Allie's Plastic Confessions

(A guest post by Allie of Allie's Answers.)

While I'm certainly not in the Fake Plastic Fish tier of plastic reduction, I do a pretty decent job limiting the amount of plastic that comes into our home. But on our recent vacation in Washington State, I realized that it's a lot harder to keep the plastic under control away from home.

I hadn't flown in about 4 years, and the regulations for carry-on items have changed since the last time I'd been in the air. I knew bringing beverages through the security checkpoint wasn't allowed, so I figured I couldn't bring my Kleen Kanteen. I thought about packing it, but worried that a big metal object in my bag might call it out for inspection. I feel a little stupid for leaving it at home, especially since our bags got pulled for inspection anyway, and a friend in Seattle told me she brings her empty Sigg with her through security all the time.

We had a 4 hour layover in Chicago, so for the first time in at least 2 years, I did the unthinkable -- I bought bottled water. I am ashamed to admit it, but I felt desperate. I was without a container, didn't have any plastic-free water options, and felt really dried out. Also, when our campground had an e. coli scare and there wasn't any potable water, we bought 3 gallon jugs of water. I feel a little less guilty about this because it was a necessity.

At home, we almost never eat out. When we do, we tend to frequent the same couple of restaurants. They don't serve food on disposables, and we're aware of that. When we ate at a sit-down restaurant at Pike Place Market on our first night in Seattle, I was appalled when our drinks came in the kind of translucent plastic cups reminiscent of keggers in college. In the two weeks we were gone, I will also cop to two coffee lids, a plastic cup lid & straw, and a couple of cups for beverages on our flights.

Even though I usually don't use the little plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioner in hotels, I indulged when our hotel in Seattle had Aveda products in the room. My shampoo exploded in my suitcase on the flight over, and I was pretty sure there wasn't enough left for me to make it through the entire trip, so it was probably necessary. Later, when we got bumped from our flight and spent the night in Cincinnati while our bags took a red-eye home, I used the amenities in the hotel the airline put us up in for the night (and they made me itchy, which was my punishment, right?)

So now that I've confessed my plastic travel sins, let me tell you what we did well, plastic-wise:

• The bottle from the water I purchased in the airport became my water bottle for the week. Even though I know reusing single use plastic isn't the best thing for my health, I figured it probably wouldn't kill me.


• I packed a reusable grocery bag and used it instead of taking plastic bags when we made purchases.


• We made coffee in our Jet Boil at the campground instead of going out for coffee every morning, avoiding a lot of plastic coffee lids.


• We used our titanium sporks instead of taking plastic utensils when we got takeout.


• I packed the plastic amenities bottles and brought them home. I'll reuse them the next time we travel.


• We collected our plastic waste and stowed it in the backseat of our rental car. When we stopped at a friend's house at the end of our trip, we dropped the plastic in their recycle bin.

Next time we travel, I'll bring my Kleen Kanteen, pack my toiletries in a more cushioned area of my suitcase to avoid explosions (I was kind of careless about that), pack a reusable coffee mug, and pass on the airplane courtesy beverages. I'll also try to be more brave, and ask how food is served before we commit to a restaurant.

---

Thanks, Allie! If any of you have plastic confessions or experiences to share and would like to guest post, please let me know. I'm happy to have you guys do the work for a change!
 

 

Plastic-free in the freezer: airtight stainless steel food containers

A very common question for Fake Plastic Fish is what to use to store food in the freezer. Until now, I didn't have an awesome answer. As you can see, I have been reusing Michael's old plastic cottage cheese containers. And reusing plastic bags. I wrote about all the plastic we were reusing a year ago. Certainly better to reuse what you have than toss out and buy new, right?

Except that plastic is not necessarily the best material for storing food... especially fatty or acidic food, which can cause the plastic to break down. And certainly not hot foods. So what's a better alternative?

I've tried storing food in glass jars. That's an okay solution. You can freeze glass, but you have to be very careful with it when you take it out, as it will become brittle. And glass jars are not the best shape for storing frozen foods because the neck can make removing the food difficult.

Stainless steel is great. But until last week, my only stainless steel containers had handles on the top (like my To-Go Ware tiffin or my MSR Stowaway pot from REI), so stacking them in the freezer or refrigerator was impossible. Also, they didn't seal very tightly so carrying wet food could be tricky if I wasn't careful.

Enter Sanctus Mundo's collection of airtight stainless steel food containers, sold online by a company called Life Without Plastic:


I have to give credit to a couple of gals who are beginning the plastic-free life and blogging about it at Plastic Is Forever. They had already discovered Life Without Plastic and linked to the company on their blog.

Life Without Plastic was founded by two Canadians, Jay Sinha and Chantal Plamondon, who were concerned about issues of plastic and health. In Jay's own words:

Chantal and I have always been very health and environment conscious, and plastic just kept coming up on our radar especially starting about 6-7 years ago. It always made us feel queasy to see how, for example, tomato sauce would mix in with the plastic in plastic storage containers. We started looking for a stainless steel water bottle and came across the Klean Kanteens not long after they arrived on the market and started using them for ourselves.

Then, as the article and website explain, our son came along and that really got us looking deeper into plastics, and the research we did convinced us that we didn't want him sucking on plastic nor did we want to store Chantal's breast milk in plastic. So that led us to seriously look into the glass baby bottles.

We had great difficulty finding them anywhere, then finally came across Evenflo, which was still making them. But the only way to get any bottles direct from Evenflo was to do a wholesale order of a minimum of 1000 bottles. So we did that and also got the company going with the Klean Kanteens. As these items are now becoming more and more readily available - which is fantastic - we are focusing more on harder to find items, and developing our own products such as children's dishes.

Look out for our stainless steel ice cube tray coming later this year!

Ha! I'm still using a plastic ice cube tray, so I look forward to that. But back to the containers. After reading about them on the web site and also reading the personal story behind the company, I wrote to Life Without Plastic and asked if they'd send me a sample container to check out and review on Fake Plastic Fish. They were kind enough to send me the 5-6/8" x 3-1/8" model pictured above to try out.

The first thing I always evaluate, of course, is the packaging. Cardboard box with newspaper inside used to fill space instead of Styrofoam or plastic. Good. And in fact, their web site has a statement about packaging:

Recycled Packaging
In keeping with our mission to clean up the planet, we reuse boxes and packing materials that come into our store and use new boxes and mailing envelopes made of recycled material (no plastic if at all possible). We also sometimes use cornstarch peanuts which are reusable and compostable but not recyclable. Although we strive to use material that is 100% recycled, it is not always possible to obtain, in which case we use the highest recycled content available at the time of shipment.

The only plastic in the outer package was the packing tape used to attach the customs document to the box. I have encountered this tape situation with other items shipped from Canada and wonder if it's a standard for the Canadian post. Will have to check.

I was a little dismayed upon opening the inner box to discover that the container itself was shrinkwrapped in plastic. Not a lot of plastic, to be sure. And switching to these containers from alternatives like plastic ziploc bags would certainly save more plastic in the long run. Still, I'd have preferred the container bare in the box, just as the To-Go Ware tiffin comes packaged. So of course, I wrote to Sanctus Mundo tonight to ask them to forego this extra plastic. We'll see what they say.

So how does it work? Great so far. The container is flat on top, so it's easily stackable in the refrigerator or freezer. The top has a silicone ring inside, which makes the container airtight and great for carrying liquids without spilling. But it also means that while the bottom is dishwasher safe, the top is not. Rinse it in the sink. Labeling the containers is easy with a non-permanent marker. And the containers come in 4 sizes, each smaller than the one I received, and are sold separately or as a set.

Oh, and if you do use them in the freezer, make sure you don't fill them up to the top. We all know that liquids expand when they freeze and how an aluminum can will swell up in the freezer. You don't want that to happen to your nice stainless container, so Erin at Life Without Plastic recommended leaving about an inch of space for expansion.

Check out the other products on Life Without Plastic and especially the Plastics Info page which explains some of the health and environmental hazards of plastic. I love when the original intent of a business is to create a healthier world. Like GlassDharma, which I reviewed earlier this week, Life Without Plastic and Sanctus Mundo are small companies trying to make a big difference.
 


 

 

GlassDharma makes drinking fun again!

Going plastic-free has not been a huge burden, for the most part. We've got awesome bulk foods stores here in the Bay Area and farmer's markets, and most shops are happy to package purchases or leftovers in my reusable containers. But a few changes I've made have been actual sacrifices, and ordering iced drinks without straws was one of them. Ice hurts my teeth. Cold drinks are just so much more pleasant and fun through a straw. But I gave them up when I gave up plastic. And now, thanks to a tip from FPF reader Lisa Sharp, I am straw-free no longer!

(And yes, I'm aware there are those who will say drinking iced cold beverages is no good for the digestion in the first place, but to me, a little iced tea in the summer is a beautiful thing.)

According to GlassDharma's web site, its drinking straws are made from the strongest glass commercially available and can be used over and over again indefinitely. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical, so I wrote to the company, and they were kind enough to send me a sample to review on Fake Plastic Fish.


Not only are the straws strong, but they are also beautiful, with decorative colored accents. And they come with little cleaning brushes, because how else would you clean out a drinking straw? Of the various sizes and shapes, I thought my favorite would be the long bent straw, but actually the regular-sized straight one feels the best to me. And the short one will be great the next time I have a cocktail at The Mint -- as long as I can remember to request "no straw" when I order.

Yay! Combined with the fizzy water from my Penguin, which by the way, is still awesome, GlassDharma makes plastic-free drinking fun again.

The packaging of these straws is almost perfect. Plain cardboard boxes without excess filler. I actually didn't believe they'd make it through the mail without any breakage, but make it they did. The only plastic was the packing tape, and David Leonhardt, the owner of GlassDharma, addressed that issue in his email to me before I even asked the question. Here's what he wrote when I asked him about his company and philosophy:

I’ve been a lampworker (glassblower) for over 10 years. I was doing some work for a local glass shop in town and noticed that the owner had glass drinking straws for sale. I had never heard of these before and was always intrigued by something made out of glass that I hadn’t thought of.

As most of us know, the abundance of scientific reports warn us about the dangers of plastics leaching toxins into our food supply. This has increased demand for better alternatives to safeguard our health.

I immediately recognized that here was a partial solution to our “plastics problem” that was amazingly simple. So I embarked on an adventure to “Save the World – 1 Straw at a Time”. It has been an amazing experience.

As a teen in the 60’s, I saw how our society was trashing the planet, but felt helpless to do anything about it, and became rather apathetic. Since starting this project, I find my eyes are opened more every day as to the small, simple things we all can do. I also realize that as a manufacturer, my effect on the planet is far more reaching than that as an individual.

For instance, as I recently received a new shipment of packaging tape, I realized that there are better solutions to ship products with. I will soon be educating myself as to the most feasible method of shipping without the use of toxic tape.

Another unexpected benefit that has emerged from this project is being able to help those with special needs. From stroke victims, quadriplegics, cancer victims (and survivors), there has been quite a few requests for unique diameters, lengths and shapes to assist those who’s options are limited. I feel blessed to be able to serve in this capacity

These things have been the driving force that motivates me, especially when entering uncharted territory as the business grows. I have said since starting GlassDharma that “I would be happy to provide 2% of the population in this country with glass drinking straws”. (That’s about 6 million straws) I think that is a worthy goal.

GlassDharma straws are made in Fort Bragg, California and come with a lifetime guarantee against breakage. GlassDharma has also begun selling little carrying cases ("straw cozies") to protect the straws while in a purse or backpack. But, I didn't need one. One or two straws will fit perfectly in the To-Go Ware utensil case that I already carry with me. In fact, a few nights ago while having dinner in a restaurant with Michael, I was able to whip out my glass straw and say, "Please don't bring me a straw. I have my own."

And I do want to address the concern of one anonymous commenter who responded to my mention of glass drinking straws in a previous post, "But... what's the point of reducing plastic just to buy more little items?"

While I do agree wholeheartedly that it's important to reduce our consumption and purchasing overall, I am not a Spartan. I do enjoy having some nice, quality things that will last a long time and give pleasure. And I see no problem with supporting a domestic company that is handmaking items to help us reduce our dependence on disposables. Frankly, drinking cold drinks without a straw sucks for me. In a comment a few months back, Crunchy Chicken coined the term "hairshirt environmentalism,". She was referring to washing my hair with baking soda, which has not been a struggle at all. Going strawless? That was my hairshirt.
 

 

Compostable Containers: Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

This is a photo of a few things I brought home from the Outside Lands Music Festival Friday night: Two compostable cups made from corn and two compostable potato or cornstarch spoons. (Mine and my friend's.) As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I forgot to bring my cute reusable bamboo utensils with me. And I didn't think to bring a cup for wine either so felt lucky to find compostables rather than plastic or Styrofoam.

When I took my compostable cup back to the wine vendor for a refill, the server said, "It's okay. You can have a new one." Yeah, I can. But why should I? Just because an item can be composted, does that mean we have to compost it after one use? Just because an item is recyclable, does that mean we are compelled to recycle it immediately?

In yesterday's post I whined about the "recyclable" plastic wine "glasses" being handed out in the WineHaven tent. Of course we know that plastic recycling is actually downcycling. But even if it weren't, what if each person who accepted one of those recyclable plastic cups kept it, took it home, and brought it back to the next outdoor event to reuse? How much energy could be saved if people thought in terms of reuse before recycling?

I was considering this stuff while riding BART to work today, musing on how much less energy could be spent on "waste diversion" if less energy were spent to create the waste in the first place. And once I arrived at the office, in one of those weird moments of synchronicity, I opened my email to find a Seattle Times article forwarded to me by Fake Plastic Fish reader Ken Mott about how Microsoft's cafeteria has recently received certified-green restaurant status from the Green Restaurant Association, in part by switching out plastic and Styrofoam for all compostable dishes, cups, and utensils.

When I look at this photo, I don't see an effort to protect the environment. I just see waste. More waste. Better than plastic, sure. At least it's compostable. But think of all the materials and energy that went into creating these utensils that will most likely be used once and discarded. Not to mention the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used to grow the corn these things are made from. According to the article, Microsoft says, "Our goal is to have 50 percent of what was going to the landfill now go to Cedar Grove [composting facility]."

Why not use durable utensils, cups, and dishes and avoid creating waste in the first place?

One change that Microsoft has made is to substitute compostable cups for their previous Styrofoam coffee cups. But, according to the article, the new cups take some getting used to. In a statement that would be funny if it weren't so maddening, Mark Freeman, senior manager in charge of food services, says of the new cup, "'It starts composting the minute you use it,' noting that employees have learned not to leave half-full cups for long periods of time to avoid spills."

You know, in all the time I've had my reusable mug, not once has it started to compost, no matter how long I've used it. Why isn't Microsoft encouraging employees to bring their own mugs to work? Or giving them reusable mugs as a little perk? What will it take for us to get away from this use once and toss mentality?

It's not easy for any of us. Even I ended up with waste (albeit plastic-free) at the end of the night: waste which could have been avoided if I'd done a bit more planning ahead and brought my own utensils and cups to the festival. But just because my dishes can be composted doesn't mean I have to toss them in the green bin immediately. The paperboard bowl will soon become plant food, but the cups and spoons can be used again (as long as I don't wash them in super hot water.)

And maybe those in charge of greening festivals and conferences and the cafeterias of mega-corporations would be wise to change their vocabulary and think in terms of waste reduction rather than simply waste diversion.
 

 

Searching for plastic-free water at Outside Lands wears me out.

I love music more than ice cream. Even more than fudge sauce. And to me, the band Radiohead is like magic. I don't understand how they make the exquisite and sometimes excruciating sounds that they do. I just know that as long as there are humans on this planet whose organized noise can move me to tears every single time I hear it, there must be hope for us.

So for a few months, I've been really looking forward to seeing my first Radiohead show live at the SF Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park. And I was also pleased that this festival was being billed as a green event and planned to visit a section they called Ecolands, where there would be all kinds of "green" organizations and vendors measuring carbon footprints, collecting recycling (including old cell phones), and serving up organic food.


So I wasn't really worried when I got to the festival entrance on Friday and was asked (after my bag was searched) to empty the water out of my Klean Kanteen. This is standard practice for concerts, right? Organizers don't want certain illicit substances being brought in in the guise of water. And the staffer assured me I'd be able to fill it up again once inside the festival grounds.

So after staking out a spot near the mainstage where Radiohead would be playing later that evening, I left my friend Laura and set out to find the watering spot to refill our bottles. This is the sign that was projected on the side of the stage:


And this is one of the many waste stations throughout the grounds for recycling, compost, and trash.


I thought I'd start by asking these guys, as they worked for Clean Vibes, a company "dedicated to the responsible waste management of outdoor festivals and events." But they didn't know where the water was. "Let us know when you find out," they said.

So I walked and walked, and finally spotted this!


But a closer look revealed this is what they were selling:


The only water to be found were plastic bottles of Arrowhead water in the new "Eco-shape" bottle which according to Arrowhead's site, "contains 30% less plastic than the average half liter bottle." Turns out Arrowhead is one of the festival sponsors!

"Look," I said, "I don't want to buy a plastic bottle. I just want to fill my Klean Kanteen. Where can I fill it up?" The staff at the "water" booth didn't know. So I asked at every booth in "EcoLands" where I could find regular tap water, and nearly every person gave the same answer, "Good question. Let us know when you find out!"

Someone suggested filling up from the hand washing station by the porta potties:


Um. I don't think so.


And then I saw it. An actual drinking fountain right near an actual restroom!


Seriously, would it have killed the organizers to set up the fence AROUND the water fountain so festival goers could use it? I even tried sticking my Klean Kanteen through the fence, but alas, it would not fit.

After asking an official looking guy in a blue uniform where I could fill up my water bottle, he told me, "We have no intention of providing free water to everyone at this festival. I don't know why you'd think that." Um... you charge $85 a ticket and can't afford to provide SF tap water? And um... if you weren't going to let us refill our bottles, why'd you make us dump them out and promise we could refill when we got inside?

Someone manning the EcoLands info booth even tried to give me his own bottle of Arrowhead water, thinking maybe I just couldn't afford to buy my own. You can believe I passed out a ton of Fake Plastic Fish cards during that hour-long water search and had quite a few discussions about the craziness of this whole "eco" scheme. And what we all realized was that when the organizers talked about diversion, they meant recycling plastic bottles. Diversion is not the same as zero waste, is it?

There's nothing to divert if you don't create a bunch of waste in the first place!

Okay, so I finally did find free water. Coming out of the bathroom behind the fence was a long hose with a nozzle. It was what the coffee vendors were using to make their beverages. Aha! And this nice guy (whose name I neglected to get) happily filled up both Laura's and my bottles for us.


It took an hour of wandering around in the chilly Golden Gate Park fog (which, to be honest, was actually kind of fun in a challenging, albeit surreal, sort of way. Almost like playing a game and finally winning!) to get our bottles filled up. But that wasn't the end of my quest. Oh no! Laura and I wanted wine, too!


So I checked out the much-touted Winehaven wine tasting tent, only to find that 1) a "glass" of wine started around $10 for the cheap-ass stuff and 2) the "glasses" were, of course, plastic. "Oh, but they are fully recyclable!" I was told. Feh. We know about plastic recycling. Not doing it. And thankfully Laura wasn't into paying that kinda cash for cheap wine.

But on the way back to the main stage, I spotted the tell-tale green label indicating a compostable cup. "Where did you get that?" I asked the woman holding it, probably a bit wild-eyed at this point. I think I freaked her out, but she was nice enough to point me to another tent. Yes! At this point, I didn't care if I was drinking rotgut. It came in a compostable cup and it cost less than what they were selling in the swanky Winehaven tent. I bought Laura and me a cup each and headed back to our blanket.


Yes, the cup is made from corn, and I should have been more prepared and brought my own reusable cup for wine. Didn't think of it. And I'm actually not sure I have something that would have been legal. No glass was allowed in the park. But you know what? I saved those compostable cups, and I'll bring them with me next time!

Just before the show, Laura went off and found us an awesome organic veggie curry dish from Bombay Kitchen (all fully compostable, although as before, I should have brought my own bamboo cutlery) and our tummies were happy.


And then the music started. And for a few hours, I didn't care about anything else.

First, a set by Steel Pulse:





And then Manu Chao:





And when it finally got dark... RADIOHEAD...














A beautiful set list. And yes, the encore was Fake Plastic Fish Trees.


Then, trudging out of the park, the crunch of plastic underfoot...

...it wears me out, it wears me out.
It wears me out, it wears me out.
 

 

Tara's Organic Ice Cream: their trash can is empty!

Michael was terribly excited last week to tell me that a new shop had opened in our neighborhood combining two of our biggest passions: ice cream and zero waste. "You have to come see and bring your camera so you can write about it!" He's not often so emphatic about what I post on my blog, so I figured this must be serious!

We joined up with a couple of other ice cream-lovin' friends on Sunday and headed up the street to Tara's Organic Ice Cream, which just opened a week ago on College Avenue (near where Safeway wants to build its mega monstropolis.) And sure enough, the boy was right! The ice cream is awesome, certified organic, but even better, the shop offers only durable or compostable containers and utensils.

The spoons are metal (for eating in the shop) or made from potato starch (for taking to go.)


Even the little tasting spoons are made from metal.


The bowls and containers are either durable dishes, like this one that held my awesome ice cream sundae,


or they are made from bagasse (sugar cane fiber.)


I was happy to see that the only compostable item made from corn (a problematic crop) were the straws.


I chuckled yesterday when I read Lisa Sharp's comment on this blog about reusable glass straws from Green Home because in fact, that's exactly where Tara bought her compostable straws. Green Home sells both types. I'm all for reusable over compostable in general, but glass straws don't seem practical for a tiny ice cream shop that's mainly take-out. For my home, I may end up purchasing a set of glass straws just so I can throw an ice cream soda party, especially since they come with a handy cleaning brush. And they're guaranteed against breakage.

Anyway, back at Tara's, the waste station does include a trash can, but really, what would go in it?


And let's not forget the ice cream itself. Awesome and interesting flavors. Ever tried tarragon chocolate?




Okay, so for those of us who are truly into zero waste, none of these compostable or durable containers are necessary. Ice cream cone's the way to go! And I do wonder what happens to the compostable containers that leave the shop. Do folks know to put them in their composting bin or will they end up in the trash?

But we've got to start somewhere, right? And I think Tara's making and awesome effort and showing other small businesses that even if the compostable option is a bit more expensive, offering these kinds of containers to customers and making a point of educating them about the difference can be done! I'm hoping Tara's Organic Ice Cream sticks around here for a while!
 

 

Oh goody! BPA in my mailbox!

I received the following gem in my home mailbox last week:




The American Chemistry Council is bringing out the big guns and trying to frighten Californians into opposing the state's proposed ban on Bisphenol-A (an additive in polycarbonate plastic and in the plastic lining of most food cans) in containers and canned foods meant for babies and toddlers.

The industry's scare tactics include the following language, "Soon, many common, everyday products could disappear from grocery store shelves across California," and "Your favorite Products May Soon Disappear." The brochure urges recipients to call their Assembly Member and ask them to vote no on SB1713.

The brochure shows photos of women shoppers looking at various products they've picked up from the shelves. Only one of these products is a can. The other two appear to be boxes, which wouldn't contain BPA in the first place. AND none of the products appears to be intended primarily for children, as the language of the bill states. Here's the full summary of SB1713:

SUMMARY : Enacts the Toxin-Free Toddlers and Babies Act which prohibits the sale, manufacture or distribution in commerce of food containers for children that contain bisphenol A (BPA) above a specified level. Specifically, this bill :

1)Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any bottle, cup, or other container that contains BPA, at a level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb), if the container is designed or intended to be filled with any liquid, food, or beverage primarily for consumption by infants or children three years of age or younger.

2)Prohibits, commencing January 1, 2012, the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any liquid, food, or beverage in a can, jar, or other container containing BPA, at a level above 0.5 ppb, if the liquid, food, or beverage is designed or intended primarily for consumption by infants or children three years of age or younger.

3)Clarifies that the prohibitions in this bill do not apply to food and beverage containers designed or intended primarily to contain liquid, food, or beverages for consumption by the general population.

To be sure, the brochure was annoying, but also quite helpful. Until it arrived in my mailbox, I actually didn't realize this bill was coming up for a vote, and the inclusion of the name and phone number of my assembly member on the back made it especially easy for me to call and urge Sandre Swanson to vote YES on the bill.

In fact, according to an article on Enviroblog a few days ago, the industry's strategy seems to be backfiring. Many other Californians, like me, are irritated by this misleading campaign and are doing exactly what I did.

Do you live in California and if so, have you received this brochure? If so, please call your assembly member and ask them to Vote YES on SB1713. Didn't receive the brochure? You can call your Assembly member anyway. You can find your representative's phone number on this CA Assembly Member List by clicking "Find My District" on the sidebar.

For more information about the dangers of BPA, read Environmental Working Group's Guide to Bisphenol-A and EWG's Survey of BPA in Canned Foods.

 

And still one more...

Reading the comments from yesterday's post about coffee, I realized there was a bunch of stuff I forgot to say. So this is Coffee, Part 2. Tomorrow, I'll get to the white stuff that goes in the coffee.

1) French Press vs. Filtered Coffee: Some readers are advocating the French Press as a filter-free alternative. While this method certainly saves a lot of paper coffee filters, it might not be the best option for those of us with cholesterol issues, like Beth Terry aka Fake Plastic Fish.

High cholesterol seems to run in my family. And the oil in coffee contains a compound called cafestol which raises LDL (the bad cholesterol). Paper filters, and I'm assuming cloth filters, trap much of the oil and therefore reduce the cholesterol-raising properties of coffee. Recent studies have shown that even filtered coffee raises LDL some. But not as much as unfiltered. Here's an MSNBC article that summarizes the research in terms that non-scientists can understand: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6242467/. And here's an article that explains the mechanism by which cafestol raises cholesterol: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614162223.htm.

So, this explains my choice to buy a filtered coffee maker rather than a French Press. But it doesn't mean it's not a great choice for other people who have less cholesterol risk than I and who prefer stronger coffee.

2) Buying plastic-free coffee: I totally forgot this part yesterday! Most coffee bags, while they might be paper on the outside, are lined with plastic on the inside. This turns out to be the case at my local coffee shop, Peaberry's. So, I take my own brown paper bag with me and have them fill it up with a pound of their Fairtrade Organic blend. This is my coffee-buying bag that I bring back with me each time.

At home, I empty the coffee into a metal tin that originally contained popcorn from the Popcorn Factory. It's got a nice, tight lid. I keep it in the refrigerator. If you have better ideas of how to keep coffee fresh without plastic, let me know. This seems to work fine for me.

3) My travel mug: Cave-Woman asked what kind of mug I use. It's a Timolino Vacuum Travel mug from Peaberry's: stainless steel inside and out with a polypropylene plastic lid. Would I rather put my lips on something other than plastic? Yep. So when I'm sitting still, I drink right from the metal mug without putting the lid on. But while in transit, I do use the lid.

Cave-Woman also mentioned that she can detect a metal after-taste drinking from a stainless steel mug. Maybe her palate is more sensitive than mine. I don't notice any metal taste. But I would be interested to know if any of you know of a travel mug that contains no plastic, is made relatively locally (Mine's from China, natch. It would be local if I lived in China.), doesn't leak, and works well for you.

I'm not about to buy a new one for myself. I'll sticking with mine, imperfect as it is. But your suggestions could be useful to those who are in the market and can't find a good one used. No Impact Man talks about drinking coffee from a glass jar. But how do you pick up a glass jar of hot coffee without burning yourself? Make a cloth cozy to go around it? Hmmm...
 

 

Learning To Fix Stuff, Part 1

Back in August, when Fake Plastic Fish was less than two months old, and I'd only recently become aware of my plastic consumption, my sandal broke. In fact, the elastic strap had become so worn, I had a feeling it might break that very day as I left the house and packed an extra pair of flip flops just in case. Sure enough, it snapped as I was walking down the street. The old me would have automatically tossed them out and bought a new pair. But these were some of my most comfortable shoes, and I didn't want to waste them, plastic or not, so I found a shoe repair shop down the street and had them fixed in fifteen minutes.

This might seem like a very simple, common sense thing to those of you who have been trying to live frugally, simply, and greenly for longer than I, but at the time, I felt so proud I wanted to call my friends and tell them the news: Guess what! We don't have to throw stuff out! There are people who can fix it!

Since then, I've had a few more opportunities to fix things instead of throwing them away. For example, for months, my computer mouse was operating eratically, refusing to move the pointer where I wanted it to. The old me would have junked it and bought a new one, but this was the new me. Determined to make it work again instead of getting a new hunk of plastic, I found an article on eHow.com called How To Clean And Fix A Mouse and was all set to take the mouse apart when I remembered hearing somewhere that if the surface the mouse rolls on is too slippery, the mouse might not operate properly. I was using a bare desk without a mouse pad. So I tried slipping a piece of paper under the mouse, and sure enough, that did the trick.

Recently, the wire on my favorite cheese slicer snapped. I've had this things for many years, and it's served me well. Surely I could find a replacement wire for it. This, however, turned out to be a more difficult task than I expected. I visited multiple hardware stores with my cheese slicer attempting to find the right kind of wire. They all seemed to have something called "galvanized steel," which apparently is not rust-proof or strong enough. I'm glad I actually asked for advice instead of just buying the first wire that looked similar to the one that broke.

Finally, one hardware store salesperson recommended I check a kitchenware type of store instead. So I called Sur Le Table, which seems to have locations in many states, and sure enough, they carried stainless steel replacement wires for cheese slicers. Unfortunately, as you can see below, they come in a plastic zip-lock bag.



So there's the dilemma: a small plastic bag vs. a sturdy stainless steel kitchen tool. The kitchen tool won. I do wonder if I had checked further if I could have found stainless steel wire not packaged in plastic. But I'm pretty pleased that I was able to easily "restring" my slicer on New Year's Eve just in time for the nice cheese our friends brought to our little party.

Now here's my current fix-it problem. A blow dryer. Some of you might be thinking that a blow dryer is not the greenest thing to have and use in the first place. And you would be right. No arguments there. But the fact is that I do use a blow dryer on my hair for a minute or two each morning, and this one just suddenly stopped working. When I turn it on, nothing happens. Nothing. (And yes, it stopped working BEFORE I took it apart to examine it!) And yes, I have tried pressing the reset button. And yes, I have also cleaned out the air vents.

So my friend Mark was nice enough to lend me his hair dryer until I get this one fixed in Hawaii in a few weeks. Why in Hawaii? Because that's where my electrician dad is with his pro multimeter, which we will use to figure out what's wrong with it. The trip was already planned. I visit them in Hawaii every January for my mom's and my birthdays. (No, flying to Hawaii is not very green either, alas.) Fixing the hair dryer is a bonus father/daughter bonding experiment. I found these instructions online, which hopefully will help: HowStuffWorks.com's How To Fix A Hair Dryer. If we do figure it out, I'll post the step-by-step process with photos.

The big question is why we don't know how to fix things already. Why does it require all this research? And how many times have you taken an appliance to a repair place, only to be told that it's not worth it to fix and that you should junk it and buy a new one? Everything has value and is worth fixing or repurposing in some way. But it's not always easy to figure out how, these days. Have you all watched The Story of Stuff? It think there's a clue in that video about why this is so.
 

 

I think we all do that sometimes

Beth is away at a three-and-a-half day meditation retreat. She goes on these about twice a year, at a convent in Marin County called Santa Sabina, and they're very good for her, if only because she spends a large part of the time she's supposed to be meditating sleeping, and she desperately needs some sleep after staying up till dawn most days writing this blog.

In her absence, I'll be writing today's post. Who am I? Her husband, Michael. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you'll have seen mention of me. I also comment fairly frequently under the name "terrible person", which is a name I used to use on a local BBS back in the 90's. This was actually where Beth and I first encountered each other and attracted each other's interest. You've got to hand it to a woman who would be interested in a guy who calls himself "terrible person". But then, you should have seen the things *she* was writing. But I digress. All the time, in fact. Anyway, this feels a little like one of those "Family Circus" comic strips in which cartoonist Bil Keane purports to have let his eternally three-year-old son Billy fill in and draw.

People sometimes ask me, and ask Beth, "What is it like for Michael? How does he feel about your efforts to make people aware of the pervasiveness and dangers of plastic, and to reduce, reuse, and recycle around the house that you share?"

Well, it's not always easy. But I think it's worth it. First of all, Beth spends an extraordinary amount of time on this blog. I hope you all appreciate how hard she works on it, all while working three and a half days a week as a bookkeeper. It would be so great if she did not have to work, or could make this her job, so that she could devote herself to this full-time. Of course, part of the reason Beth stays up all night working on this blog is that she simply likes staying up all night. She's nocturnal. Some people are. (Me, I like to get up before six a.m. and go running or swimming. And I zonk out around eleven.) And Beth tends to immerse herself totally in one activity at a time, for a few months to a year. This involves reading everything she can on the subject, buying all the equipment needed for it, keeping accurate statistics (arranged in spreadsheets, or reported on a blog) of her progress with it, etc., most of this done late at night. Before plastic, it was running. Before running, it was knitting, or watching movies. So it's not as if I saw that much more before she started FPF, so I can't really blame it. Besides, it's important. To her, but also to the world.

I keep thinking that eventually, Beth will get tired of blogging about plastic, and move on to something else. I mean, we're getting two kittens soon! Who would want to blog when there are kittens to play with? But this time, I think it might be different. I think Beth will stick with the plastics project for a while. A big reason for that is the feedback she receives from you. Having consistent readers, who really care what she has to say, really means a lot to her and encourages her.

Besides the time she spends researching and writing about plastic, and sorting it out at home, there's the other issue. Beth has set herself very firm rules about the use of products made from plastic or packaged in it (as well as the use of many other commercial products, such as household cleaners.) Beth constantly asserts that her rules are only for herself. But it can be hard to live with someone observing such rules without being affected by them.

Let me say, though, that I have never been a huge user of plastic. I don't buy a lot of take-out food, or packaged food: I tend to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm not a typical American consumer. I've never owned a car; I use my bicycle, my feet, or public transportation. (Well, I get a free ride to work in the "casual carpool" -- but that's just too convenient to pass up.) But I have my own reasons for many of these behaviors. I can't stand waste. I can't stand to see usable stuff thrown out: food, clothing, petroleum. Time, for that matter. Especially when there is an advantage in conserving, such as saving money. I pick up plastic bottles on the street, because every few months, I bring a big bag of them to the recycling center and get a few bucks back in redemption money. Redemption! I used to drink out of polycarbonate bottles, until I learned about leaching and outgassing. So in general, I see Beth's efforts to reduce plastic use in our house as something very positive, that will improve my health, and I'm glad for it.

Sometimes, though, plastic is just so convenient. I like to eat cottage cheese - it's all in plastic tubs. They're recyclable, but recycling is a poor alternative to avoiding use in the first place. And when I've broken down and bought something plastic, and I come home with it, and Beth seems so disappointed and disapproving, as if I've brought pork into a Kosher home, and tells me, in case I bought it to share, that she will not be partaking, it can be very frustrating, and guilt-inducing. But then, I think how it must be for her. She's trying so hard to reduce plastic use. And here is *her husband*, who of all people should be supporting her, bringing plastic into the house, ruining her attempts to bring her consumption to zero, totally throwing off her statistics -- but more than that, doing something that is bad for the environment, and bad for me.

The reason I can understand this is that I experience it myself. I work at a large law firm, as a librarian. The attorneys work very hard, and make a lot of money. The staff, especially the secretaries, also work very hard, and don't make anywhere near what the lawyers make. The firm provides all sorts of refreshments to keep us going, hard at work: coffee, soda, granola bars (individually wrapped), packets of instant oatmeal, etc. Attorney meetings are typically held over lunch, which is ordered from local caterers, in individual plastic containers or big plastic trays. The bottom floor of our high-rise building, and the surrounding downtown San Francisco neighborhood, is full of takeout restaurants, from which people are always ordering, often in styrofoam boxes, because they don't have time to make their own food. We have water coolers that dispense wonderful filtered, chilled tap water (not from big polycarbonate bottles), but most people drink the individual bottles the firm also provides. What this means is that there is a huge amount of waste being generated in our offices. And this drives me nuts.

Unfortunately, the argument that I use on myself to conserve, saving money, doesn't work at a place where the attorneys bill six hundred or more dollars an hour to put together multimillion dollar deals. Reduction, reuse, and recycling are very low priorities. Part of it is apathy: people just don't care enough to use real dishes and metal cutlery instead of paper bowls and plastic forks, or to actually think for a moment, before tossing their waste, whether it goes in the recycling bin or the trash, or actually to read the signs placed on the waste bins indicating what should go in each. Someone else will clean it up. But perhaps even worse is the other part, ignorance. People just don't know. They don't understand that food-soiled paper can't be recycled, or that most plastic can't be either, so they toss it in with the recycling, contaminating it and likely rendering it unsellable, all the while congratulating themselves on having done their part. And I sometimes get really angry at this. But then I remember, these people work very hard all day. They have long commutes; they have children, parents, themselves to take care of. Sometimes, you just can't think about what you're doing. I know this, because I don't always. *I* get tired, *I* find myself in a hurry, *I* just want to be able to have my food or my drink and not have to get up and go to the kitchen and clean my mug or my bowl and fill it up ... And I'm like this when I'm shopping for home, too, or when I'm there.

Back in 1987, when I was in college, I worked as a bike messenger in Boston. One of my fellow messengers was a guy, a kid really, probably not even eighteen, named Matt Cook, and he was completely nuts. He rode broken-down three-speeds, each lasting a few weeks before it collapsed or he crashed it, faster than I could go on my new mountain bike. In social situations, his contributions to conversations took the form of one comment, an unchanging rejoinder to any utterance by anyone else: "I think we *all* do that sometimes." No matter what anyone said, that would be his response, relevant or not. The funny thing was, sometimes it would be incredibly relevant. It would be exactly what needed to be said. And then it was so nice to be able to count on him to say it.

The point is, we're all on a continuum. I use far less plastic than the people with whom I work, than most Americans. Beth uses far less plastic than I do. But even she slips occasionally, for instance, if I buy Haig's hummus. Or this continuum has many dimensions. Beth may use less plastic than I, but I never rent cars. Whatever. The important thing to remember is that, as Matt Cook would say ... well, you know. It's not a competition. And none of us will be perfect. It's just important for each of us to do as much as he or she can. The more a person does, the better it will be for him- or herself a