Plastic-Free Stain Remover & other Laundry ideas

Lunch at Oliveto with my friend Simone last Saturday was great fun. Too much fun. I laughed so hard, I spilled coffee all over the table and all over my sleeve. Normally, I'd just take it home and "Shout it Out." But not this time. This past week, I ran out of the plastic bottle of Shout I'd been using for the last two years and was determined to find a plastic-free alternative.

But the plastic bottle was not my only concern. Do you know what chemicals are in Shout? Terrible nasty ones or perfectly benign? Unless you work for S.C. Johnson, you're as clueless as I am because the company doesn't reveal it's ingredients. Here's the FAQ from the Shout web site:

Q. What are the ingredients in Shout®?
A. We can't give away our "trade secrets," but we can say that Shout® Laundry Stain Removers are detergent based with powerful cleaning agents. Shout® does not contain any phosphates or bleach.

Can't? Or won't? This is the problem with so many chemicals that we use on a daily basis. Not only are they not tested for safety before entering the market, but manufacturers don't even have to tell us what they are in the first place! No thanks.

Here are the plastic-free, less toxic laundry products I'm currently using:


1) Ecover laundry powder comes in a recycled cardboard box and contains a recycled cardboard scoop, unlike most powder detergents that come with a plastic scoop. And the company lists its ingredients on the box as well as the web site: Sodium carbonate, Zeolite, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Fatty Acid Methyl Esters Ethoxylates, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Carbonate Peroxide, Sodium Poly Asparaginate, Sodium Disilicate, Sodium Citrate, Cellulose Gum, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Subtilisin. Now, I'm not a chemist and this does seem like a lot of ingredients, regardless of the fact that they are plant based and not tested on animals. So we have been alternating with the next item.

2) LaundryTree soap nuts until recently came packaged in a plastic bag. No more. Read the awesome story about how Lisa at LaundryTree made the switch to plastic-free packaging. Soapnuts contain one natural ingredient: soapnuts. The only reason we don't use them exclusively is that we stocked up on Ecover a while back and are still using it up. Also, I think the Ecover does a better job on seriously dirty gym clothes.

3) Borax turns out to be a great stain remover! I like that it comes in a cardboard box and also that it also contains only one ingredient: borax. Of course, it's not without its environmental impact, as it's a mineral that has to be mined from the earth. That's why we use it sparingly only for tough stains.

To clean my jacket sleeve, I used the instructions from The Naturally Clean Home, a little book I picked up a while back from our local bookstore. While I do a lot of research on the Internet, sometimes it's nice to have a book handy to grab for solutions, and this is a good one. Here's what the author says to do for coffee and tea stains: Immediately flush with cool water. Then soak in a borax and water solution before laundering.

Not having soaked my jacket immediately, I thought maybe something a little more intense was in order. So I actually made a paste of borax and water (stored now in a glass jar for future stain-removal needs) and and rubbed it into the stains with an old toothbrush. Several hours later, I rinsed off the borax, and the stains were gone!

Of course, there are other ways to get rid of stains, depending on what kind they are. Carbonated water (free of plastic bottle waste with my Soda Club soda maker) is another alternative. And The Naturally Clean Home lists more.

But lest you think our laundry room is completely plastic-free, think again. We still have a few more plastic bottles, acquired before I gave up buying new plastic, that we are very, very slowly working our way through:


WIN detergent for athletic wear, Seventh Generation oxygen bleach, and a can of spray starch with a plastic cap. At some point, these too will end up in the plastic tally, unless I finally just decide to give them away on Freecycle. (I'm not even sure if we use the spray starch. Maybe Michael uses it on his collars. Hmmm...)

What are your favorite non-toxic and plastic-free ways to clean clothes?
 

Vajrapani Retreat Center: find the plastic; win a prize!

Vajrapani Institute is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains. Care for the earth and all its creatures is one of its core practices, to the extent that the members try as much as possible to avoid killing even insects. This is where I spent the weekend, sitting in silence, listening to the birds, showering among the trees, and just having a moment to breath.

I love taking pictures, so on the last day of the retreat, I snapped a few to share with you. But so as not to lose the theme of this blog, let's make a little contest. To the person who can identify a large mass of plastic hidden within one of these photos, I'll send a copy of Sierra Club's book, Seven Wonders For A Cool Planet. It's a nifty little book that Sierra Club sent me to review. But after reading it, I'd rather just pass it along and see what you think.

Next week, I'll reveal the winner and also discuss the ramifications of this type of plastic and its use. But for now, just enjoy. You can click on each photo to see a larger version.




























 

Announcements: Van Jones, No Plastic Left Behind, & Message In A Bottle

I have a trio of exciting announcements, so please be sure and read the whole post.

1) Britt Bravo of Have Fun * Do Good emailed me a few days ago to help spread the word about Van Jones's new book, Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, which is being released on October 7. If you don't know who Van Jones is, you should! Ten years ago, he founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights here in Oakland to promote positive alternatives to violence and incarceration through efforts which include the Green Collar Jobs Campaign to create opportunities in the green economy for poor people and people of color. And he was recently named a Time Magazine Hero of the Environment.

I heard Van Jones interviewed several months ago on Britt's Big Vision podcast and was blown away by this man who is able to bridge many different communities and make the links between environmental and social justice. This book is just what our country needs right now. And the campaign is urging folks to pre-order the book NOW before it releases Oct 7 so that it has a chance on the Best Seller list. All pre-orders are counted on the day the book releases, apparently. (If the previous link doesn't work, try this one.)

2) Saturday, October 11, is Earth Resource Foundation's 1st Annual "No Plastic Left Behind," A Campaign Against the Plastic Plague Conference at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. I'll be participating in the 1pm panel: “Acting Out” – How activism can make a difference and also leading a break-out session on alternatives to plastic.

Do you live near Costa Mesa? Please come and join us for an entire day devoted to plastic and what we can do about it!

3) The following Monday, October 13, Anna Cummins and Dr. Marcus Eriksen will speak on marine plastics at the Marin Humane Society in Novato from 7:30 - 8:50pm. Anna and Marcus are about to begin the third leg of their "Message In A Bottle" tour which began last winter aboard the Alguita research vessel, on which they sailed out to study the plastic in the North Pacific Gyre; continued with Marcus's journey aboard the Junk, a raft made of plastic bottles; and will finish up with an amphibious bicycle trip from Vancouver to Mexico during which they'll give presentations about plastic marine debris and deliver samples of the plastic soup directly to educators, organizations, and policymakers.

I'm excited to finally meet Anna and Marcus in person after emails and phone conversations with Anna. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation's efforts to bring the "Pacific Garbage Patch" to the world's attention was the original impetus for Fake Plastic Fish! So of course I jumped at the opportunity to make a few introductory remarks before the presentation, which is being sponsored in part by Green Sangha. Green Sangha will also have its plastics display on view. If you're in Marin and you're free that night, please come and hear about what plastic is doing to our marine environments from a couple of people who have seen it with their own eyes.

That's all for now. I leave for a weekend meditation retreat tomorrow afternoon and will be gone until Sunday night. Perhaps another zero plastic week?
 

Gratitude for Diane's Big Green Purse

These days, when I read environmental books or articles, I usually have on my heavy duty critical thinking cap. Sometimes, I get so involved in picking apart the nitty gritty details of a book that I can't see the forest for the trees. Yes, that's a huge cliche, but it's apt. And I also forget the person behind the book, the author who put their time and energy and maybe even love into bringing the book into the world.

Back in May, I wrote a review of Sierra Club's Hey Mr. Green, at the end of which I mentioned Diane MacEachern's Big Green Purse and took issue with the vagueness of the book's recycled content statement. Well, a few days later, Diane herself left a comment here which made me rethink the way I read, review, and critique books. Here is her comment:

Thanks for the feedback on the recycled paper labeling for BGP. Actually, I had heard from the publisher that "printed on acid-free recycled paper made from 30% post-consumer waste" would be listed in the book, so was as surprised as you to see the more generic "acid-free recycled paper." Just goes to show how important it is to double check in the "practice what you preach" column (but, perhaps, to also question one's own assumptions when hunting for examples of blatant inconsistencies that turn out to be oversights). Diane MacEachern, author, Big Green Purse.

Ouch. She was right. Before tossing out out a criticism like that, I should have given her the benefit of the doubt and sought some clarification first.

Tonight, I (finally) finished Big Green Purse, after getting involved with other things and putting the book aside for a while. And while I did take copious notes on each chapter and have my little list of disagreements (mostly to do with paper vs. plastic), what I am primarily left with is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the massive achievement that this book represents.

When I first saw the graphics on the cover of Big Green Purse, I kind of snickered. "This book can't be for me," I thought. "I don't wear a dress. I don't even carry a purse!" But between the covers, the book is significantly meatier than it appears. And while it focuses on women's ability to change the world through their spending power, the information in it is certainly not just for women.

The first chapters list in excruciating detail each of the environmental problems that we face and what will happen if we don't do something about them. MacEachern covers climate change, toxicity issues, harm to wildlife, water, air, and forest issues, and (on page 8) gives a really great explanation of the Precautionary Principle.

The second chapter describes the seven Big Green Purse Shopping Principles which guide the discussions of specific types of products in the remaining ten chapters. They are:

1) Buy less.
2) Read the label.
3) Support sustainable standards.
4) Look for third-party verification.
5) Choose fewer ingredients.
6) Pick less packaging.
7) Buy local.

I love that "Buy less" is number one on the list. How can anyone argue with that?

Chapters 3 through 12 each cover a specific category of purchase: personal care products; cars and transportation; coffee, tea, and cocoa; produce, dairy, and meats; household cleaning; clothing & jewelry; lawn and garden; children's things; lights, electronics, and appliances; and home building/remodeling. Each of these chapters discusses the issues and environmental problems associated with its subject in detail, gives loads of resources for finding green alternatives, and (one of my favorite pieces) often lists Action Items with contact information for major corporations so we can write them and ask for the kinds of safe products that we want!

I've learned a lot this past year about the impact of plastics on the environment, but there are other environmental issues which I fear I've neglected or simply been ignorant. For example, I never really thought about organic seafood. Have you? According to MacEachern, it doesn't exist. Makes sense when you think it through. And how about dry cleaning? Yes, I've been asking for my clothes not to be covered with a plastic bag and have been vaguely aware of the toxicity of the chemicals used, but Big Green Purse educated me on all the different alternatives and why some methods advertised as green are anything but. (I'll have a post about dry cleaning probably next week.)

Personally, I'd have liked even more emphasis on DIY solutions and buying used rather than new. And perhaps a section on plastics, especially their impact in the marine environment. (Maybe in an updated edition?) But overall, I think this book is an invaluable resource, and I imagine I'll refer to it over and over again as I find myself making choices about what to buy. I can see myself using the Big Green Purse web site as well, as a source of continually updated information.

Thank you, Diane, for helping us to create a greener world!
 

In Sierra Club's book Hey Mr. Green, the method is the message.

This phrase, "The method is the message," has been running through my head now for several weeks. I think it's a corruption of "The medium is the message," but I like it for the way it conveys my meaning, which is as an answer to the age-old question, "Do the ends justify the means?" To me, the means, the medium, the method ARE what is most important.

That's why my recommendation of the children's book Michael Recycle was somewhat tepid. A book about recycling that's not printed on recycled paper? Something's not connecting there. It's like the seminar on "Greening Your Law Firm" that Michael and I attended during which three of the four panelists were drinking the bottled water provided by the facility while explaining how their firms had given up bottled water. Or the forum on protecting the SF Bay where plastic-wrapped snacks were served as the speakers bemoaned the amount of plastic pollution in the water.

So, it was with appreciation that I received my promotional copy of Sierra Club's latest book, Hey Mr. Green. I requested the book be sent without plastic, and sure enough, it arrived packaged in a Jiffy Padded Mailer cushioned with recycled paper fibers rather than plastic bubble packing. Great! And the book itself? "Printed in the United States of America on Cascades Enviro 100 acid-free paper, which contains 100 percent post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free." All right!

So the method is good. (Of course, part of the method is whether or not the book is new or used or borrowed from the library, right? That part's up to you.) So what about the message itself?

The book is a compilation of "Hey Mr. Green" columns published in Sierra Magazine beginning in February 2005. It's a quick read at 175 small pages and keeps the question/answer format, similar to Grist's "Ask Umbra." The book contains a lot of the usual tips about saving energy and reducing waste at home and on the road that many "How to be Green" books contain these days.

For my taste, some of the author's recommendations focused on energy conservation at the expense of other environmental concerns, like toxicity. For example, Mr. Green says that in a pinch, if he's left his reusable bags at home (which he never does) and absolutely needed to carry something home in a bag, he'd opt for plastic over paper because 1) he can reuse the bag many times, 2) the 4 million barrels of oil used per year to make plastic bags equates to only 1/10th of what SUVs require, and 3) paper bags don't biodegrade in landfills anyway. (Pages 86-87) Um... is that even logic?

First of all, the concern about the non-biodegradation of plastic is less about what happens in landfills and more about what happens to the plastic that never makes it to the landfill. Mr. Green never mentions the plastic garbage patch in the North Pacific Gyre and or the harm to wildlife caused by escaped plastic bags. And he also doesn't seem to realize that many paper bags these days are made from recycled paper. Neither choice is great, of course. But I still think in a purely hypothetical situation, I'd opt for the paper bag.

So, yes I just spent two paragraphs picking on his answer to one question. But part of his answer, the thing about how much more oil SUVs use than plastic bags, is kind of representative of the tone of the book. He wants us to focus on the big problems, which is great. And he seems to be worried that if people get hung up worrying about small things, like whether or not their organization reuses plastic name badges at its meetings (Pages 100-101) they will forget about the jet fuel spent to get them to that meeting. And I can understand his point. But if we can do something about the small things, in addition to the large things, shouldn't we?

The part of the book I really found myself enjoying was the last section called, "The Big Picture: Thoughts on God, Government, and Other Dinner-Table Topics." Here he turns part philosopher and part ethicist as he tackles such questions as whether or not religions cause overpopulation, what happens (to your body) after you die, and whether or not it's "wrong to judge people's eco-awareness by how many paper towels they use in a restroom." The last part is fun to read and mull over.

That's my report. Thanks, Sierra Club, for sending the book to me and for taking such care with the materials used to produce and ship it. Now that I've read it, I'll be sharing it with my local library so other Oaklanders can glean the green goodness.

I've just started reading Diane MacEachern's Big Green Purse, which is really informative but also has its problems. For one thing, the Method vs. Message issue is quite glaring to me. On page 29, MacEachern writes, "A paperboard package composed of '50 precent recycled fiber' is a more reliable ecobuy than one vaguely marketed as 'made from recycled paper.'" Yet the statement inside the book itself reads, "This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper." Kinda vague, wouldn't you say?

05/10/08 UPDATE: I received this comment from Diane MacEachern today and wanted to share with you:

Thanks for the feedback on the recycled paper labeling for BGP. Actually, I had heard from the publisher that "printed on acid-free recycled paper made from 30% post-consumer waste" would be listed in the book, so was as surprised as you to see the more generic "acid-free recycled paper." Just goes to show how important it is to double check in the "practice what you preach" column (but, perhaps, to also question one's own assumptions when hunting for examples of blatant inconsistencies that turn out to be oversights). Diane MacEachern, author, Big Green Purse.

She is absolutely right about my needing to question my own assumptions. I realize that when I wrote the letter to Santa Sabina in my previous post, I bent over backwards to give them the benefit of the doubt. I didn't do that when tossing out the comment about Big Green Purse's recycled content, and I apologize. It was late, I was tired, which are lame excuses because it's ALWAYS late and I'm ALWAYS tired when blogging here! So, let this be a lesson to us all, once again, to assume the best of others' intentions and seek clarifying information before calling them on the carpet.

So anyway, I'm only on page 81 of 374 BIG pages and am enjoying parts, learning a few things, and already disagreeing with a few others. This was another promotional copy I received from the publisher, so you'll be hearing my take on it probably next week.
 

Environmental Children's Books, Part 2: Teach Them To Recycle and Bring Their Own Bag

Here are the next two environmental kids' books, as promised.

Michael Recycle, by Ellie Bethel, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo. Green Bean may think that my Michael is a super hero for encouraging his firm to stop buying bottled water. But this big picture book is about a new super hero, Michael Recycle, who flies into trashy towns in his green cape and colander hat and, in Suess-like rhyme, teaches everyone to recycle and garden and collect rainwater. Then, when the town is sparkling again, they throw a big old party to celebrate. In fact, instead of buying streamers,

They covered the town
In green toilet paper
Then rolled it back up
To use again later.

You may think that's yucky
But these folks don't agree
In Abberdoo-Rimey
Recycling is key!

While the pictures in this book are fantastic fun and the Go Green Tips at the end are useful, I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on waste reduction and reuse before recycling.

They recycled their paper,
Their plastic and cans,
And even old junk
Like used pots and pans!

I'm not crazy about the word "junk" used to describe stuff that we may not need to keep for ourselves anymore. And recycling pots and pans? Doesn't Michael know about Freecycle? He is, after all, a super hero. But maybe I've become more hardcore than the average bear. And from what I see on the streets of Oakland, it's challenging enough to get kids to put their trash in a garbage can, much less recycle it. This book is a good start for getting the environmental message across.

I'll be donating it to the Oakland library this weekend, per Burbanmom's Giving Challenge.

Oh, and yesterday, when reviewing the two animal books, I forgot to talk about the production of the books themselves. One was printed in Mexico and the other in Singapore. Michael Recycle was printed in Korea. And, for a book about recycling, I was surprised that it's not itself printed on recycled paper. Or if it is, that fact was not mentioned anywhere in the book or press materials I received. Hmm... sort of like the seminar on "greening your law firm" that Michael and I attended where bottled water and plastic-wrapped sandwiches were served while the panelists talked about eliminating plastic bottles from the workplace. There are the ideals that we espouse, but if they don't translate into concrete changes, what good are they?

Okay, enough soap box. Michael Recycle is a really cute book and I think it would be a good addition to any school library.

The next book, which coincidentally organicneedle mentioned in a comment on my post yesterday, is My Bag and Me!, by Karen Farmer, illustrated by Gary Grant. It doesn't say what ages it's geared toward, but the heavy cardboard pages and pictures of the little boy suggest to me (a non-parent) that it's for small children. This book encourages kids not only to recycle, but to refuse disposable bags in the first place:

Let's take a trip
to our favorite store,
where My Bag and Me say,
"Paper and plastic no more!"

The secret to My Bag And Me is the hidden pull-out tray in the back that contains a child-sized resuable bag they can take to the store with them. I love the idea of this, not to mention the cuteness. But I'm less enthusiastic about the materials.

The reusable bag is made of Dupont Tyvek, the type of plastic that many large postal envelopes are made from. The cover of the book states, "This book and the reusable Tyvek bag are 100% recyclable!" What you don't realize until you read the fine print (if you read the fine print) is that Tyvek is only recyclable by mailing it back to Dupont. I devoted a whole post to Tyvek in October of last. It's worthwhile to read if you haven't already.

And notice that the book is advertised as "recyclable" rather than being made from recycled materials. So I contacted the PR rep who sent it to me and asked about the materials used as well as the decision to have it printed in China. These were her responses:

1) On using Tyvek to make the bag: Natural fibers, like cotton or hemp, were too bulky. The book would have been enormous and very heavy, not to mention the extra amount of paper needed to create the tray cavity. There is a marking on the bottom of the bag with an 800 number for recycling Tyvek information. Our hope, however, is that these bags will have a very long life as a shopping bag.

2) On the shiny coating on the cardboard pages: The coating is a plastic film, otherwise known as PP lamination. PP, or Polypropylene lamination is non-toxic and the same goes for the glue, ink and paper used in these books. The paper is made of C1S ( coated paper, one side), and Natura board.

3) On having the book manufactured in China: Cost was the deciding factor for printing in China. We would never have been able to produce this book here, and sell it at the cover price of $10.95. The manufacturer is ICTI audited which gives credibility and they can issue a letter guaranteeing that the materials used are non-toxic and certificates for the materials themselves.

Organicneedle wrote a bit about this book back in March, and then she came up with a list of ways to make your own reusable bags for kids out of reused materials or natural fabrics. Anyway, it's a cute idea, perhaps not executed in the manner hardcore environuts like me would prefer, but useful nonetheless for getting kids accustomed to bringing their own bags.

I offer this book as another freebie to a Fake Plastic Fish reader. It's not really appropriate for donating to the library because of the bag that needs to be removed and used. So please leave a comment and let me know if you'd like it. Or email me directly at beth[at]fakeplasticfish[dot]com and let me know.

And finally, here's an ACTION ALERT for anyone concerned about keeping commercial advertising/product placements out of kids' books. Harper Collins has announced its plans to publish a series of books for young girls called MacKenzie Blue, in which, according to this New York Times article, "...product placement is very much a part of the plan. Tina Wells, chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which advises consumer product companies on how to sell to teenagers and preteenagers, will herself be the author of titles in the series filled with references to brands. She plans to offer the companies that make them the chance to sponsor the books."

To read about the campaign and to protest the publication of these books, please visit Commercial Alert and take action.
 

Environmental Children's Books, Part 1: A Polar Bear, A Hippo, And A 130-Year Old Tortoise

I've received 4 environmental children's books in the past month from publishers who would like me to review them on Fake Plastic Fish. Not that I know anything about children. I mean, I was one once, but I don't have or live with any now... unless you count Terrible Person and the two unruly kitty cats in our house. But I do enjoy picture books, and my brother, in fact, is a children's book illustrator, so why not? I'll talk about the first 2 tonight and the next 2 tomorrow.

Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World, by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Gerald R. Uhlich. If you haven't heard the story of Knut, he's the little polar bear from the Berlin Zoo who was rejected by his mother at birth and raised by a human zookeeper until he was old enough to live in an enclosure and perform for an adoring public. I don't think I'm supposed to tell it that way, though. Knut's become a symbol for the global warming cause. Reading his story might help children to develop compassion for animals they wouldn't encounter in daily life and perhaps the desire to do something to protect them. In fact, the back of the book lists a few steps people can take, like riding a bike instead of driving and turning out lights when leaving a room.

I was actually moved while reading the book on BART tonight. Thomas Dorflein's (the zookeeper's) bond with the bear and desire to protect him reminded me of the feelings of protectiveness and care I myself felt the first time I saw the photo of the dead sea bird with its stomach full of plastic, the first time an animal moved me to act. And I thought, this bear is so cute, of course children will love him and be moved to care about our environment for his sake.

But when I got home, I did a little research and found out the rest of Knut's story, which is not all cute, fuzzy feelings. The title of the book is actually rather ironic because it turns out that Knut has not only captivated us, but humans have captivated and damaged him. The book ends with Knut still young and cuddly, and it speculates that one day the polar bear will grow so big that he could accidentally harm Thomas. When that time comes, they will have to separate. But it will be okay because "Adult polar bears spend most of their time alone, so Knut won't be lonely if it happens that Thomas can no longer be with him every day."

Turns out that that's not what happens when captive polar bears who have been made a spectacle for cheering audiences day after day are left alone. Not this one anyway. According to Markus Roebke, one of Knut's keepers, in this article in the Daily Mail, "He is addicted to the whole show, the human adulation. It is not healthy. He actually cries out or whimpers if he sees that there is not a spectator outside his enclosure ready to ooh and aah at him. When the zoo had to shut because of black ice everywhere he howled until staff members stood before him and calmed him down."

The Independent quotes German zoologist Peter Arras's description of Knut as a "psychopath." And a commenter in The Atlantic says, "Now that his youthful charms are fading with his white coat, he still demands constant attention from humans. They stare at him, or he screams in misery. Anyone could have guessed that the lack of same-species companionship and endless train of adoring tourists would eventually damage him, but the zoo kept him on display because apparently cuteness trumps morality." That particular writer goes on to actually suggest euthanasia as the only solution to Knut's pain.

The children's book tells a very cute and inspiring story of a man who bottle-fed and cared for a rejected bear and, I'm sure, loved him with all his heart. But the current reality is not so cute. So what do we do? Be grateful for the web, for one thing. Because, while books are static, the Internet is not. And after reading books to children, we can also do a little research and then decide how much of the cold, hard reality we want to share with them.

What would you tell your kids?

The second book, by the same authors, is a much nicer story. Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship, by Isabella and Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu, tells the story of a baby hippo, dubbed Owen, that was orphaned during a tsunami in Kenya and rescued to the Haller Park animal sanctuary, where he bonded with, of all creatures, a 130-year old tortoise called Mzee! Why would a baby hippo bond with a wrinkly old reptile? (Okay, I can hear the jokes coming already, so just stop it!) There seems to be some suggestion that the markings on the back of the tortoise's shell resemble a hippo face. I'm not sure I buy that theory.

Still, the story of the bond between these two very different creatures is heartwarming, and actually seems to be true! The hippo would follow the tortoise around, nipping at its heels, and following its lead in which plants to eat and how to behave. They developed a kind of strange language of sounds to communicate with each other that neither hippos nor tortoises normally make.

But following Mzee, Owen seemed to be growing into a tortoise shaped like a hippo, rather than an actual adult hippo. He would only eat the same plants Mzee ate, which were not really hippo food. And he'd had no contact with other hippos, since his rescuers were worried that introducing him to another hippo clan could be dangerous for him. So, by the end of the story in the book, they've found a female orphaned hippo that they hope will become his friend, along with Mzee and another tortoise.

Once again, the great thing about the web is that you can find out what happens next! According to the Haller Park blog, Owen and Cleo, the new hippo, bonded and became friends. But in March 2007, Mzee had to be moved away from them because Cleo was too rough and the staff were afraid she would hurt him. Oops. Maybe I should have given you a spoiler warning. But these are kids' books, and just because you know what happens, doesn't mean you have to spoil the ending for your kids!

Anyway, reading these two books lead me to think about my own relationship with certain non-human beings and the ways that I care for them and also exploit their cuteness for my own personal gain. Right here on this blog! Maybe that's just part of human nature. To marvel at how animals of completely different species can bond with one another without the slightest clue what it's actually like to be that other creature. We have to be so careful, don't we?

So... the FREEBIE! If you would like this hardback copy of Owen & Mzee, please request it in a comment. Or email me privately at beth[at]fakeplasticfish[dot]com. I'll choose the lucky recipient at random some time next week. I can't give you the polar bear book because it's already promised to Michael, who I predict is destined to be either eaten by or reincarnated as one of them, assuming they haven't become extinct.

But tomorrow, I'll be offering another free book. So stay tuned. You might like that one better.
 

Recommended: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I just finished listening to this book on BART tonight. It was the selected title of Crunchy Chicken's book group just before her husband got very sick. I couldn't find it used or at the library, and I'm trying very hard not to buy new things. So I purchased the unabridged audiobook from iTunes and downloaded it onto my iPod. This audiobook, which is read by the authors, Barbara Kingsolver, her husband Steven, and daughter Camille, has been a pleasure to listen to.

The book is all about their family's year of eating locally, growing a lot of their food on their Virginia farm, and purchasing almost all of the rest of it from local farmers. It begins and ends with asparagus and in between are bushels of chard, zucchinis, tomatoes, and some pretty funny turkey sex. This book, as well as Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, have really gotten me thinking about where my food comes from and who I'm supporting with my food choices.

After work tonight, I stopped at Safeway. (Much more on Safeway in a future post.) I saw avocados for sale and knew, based on a discussion with a vendor at my farmer's market two weeks ago, that they could not be local. Sure enough, they were imported from Peru. We won't have local avocados again until January. I also saw asparagus and knew, based on listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, that it also could not be local. And sure enough, it was also imported. Asparagus is a spring-time plant.

What does this have to do with plastic? Maybe nothing. But it has everything to do with petroleum. The further our food has to travel, the more petroleum is used and greenhouse gases emitted. And often, storing produce for the long haul does involve plastic. Think bagged salad greens and spinach and broccoli.

Barbara Kingsolver's family ate really well all year round. They just didn't eat anything until it was in season. And for me, living here in the abundant San Francisco Bay Area where winters are mild and we have year-round farmers' markets, eating locally should not be hard at all.

What it requires is preparation. A little weekly planning. Which I'm not used to. In the years before Fake Plastic Fish and my growing awareness of how my actions affect the world around me, planning my meals was not an issue. I'd stock up on frozen Lean Cuisines for the days when no one in my office felt like ordering pizza or Chinese. Now, feeding myself takes a little more effort.

This week has been tough, plasticly speaking. I've been doing a few too many things and not getting enough sleep, which always spells plastic trouble. Yesterday, not having brought the best meal to work with me, I went in on the group sushi order and ended up with an unexpected Styrofoam clam shell! (Even after specifying that I wanted cardboard.) And today, in a fit of hormones or something, I asked someone to bring me a chocolate bar and ended up with a plastic Hershey's wrapper.

I do need to slow down and breathe. But I also need to give myself a break. One of the most inspiring parts of the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle audiobook comes at the very end during an interview which is tacked on after the actual book reading is over. Kingsolver says,

It's not an all or nothing proposition. As Steven said in his first sidebar which he called 'Oily Food,' 'If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week composed of locally and organically-raised meats and produce we would reduce our oil consumption in this country by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.' That's a huge change.... So small changes have enormous impact, and small steps in a particular direction enable more steps for yourself and others, so anything you do in a direction that feels sensible, that feels sustainable to you is a step that you should honor....

Every single thing you purchase, whether you eat it or not, has an impact on the world you live in. You can attend to how it was made and what happens to it after you throw it away.... Attending to your cleaning products, your lawn care, your electrical consumption... all of these things are related to a way that you want to live in the world, whether or not you believe it will make a difference in the long run, it will make a difference for you.

My dad asked me a few weeks ago how I could do this blog and not feel completely defeated. He likes to send me doom and gloom e-mails about the state of the world. The truth is that we don't actually know if any of our actions will stave off some of the more dire predictions. What matters is right now, how we are to each other and the planet in each moment. Living in the present rather than the future. And the proof is in the plastic. When I get going too fast and forget the present moment, plastic bombards me from every direction. It's the ultimate symbol of disconnection and mindlessness.

The antidote is awareness, presence, connection. Let's help each other to wake up.