act so carelessly in their treatment of the only planet we have.

Go, and watch the video clip too!
http://www.plasticbagfree.com/iframe_facts.php

After spending time perusing this page I am reminded of a quote by Bill Bryson. The quote strikes to the core (my core at least).

"If you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going, keep a record of where it had been, [and take care of it] you would not choose human beings to do the job. But here is a very salient point, we have been chosen, by fate or providence or whatever you wish to call it. As far as we can tell we are the best there is, we may be all there is. It is an unnerving thought, we may be the universes supreme achievement and worst nightmare simultaneously."

what i am thankful for

2008-11-30T11:13:00.002-05:00

Hi, I was home for Thanksgiving and got teased that plasticfreela posts much more often than I do. Sorry! I'm here!

Some plastic-free things to be thankful for:

Tap water: I love me some tap water.
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Sigg
My reusable coffee mug
People who care and are willing to make small changes that make a big difference :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A plastic dieter gives thanks!

2008-11-27T02:25:00.000-05:00

This is just a short list of the many thing I am thankful for as a plastic dieter. A year ago I did not know how thankful I should be for these thing, now I know, so THANK YOU!

reusable, nonplastic, water bottles, i.e. Siggs
canvas bags
baking soda
dairy products, i.e. milk and yogurt, that comes in glass containers
natural fibers (organic cotton how I love you, let me count the ways)
Ball jars/glass jars of all types
Happy-sacks
the bulk section at Whole Foods
tinfoil
other plastic dieters :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"A Plastic Bridge To The Future"

2008-11-26T21:50:00.003-05:00

That's right, I heard about it today on NPR, bridges made out of plastic.

Story summary:
In rural Ohio, researchers are testing a new bridge made of plastic. Plastic bridges offer low maintenance and long life, but there are questions about how long plastic can stand up to sunlight, changing temperatures and stress.

My notes on the story:

These plastic bridges are supposed to last about 100 years (I mistyped years as tears just now-Freudian slip). Really is that "longer life" than other bridges? Don't most bridges last more than 100 years? I'm thinking Roman built stone bridges... Nonplastic bridges need maintenance obviously but they also biodegrade eventually.
The man in the story who constructs/tests these bridges actually said, "Plastic bridge may even be greener than concrete." Ugh!
There was no mention of using recycled plastic for these bridges. I would be less upset about this idea if I knew this was a way of breathing new life into used water bottles.

Take a listen to the story at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97546256&ft=1&f=1003

I am not thankful for plastic bridges! But I will share a short list of plastic-less things I am thankful for tomorrow in honor of the holiday. Stay tuned.

A message about the dangers of plastic

2008-11-25T01:10:00.005-05:00

I thought I would share this information on Bisphenol A (BPA). I received this info in an email from the Environmental Working Group today. Check it out it is a really informative article about the history of BPA and its toxic effects. All the more reasons to give up plastic!

The artilce: Timeline: BPA from Invention to Phase-Out (http://www.ewg.org/reports/bpatimeline)

I hope everyone is planning for a plastic-free/plastic-less Turkey Day!

The no-plastic flashlight....a candle

2008-11-21T22:19:00.004-05:00

The power went out at my internship yesterday and because it gets dark at 4:30 pm this time of year I got to come home early! The power outage and free time due to getting off early got me thinking about what I would do if the power went out in my apartment… I used to have a flashlight but for the life of me I can't find it. So, that means my power outage equipment includes one half-used candle and a pack of matches. I decided to buy a flashlight today because a flashlight really could come in handy if the power does go out here. Well….like most times I go to Wal-mart or the supermarket or any big store with lots of plastic packaging and florescent lights I get that deer caught in the headlights way about me. The shiny plastic exterior of everything in the store kind of blinds me and overwhelms my plastic diet brain. So, there I stood looking at flashlights for about 10 minutes, trying to figure out which one to buy...these ones are all plastic and look soo cheap they will probably break the first time I use one of them...this one is metal but it's $30+....this one is wind-up and plastic but doesn't give good light…all flashlights come in plastic packaging...big flashlight, small flashlight...red flashlight, blue flashlight....one flashlight, two flashlights....
I bought another candle.
A candle sans plastic, of course. Many candles have plastic around them sadly. Now my power outage equipment includes 1½ candles and the Sagrado Corazon de Maria. Score! Who needs a flashlight anyway?

Thoughts on: Acceptable exceptions to the plastic diet

2008-11-21T00:04:00.003-05:00

Becoming more adept at eliminating unnecessary plastic from my life has been a process. Much of what previously was necessary, no longer is so. Anyone who has tried this plastic diet thing knows this process well. It's fun! I must say I am pretty good at not acquiring plastic these days :) This has led me to think more about acceptable vs. unacceptable exceptions to the plastic diet or acquiring new plastic. I have decided, for me, an unacceptable exception is something along the lines of the following scenario…
It is 7:00 pm and I am on my way home. I have not used one-time use disposable plastic all day! That means I could make a quick stop and pick up a bag of those peanut butter M&M's that I am craving even though this means buying plastic. I think to myself 'this is okay because you haven't used your one piece of plastic for the day'.
I guess the reason this is unacceptable is because it is indulgent and in a way it is going out of my way to use my one piece of plastic for the day even though I don't need to use it. I have fought the urge and won more than I have lost on this, but sometimes we all need a little chocolate indulgence at the end of the day!
An acceptable exception is this…
Someone else buys and brings a food that comes in plastic, lets say pretzels, to a meeting, potluck, etc. Then at the end of the get together the person says ‘Does anyone want to take the rest of these pretzels home?’ And I (because I can't buy any crunchy carbs because they alllll come in plastic) step right up, palm open. I inherit the pretzels and the plastic bag they came in.
This is acceptable to me because the item involving plastic packaging has already been bought by someone else. The damage is done. I still won't buy such a thing so I am making a difference on my front. Accepting someone else’s food-plastic (or other plastic) doesn't do any more harm, the harm was already done when it was bought/manufactured. But this plastic is now mine and I do have to deal with taking care of it—booo—to the plastic heap with you!

P.S. I inherited ¼ of a bag of pretzel chip things last night-very exciting. The plastic diet really helps you redefine what is necessary and what is indulgence. Who knew pretzels were indulgence. Well, I know now.

ann wrote back! or, it doesn't hurt to ask

2008-11-18T22:32:00.001-05:00

Thank you for your email and for your interest in Ann Taylor. As a company, Ann Taylor is always looking for ways to be more environmentally sound in both our programs and practices. In the past few years alone we have already made enormous advancements with our initiative to become more "Green". These changes have directly affected our Marketing, Packaging, Printing and Recycling efforts.

Here are just a few, recent examples:

Product Packaging: We have dramatically reduced the use of pre pack polybags for product shipped from our suppliers to our stores. LOFT and Factory have already begun this practice, and Ann Taylor will start their efforts in 2009. So far, we have eliminated ten million polybags.

Marketing: Ann Taylor and LOFT began purchasing 10% recycled paper to print a majority of direct mail pieces. Below is the impact of this change after only a few months:

1557 trees saved
567,000 gallons of water saved
94,000 lbs of solid waste reduction
173,000 lbs of CO2 reduction

Energy Awareness: We are implementing an Energy Awareness Program in our stores, and we estimate we will achieve a 7% reduction in energy use within the next year. (See separate Energy Awareness Program posting on anntaylor.com for more details.)

Printing: We have reduced the printing of the Company’s annual report and proxy materials by 75%, through the effective use of online channels, and for those reports we did print, we used environmentally-friendly paper and printing processes.

Product Safety: We have developed a Restricted Substance Program, which bans or limits certain chemicals from our products and in the supply chain. The program will be implemented across all of our brands and channels for the Winter 2009 season.

Recycling: Associates in our Corporate offices have separate containers for recycling at their workstations. In addition, use of the confidential paper shredding and recycling bins that are on each of our floors in the New York and Connecticut offices have saved an equivalent of 475 trees to-date.

Furthermore, we have established a special Task Force to continually review current practices and potential new practices that will help our continued development in this area.

We are excited about the continued success of this Initiative and look forward to continued growth in this area.

Thank you for choosing Ann Taylor. We look forward to meeting all of your future wardrobing needs! If we can provide further assistance or if you have any additional questions, please contact us via email at clientservices@anntaylor.com or call us at 1 800 DIAL ANN (1.800.342.5266). We are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm EST, Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm EST.

Sincerely,

Ragan Jorgensen
Client Associate
Ann Taylor Client Services

dear ann taylor

2008-11-18T22:30:00.001-05:00

Dear Ann T,

Happy National Recycling Day!

I'm writing because I bought a dress in a New York location for a wedding I have coming up in December.
When I went online to show my mom a link for the dress, I saw that it was being offered for $50 less online.

I called the store to see if they would be able to honor the online discount, and they said no.
I practice a plastic-free lifestyle, which I blog about at www.plasticisforever.blogspot.com.
I explained over the phone that I was concerned about the environmental impact of shipping an item that I already have in my possession-- wasted fuel, cardboard, plastic, etc. They assured me that if I called 1800 DIAL-ANN I could request to have my dress wrapped in tissue paper, with no plastic.

I just called and my request was declined.

I am so disappointed!

I'd love to share on my blog a more positive experience with Ann Taylor. Can you let me know what you are doing to reduce the environmental impact of shipping items?

Warmly,
Kerry

a plastic recyclers victory!

2008-11-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

Brita® and Preserve® Announce Filter Recycling Program

11/18/2008: The Take Back The Filter campaign is thrilled to announce that Brita and Preserve have teamed up to create a take-back recycling program for Brita pitcher filter cartridges! Read the full press release here.

In a nutshell, beginning in January, folks will be able to drop off filters at Whole Foods Markets or mail them in. Preserve, a U.S. company manufacturing household products from recycled plastic, will recycle 100% of the plastic casing. And the filter material will be regenerated or converted to energy.

Plastic you are a constant disappointment!

2008-11-17T23:24:00.003-05:00

Look what happened...

...it broke! (there at the bottom and along the side)

Now what am I supposed to do with this?
I bought this...maybe 3 years ago...and intended to use
it as a water bottle, then I learned about Sigg and
Kleen Kanteen and this got relegated to the back of my
closet. It was great for freezing liquid stuff in once
in a while but now...
Now it is just a hunk of plastic that is completely useless.
I'll salvage the straw from the inside and the sip top. Who
knows maybe I'll find a use for them, but the rest is now
going into my plastic heap. I hate adding things to my
plastic heap. It feels like defeat. Ugh! Plastic you are
such a disappointment-a dangerous disappointment!

National Recycling Day is TODAY!

2008-11-15T22:26:00.003-05:00

But you can make every day National Recycling Day if you want ;)
Check out tips, take a recycling pledge, and get some good ol' recycling education at: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx

I say we make the next 364 days National Plastic Reduction Days! Why should a good thing only be one day a year?

Good sponge?, bad sponge!, dirty dishes...washcloth?

2008-11-12T23:56:00.007-05:00

What's in a sponge...natural sponge?...plastic?...cellulose?....yes, yes, and yes. I’ve decided to steer clear of the plastic ones from here on out. A few months ago I bought a plastic free loofah sponge to use on my dishes. (For the life of me I can’t find who makes, but I bought it at Whole Foods). I bought it because there was no plastic wrap involved and I had a sneaking suspicion that those perfectly rectangular florescent colored sponges I had bought a month prior were not “natural” and they did come wrapped in plastic. I wanted to try something new. Well, the loofah sponge (first on the left in picture) has not fulfilled all my dish washing desires, but I am getting used to it. It leave little bits of loofah on the dishes… I still have my very likely not-so-natural polyurethane sponge, like most people have. I have read that many (most? all?) of commercial sponges are polyester/polyurethane based, i.e. plastic. Plus they come wrapped in plastic so I am weaning myself-well I have already weaned myself-I will not be buying anymore. I also have a VERY plastic scrub sponge for those cooking disasters that involve burned on stuff, but as we all know this will last me a lifetime (or forever as it is plastic). So far I have had this tangle of plastic scrubbiness for more than three years (on the right in the picture). And lastly I have my trusty washcloth. My aunt uses a washcloth to wash dishes (no sponge) and I learned this habit from her. I’m surprised how much I prefer a nice cotton washcloth over a polyurethane sponge for cleaning dishes. If you don’t use a washcloth for dishes you might try this. It is a great plastic alternative. I knit this one myself ☺

I also did a little internet research into other non-plastic sponge options and found these:

Twist Loofah Sponge-one side absorbent sponge material on side natural loofah scrubbing layer.

Caldera cellulose sponge and dishwashing brush from Smith & Hawken.

More Twist sponges these are also cellulose "from renewable tree farms".

I’m interested in trying out the cellulose sponges. They are biodegradable/compostable-double plus! Since I plan on having to do dishes for the rest of my life I think I’ll have plenty of time to try these different options out over time.

a challenge after my own heart

2008-11-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

POW! you can only imagine my excitement when i got an email from the brooklyn green team today announcing their new "bring your own mug" challenge. since i started the plastic diet in june, bringing my own mug is the single most EASY and AMAZING change i have made. no longer do i feel guilty about drinking coffee and then throwing out the cup! (no longer do i drink coffee [at least this week], but that's a different story.)

read on for details about the brooklyn green team's challenge.

oh and in case you think i'm lame for posting 2 re-posts in a row.. it's called "re-using" one of the super important but oft-overlooked of the three r's!

"Why did they even buy me? I sit here on a dark crowded shelf day after day. And then….for a moment, I think my life is going to change. They open the cabinet, our eyes meet. Their gentle hand grazes against my aluminum body. At last! Today is the day they are going to proudly walk me down the street as I carefully hold and keep warm a most precious commodity - the morning coffee. But no, they move right past me and reach for the cereal. Maybe tomorrow"

-Your Travel Mug, 2008

Does your travel mug feel this way? Neglected? Passed over for a wasteful, disposable, one time only headed for the landfill paper cup? Don't let this happen. Because the Brooklyn Green Team in partnership with GreenEdge Collaborative NYC has a new challenge for you and your mug!

THE BRING YOUR OWN MUG CHALLENGE!

Sign Up email brooklyngreen@gmail.com and write I Shower Fast! Include your first and last name and zip. Please pass on to friends and make the impact stronger.

THE FACTS

Today, there is no way to compost or recycle the billions of disposable coffee cups used in the U.S. each year. That's because cups are lined with a petroleum-based plastic (polyethylene) to prevent leaking.

Most disposable coffee cups have a life of only 5 minutes before they are tossed in the trash. In a single week, the average coffee joint goes through 4,000 cups and plastic lids!

Every year, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups of coffee. Of those, 14.4 billion are served in disposable paper cups— enough to wrap the earth 55 times if placed end-to-end!

LEARN

The Biodegradable Cup – a step in the right direction, but will you really compost it when done?

Environmental Defense Fund's Starbucks Paper Project

Thoughts from a strickly-paper blog
Disposable Cups vs. Reusable Mugs from Triplepundit.com
Cups and Other Coffee Packaging Hard on Environment, says study from Packaging Digest

TOOLS

Use a travel mug. Often made of stainless steel, these beauties will keep your coffee or tea hotter longer than a dispoable cup.

Suggest that stores offer a discount when you bring your own. Patronage stores that already offer this. If you buy coffee five days a week, and use your travel mug, you save 260 cups per year!

If you love the SIGG water bottle, which you can find at 3rLiving on 5th Ave in Park Slope or Go Green on Atlantic, you should try their NEW Thermal Bottle. It keeps your hot beverages hot longer than just about any bottle on the market.

If you like to make your own coffee at home check out this Travel Mug Coffee Press. It is 100% spill proof.

For you tea lovers try a mug w/built in strainer!

Did You Know? Starbucks conducted a waste audit in 2003 and found that 589,800 pounds of paper were saved from landfills thanks to 13.5 million people who brought their own mugs!

Can we Solve the Climate Crisis? YES WE CAN! One Sip at a Time!

POW. YOU'VE BEEN GREENED!

Brooklyn Green Team

WWMD

2008-11-10T22:53:00.002-05:00

loved this post from Ideal Bite today! just say NO to plastic holiday decorations! look for plastic alternatives for your holiday parties-- use REAL glasses & REAL mistletoe. what else can we do to have a greener holiday season? xoxo

It's that time of the year again: What would Martha Stewart do?

The Bite

She'd leave the tacky PVC holiday yard decorations at Kmart. Bring in the cheer with natural pieces (such as wreaths and snowmen) instead. How's that for a good thing?

The Benefits

Saving for attorney back pay. Those plastic Santa scenes can cost upwards of $150, way more than a real snowman.
Homemaking with less plastic. PVC used for outdoor decorations degrades after long sun exposure and seeps into groundwater.
More space for back copies of Living. Pinecones and snow can go right back to where they came from: nature.

Personally Speaking

Jen just dumps her decorations in her compost pile when she's done with them, saving the cornucopia for the chickens. Try that with a plastic reindeer.

Wanna Try?

Autumn:

Make a scarecrow
Set out cornstalks and pumpkins

Thanksgiving:

Set out gourds
Make a cornucopia

Christmas:

hey you ding dongs, these are recycleable!

2008-11-08T10:35:00.005-05:00

That's what my friend Lisa shouted yesterday as she fished plastic bottles out of the garbage can.
It was someone's last day, so we celebrated with coconut chai from Bonobos.
I love my work because we eat together which is pretty efficient in terms of waste.
But 30 plastic bottles of chai kind of kills me!

Oh and listen up, PlasticFreeLA!
Bloomberg is proposing to charge 6 cents for every plastic bag shoppers use at the cash register!
This is super exciting. 6 cents doesn't sound like a lot-- but remember what I said in my last post? 10 cents here, 10 cents there and before you know it-- we have a healthier planet. Well look at what the article says:

"Just a few weeks after Ireland adopted a similar, though much heftier tax in 2002 — charging shoppers 33 cents a bag — plastic bag use dropped 94 percent, and within a year, nearly everyone in that country had purchased reusable cloth bags."

Harnessing the brain for good

2008-11-08T00:06:00.005-05:00

I saw a segment of the show 60 Minutes called Harnessing The Power of the Brain in my neuropsych class this week-you should check this out if you have a chance. It is absolutely amazing what we can do with science today. In sum the piece was about neuroscientific research that has figured out ways to connect a person's brain to a computer through electordes so that a person can think something and the computer makes the thing happen (it's a bit more complicated than that...but there is now technology that allows you to use your thoughts to make things happen). This is, in a word, amazing. I watched this 12 minutes story in awe for about 10 minutes until it struck me. We (i.e. man kind) can use science and technology to do the most amazing things and yet we (man kind) can't find a way to do the most basic tasks of recycling, reducing and reusing on a daily basis. We have reached extremes in scientific discovery and yet most people can't even find it in themselves to recycle a plastic water bottle when they are done with it!? Where is the disconnect-where did we go wrong? All of the amazingness we have created will be for naught when we have decimated this planet and we have been choked out by a sea of plastic.
It just goes to show everything looks different, even a 12 minute piece on 60 minutes, when you look at the world through the lens of the plastic diet. We need more people to put on these plastic diet glasses.

another benefit to the plastic-free lifestyle

2008-11-06T22:36:00.002-05:00

saving money!

like every time i go to whole foods and i use my own bag:
TEN CENTS off my purchase!

ten cents here, ten cents there.. and before you know it, we'll have a healthier planet :)

Reheating food sans plastic

2008-11-04T22:36:00.007-05:00

I don't use Tupperware to store my food that often (I only have two 'official' pieces of Tupperware and some leftover yogurt or frosting containers that also do the job). But I try to reuse glass jars from food I buy and I have a cupboard full of Ball jars I have bought or inherited that I mostly use to keep food in. I don't think I will be buying any more reusable plastic Tupperware or those less-long-lasting Gladware ones they sell now. In fact I don't think I will be buying any more ever. I am cutting that plastic out of my life for good. I don't need it! Plus, there are a lot of health risks related to heating food while it is in plastic (I don't think there is any risk in storing food in plastic just reheating). Okay heating in glass has it's hazards too...glass gets hot—really holds that heat—but I am willing to take the risk and wear oven mitts. In fact since I don't have a microwave glass has really come in handy for reheating food. Check out the picture. Obviously I am not the first one to do this, but I find it fun (and pre-microwave-era-kitchy) every time I reheat leftover food in glass jars using boiling water :) I couldn't/wouldn't want to do that with Tupperware! Sorry Tupperware I know you last a long time (since my mother has had the same set my whole life!) and you are reusable, but you are plastic and you are out! Go glass.

Trick-or-treat, plastic please!

2008-11-02T23:25:00.002-05:00

I had fretted about Halloween and plastic encased candy for about a month to no avail. Then I jumped (almost literally) at the chance to go to a friend's Halloween party and pass out candy there. It was a bit of a cop out, as I didn't deal with the plastic problem head on but it meant I would still get to see little gools and goblins and fairies and power rangers and I would not have to buy my own candy, which I could not bring myself to do because it involves soooo much plastic: individually wrapped candy and the plastic bags the individually wrapped candy comes in! I couldn't do it--that is too much plastic. So, I ran away from the problem and let someone else buy the candy! I thought of homemade treats for less than half a second because we all know no one would eat them in this day and age (ahh to live in the 50's and make popcorn balls, cookies, and candy apples for the little tikes). Well, low and behold, the multitude of plastic wrapped candy was only one of the reasons I realized Halloween is not all it used to be :(
First of all giving kids bucket loads of candy just isn't healthy for them. Giving them little boxes of raisins as treats on the other hand will get your house egged, so candy it is I guess.
Second, giving kids individually wrapped anything in plastic isn't good for the environment!
Third, most kids don't even say "trick-or-treat" any more. They just walk up and open their bag and look at you. Or their parents push them at you when any blind man can see the kid is scared, too young to get Halloween, and shouldn't be eating candy anyway.
Fourth, gools and goblins are a think of the past! I was disturbed by a lot of the "little girl" costumes I saw that we revealing and skimpy.
So, over all it was a bit disappointing. In the end I ate a few pieces of candy (I had forgotten that Charleston Chews even existed--yum) but tended toward the Dots in their little paper boxes. And I began planning my strategy for next year...I'm thinking Free Trade chocolate coins that come in those shiny gold metal wrappers....

A small (but wonderful) success

2008-10-29T19:03:00.006-04:00

I received a response right away from one of the card companies I emailed yesterday. It was very encouraging to get such a positive response so quickly. Thank you Red Cap Cards. This has encouraged me to take some of my own advice to participate more in raising awareness about the changes I want to see regarding less plastic in our world. Take a look at the response I got and think about reaching out to make your voice heard as well.

Re: use of plastic packaging

Hi Erin,

Thank you for your e-mail, and we completely support your decision. Hal and I are looking into a corn based packaging solution as we speak, and we are also considering not using any packaging at all…

The store owners that buy our cards often request the cards to be in sleeves in order to keep the cards clean, however I think there is going to be a shift in thinking real soon! All of our cards are printed on recycled paper and our letterpress cards are 100%tree free, so we are almost there!

I truly respect your intentions and I will let you know once we have solved this problem on our end!

Thank You,

Carrie

Ugh, cards individually wrapped in plastic

2008-10-29T00:57:00.003-04:00

I found myself in a fancy paper and card store buying some cards yesterday. I love to buy and send cards! Cards are fun and cute. Plus it’s so nice and almost quaint now a days to get something in the 'real' mail that is there to say 'hey I was thinking of you'. Well, since the plastic diet my choices of fun original artsy cards (not Hallmark or Wal-mart generic) are very very limited. Way too many cards come in their own plastic sleeve or envelop apparently the industry lingo for this is “cello-sleeve”. Plus sets of holiday and thank you cards come in little plastic boxes! Will it never end? Well, this makes me mad and now I am taking down names.
Winners:
Positively Green Cards (No plastic sleeve, printed on recycled paper, using soy ink-yeay!)
Selfish Kitty Calypso Cards (Cute and no plastic cello sleeve)
Losers:
Almost everyone else!
Really big loser:
A package of Christmas cards that said “Eco-friendly Rudolph” with a cute Rudolph (with a green shining nose) on the front of the card, but then the cards came in a plastic box! There is noting eco-friendly about plastic Rudolph even if your nose is green.
Also, I am going to be emailing Two Piglets Letterpress, (I like their cards a lot!) they go to the extent to use acid free paper and soy ink, but then all their cards are in plastic. I think they need to hear from me.
Another card maker I love Red Cap Cards is also going to be getting an email because their cards are so cute (see above), I want to buy their cards (really I do), but I don’t want any more wasteful “cello-sleeves” ever. It is a fact that I do not need any more cello in my life-end of story.

speaking of green products...

2008-10-28T00:06:00.004-04:00

In a long-awaited move that will revolutionize my ability to partake in takeout and bbqs without eating with my hands..

I bought bamboo utensils! Just 2 seconds ago!

Look at how cute they are.

do you want to know all about them? i thought you would!

To-Go Ware® - Reusable Bamboo Utensil Set with Recycled Carrycase

Made from sustainably-harvested bamboo

Carrycase made from recycled plastic bags

Lightweight, strong and long-lasting

Heat- and stain-resistant

Safe to use on non-stick surfaces

Won't impart or absorb flavors

Hand finished with natural, food-safe wood oil

Includes utensils, chopsticks & carrycase

"...absolutely perfect for cutting down on takeout waste"
Vegetarian Times

The newsprint style actually contains recycled newspaper!

Cool Facts

Bamboo is an organic, beautiful & earth friendly material known for
its fast growth cycle and natural strength. Highly adaptable, bamboo
can grow almost anywhere and protects the environment by generating
more oxygen than other trees. While gaining popularity, bamboo is still
mostly an untapped renewable natural resource.

www.reusablebags.com

"green" products for a consumer society

2008-10-26T20:50:00.015-04:00

I saw some interesting products on our Plastic is Forever Google ads* today (right of the posts). And they got me thinking about eco-friendly products. First I saw the Biobag-biodegrabale waste bags made from corn. I have a friend who uses these and likes them. I stick to paper bags that I get at the store (i.e. reduce and reuse). Whenever I get low I just don't bring my own canvas bag to Whole Foods and re-stalk up on paper bags for my trash. This is the cheap option. The Biobag is a nice alternative though. Both paper and corn are biodegradable and even though they will end up in a landfill and probably won't biodegrade for a very long time they are both better than plastic that will never biodegrade. Then I saw the ad for the Plastic Bag Dryer by Greenfeet. This made me smile :). Wow, how about paying $18 for a plastic bag dryer? Don't get me wrong drying your own bags is great. I dry out my plastic bags and reuse them endlessly...and my mom has done this for over 20 years...but we have managed to do this (and do it well) without a specific device. Okay, so yes I have to admit I was tempted to buy it. It is made out of wood (!) and it is "nifty". I can see it on my counter. But I'm going to stick to what I got, which is amazingly similar (a bunch of wooden spoons in a cup) and what I've got is free. If though this little modern marvel will get more people to reuse all sorts of plastic bags I say-yeah! But keep in mind you can do this on your own like me. Lastly, I came across a product that just kind of made me mad...it was on the NPR website under 'Green Gifts' marketed as a 'gardener's gift set'! What is green about all this plastic? If you love the earth and love to garden you should be very weary of plastic. We need to start narrowing the definition of "green". Too many things are being touted as green. Green is just a catch phrase these days. One of the main criteria for green in my book is: little to no plastic is involved. There are still so few people aware of the menace of plastic and how un-green plastic is. We need to change this. Tell someone today! Spread the word.

*Let me remind you Kerry and I have no control over these ads. So some of the ads are for products that are the antithesis of what we stand for, but some aren't obviously.

plasticy writing class

2008-10-23T23:24:00.002-04:00

Let me start by saying: I love my writing class!

But...

Tonight there were 9 of us in the room.
And on the table we had:

3 plastic Dasani bottles
2 plastic Poland Spring bottles
3 cans of soda
2 plastic bags (one for bread, one for popcorn)
1 zip lock bag
1 chex mix bag
1 yogurt container
1 plastic knife
1 plastic spoon
1 glass snapple bottle

Do you think all of that got recycled? hmm.. no
Do you think ALL of that could have been avoided? you betcha

Sugar cookies, frosting, and not being a martyr.

2008-10-22T22:40:00.006-04:00

I made sugar cookies last night... For me sugar cookies just are not right without Pillsbury frosting which-of course-comes in plastic. It was my plastic for the day and it brought happiness to all those who partook of the cookies today, but still I felt guilty buying it. I could make my own frosting....but it's just not the same. That sickeningly sweet chemically stuff made by Pillsbury makes my heart flutter when it is smeared on the top of a delicious sugar cookie (which I did make myself). I feel much more guilty buying "food related" plastic (like the frosting container) than I do buying "industrial related" plastic (this frosting created more than a little guilt). For example I had not guilt last week buying the weatherstripping for my doors so warm air stays in and cold air stays out at night. I guess what it comes down to is the fact that yummy cookies are a luxury and not freezing to death is a bit more on the necessity side of things and the point of the plastic diet is to give up these luxury things. So, as a plastic dieter partaking in the luxury side of plastic is much harder than it used to be. In the end though some 'bad' plastic serves as a vessel for very delicious frosting and that's just the way it is. It's the plastic diet not plastic martyrdom!

plastic free tailgating

2008-10-19T11:35:00.005-04:00

I went to The Hunt yesterday, which is horse races & tailgating, a match made in heaven.
The challenge was to not use any plastic when that's all we had for plates, utensils, cups.

tricky!

I couldn't eat swedish meatballs or penne with vodka sauce.
But I had some chips with dip and bread with mango salsa and a cookie.
All plastic-free!
I could have also had a burger or hotdog with no plate, but didn't get around to it.
And I wanted some wine but didn't have my own cup, so when my sister Suzanne left I asked to use her cup.
Someone overheard us talking about plastic and was curious. It was funny to hear Suzanne explain about the evils of plastic and how easy it is to reduce plastic use in everyday life.. she was a skeptic a few months ago but now she's on board!

I noticed I'm getting better about explaining the plastic diet to people, too. Here's what I say:

1. On principle, I don't use one-time use plastic. Things you use and immediately throw away. Just don't believe in it. Some people don't believe in unicorns or ghosts or God. I don't believe in one-time use plastic. People can't really argue with that.. seems fair enough.

2. I explain that even if you don't think about it consciously, we're all intelligent people, and at some level we're aware that wasteful practices like buying coffee every day and tossing the cup are not good choices. I repeat the phrase "you are an intelligent person" a few times. People like that :) They start nodding in agreement. And then I explain that the blog attempts to bring these issues to a conscious level, so that as an intelligent person, you are thinking about it and able to make better choices.

xoxo

step one: participate

2008-10-17T22:13:00.004-04:00

I often want to tell people and companies what's on my mind regarding their plastic usage. What stops me? Mostly I don't think people will listen or that I will not make any change-I'm just one person after all. Some people are very good at writing letters to bring about change and they are extremely inspirational to me, like Beth from www.fakeplasticfish.com.
Well today I made a comment about the packaging used at my standby I-haven't-eaten-lunch-yet-and-it's-3:00 lunch place in a an online survey my receipt asked me to participate in (whenever I could win $1000 or free food I am a sucker for surveys.)

They said:
If there are any other comments you would like to share about your most recent visit to Rubio's, please enter your comments below.

So I said:
I would really encourage you to stop using plastic in your food packaging. Your use of plastic actually limits what I am willing to buy at your restaurant. I only order tacos because they comes wrapped in paper. I always tell the counter worker not to put my order in a plastic bag, but you also use a lot of other plastic (i.e. plates, clam shell containers, straws, salsa dishes) that could be replaced with more environmentally friendly options. Thank you for taking my comment into consideration. Progressive thinking in terms of eliminating plastic packaging will benefit our collective health and environment.

So, the lesson here is: Step one-participate and tell them your opinion. I hope step two will be-watch change happen. Of course we will need a lot of participation in step one in order to see step two come to fruition.

Just say NO to bottled water

2008-10-17T01:29:00.004-04:00

Remember my rant about bottled water back in June, well the Environmental Working Group (EWG) just came out with a report on why bottled water is not all it is cracked up to me (and it's not just because it comes in plastic! wasteful wasteful plastic!).

Check it out:
Bottled Water Quality Investigation: 10 Major Brands, 38 Pollutants
(http://www.ewg.org/reports/bottledwater).

Yup, you gotta love your Sigg (and filtered watered).