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.

Election Day 2008

It's Super Tuesday, and California is one of the states electing our presidential nominees today. In a few hours, the polls will open. Which candidate do you feel will do the best job of protecting our environment, and by environment I mean the water we drink, air we breathe, food we eat, and all the systems of earth that support our quality of life?

Siel at Green LA Girl has posted her reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton here. I'm not sure I agree with her pick. What do you think?

Regardless of whether or not you're a Clintonite or Obamian, how are you Californians voting on Prop 93, the term limits proposition? Many, many environmental organizations are supporting it. Californians Against Waste, a group I support, sent me the following email outlining the reasons they are endorsing this proposition:

On Tuesday, February 5th, you will have the chance to make an important decision about the future of California's environment.

Californians Against Waste has been helping California's environment for over thirty years now and we couldn't have been able to do this without help from the environmental leaders in the state legislature. Currently, California's legislative term limits are just about the tightest in the country, and remain a barrier to effective governing, which is why CAW supports Proposition 93. Prop 93 strikes a balance that would still stick legislators with tight term limits, but allow legislators more time in one house, greatly increasing continuity and institutional memory necessary to be effective leaders.

The flaw in our current system is that it keeps legislators from gaining enough experience to be effective and to oversee the implementation of often complex, important legislation, including environmental laws.

Additionally, the current system often requires some of our best legislative allies to run against each other when their Assembly terms expire--after just 6 years. Case in point, CAW Legislators-of-the-Year Lloyd Levine and Fran Pavley have carried several successful recycling bills each during their 6 years in the Assembly. Now they are forced to run against each other for the Senate seat of another termed out CAW legislator-of-the-year: State Senator Sheila Kuehl.

Currently, legislators can serve up to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, for a total of 14 years. Prop 93 would reduce the total amount of time a legislator can serve in the Legislature to 12 years, but allow a legislator to serve all 12 years in the Assembly or the Senate. This limit gives legislators time to gain experience, but still maintains a healthy turnover rate to allow for new issues to be brought up. It also helps drastically reduce the political jockeying that dominates Sacramento and help stabilize our system by breaking the cycle of legislators constantly wanting to move up the political ladder.

The Yes on Proposition 93 campaign has produced a video featuring Assemblymember John Laird of Santa Cruz, discussing the impact reforming term limits will have on environmental issues in California. Watch the video.

Other environmental groups support Prop. 93, including the Sierra Club and the CA League of Conservation Voters.

Sorry I don't have many of my own words on these election issues. I'm usually more of a "personal is political" type. But we all personally get to vote today. And I'd really like to know your opinions.
 

Oakland Bag Ban + Send a note to Zip Car!

Here are my friend Nancy, a poor seagull, and I at the Oakland plastic bag ban press conference on the steps of City Hall this morning. (I've got to do something about my hair soon! I'm starting to look like one of the Partridge Family boys.) It was a beautiful, sunny day: a reprieve from all the rain we've been having.

You can watch ABC 7's disappointing (in my opinion) coverage of the press conference here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/media?id=5919632. They really seem to focus on the plastics industry's arguments against the ban rather than on promoters' arguments for it. And reusable bags barely get mentioned at all. Oh well.

On the bright side, businesses such as Whole Foods and City Car Share had representatives who spoke in favor of the ban today. Whole Foods, as you've probably already heard, is set to eliminate plastic bags in all of its stores by Earth Day this year.

And City Car Share has begun including reusable bags in all of its cars as a service to members. What a great idea! Unfortunately, I belong to Zipcar, not City Car Share, so I sent them an email suggesting they also provide bags. Here are my email and their prompt response:

Sent: Jan 26, 2008, at 02:31 AM
To: info@zipcar.com
From: Beth Terry
Subject: Reusable bags in ZipCars?

Dear Zipcar:

I just read that City Car Share is now including reusable shopping bags in each of its cars to encourage members to bring their own bags while shopping rathering than using disposable paper or plastic bags. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.citycarshare.org/newsletters/2007-10/

As a Zipcar member, I would truly appreciate if Zipcar could follow suit and provide a couple of reusable cloth bags in each of its cars.

Reusable bags are not expensive and imprinted with the Zipcar logo, would be a great advertising tool for the company. And providing the bags would be a real service to your members, helping to alleviate the problem of folks forgetting to bring their bags to the store with them.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this suggestion.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Terry
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

---

From: "Zipcar Member Services" info@zipcar.com
Subject: Re: Reusable bags in ZipCars?
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:43:37 GMT

Dear Elizabeth,

Thanks for writing. That is a great idea Elizabeth. Although we cannot act on every suggestion immediately, perhaps you will see this same feature in our vehicles soon.

As you said, it would be convenient for those members that are doing errands and shopping and it also helps the environment as well. Please let us know if you have any other ideas Elizabeth.

Regards,
Sluaghan
Zipcar Member Services

members visit www.zipcar.com/help
or nonmembers www.zipcar.com/how

PS. Members are also able to submit web inquiries from the "Help" page
via the "Contact Us" screen http://www.zipcar.com/help/contact

---

If you're a Zipcar member, please use the above links to send a quick email requesting they stock reusable bags in their cars for members to use while grocery shopping. And if you're a City Car Share member, why not send City Car Share a letter thanking them for providing the service?
 

Extra! Extra! Locals needed at Oakland City Hall on Monday!

If you live in the SF Bay Area and have some time free Monday morning, your presence is requested on the steps of Oakland City Hall OR Hearing Room 1, on the first floor of City Hall in case of rain.

Please come with your reusable canvas bags in hand to show support for Oakland's plastic bag ban, which is being challenged in court by the plastics industry. I will be there with MY canvas bags in hand. It's great for us as individuals to voluntarily bring our own bags to the store with us. But we also need strong measures from our governments to eliminate the threat to the environment entirely.

PRESS RELEASE FROM:

---

Office of Councilmembers Nancy Nadel, District 3 and Jean Quan, District 4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2008

CONTACT:
Marisa Arrona, (510) 238-7031
Policy Aide to Councilmember Nadel
ArronaM@oaklandnet.com

OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL ASSERTS PLASTIC BAG BAN IS RIGHT FOR OAKLAND AND RIGHT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

OAKLAND, CA — City Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (District 3) and Jean Quan (District 4) will hold a press conference Monday, January 28, 2008, at 10 am, at City Hall to affirm the City of Oakland’s commitment to reducing pollution, oil-consumption, blight, and global warming through its ban on single-use plastic bags.

On Tuesday, January 29, 2008, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch will consider the plastic bag industry’s lawsuit to stop the City’s ordinance banning the use of non-biodegradable carryout plastic bags at retail establishments in Oakland.

“The tide is turning internationally against the plastic bag glut in our environment, and Oakland will not be intimidated against doing our part to switch to reusable bags,” said Councilmember Nancy Nadel.

The plastic bag industry’s lawsuit claims that the City did not consider potential environmental impacts of banning plastic bags. However, the City determined that not only will a large scale reduction of plastic bags improve the environment, but there is no evidence that the plastic bag ban will harm the environment – and thus the plastic bag ban is exempt from environmental review.

The plastic bag ban was scheduled to go into effect on January 18, 2008, although the City has delayed enforcement pending a resolution of the lawsuit in the trial court.

“We’re hoping for the best decision from the Court, but regardless of the decision on Tuesday, we pledge to join a quarter of the world’s population that has already banned plastic bags,” said Councilmember Jean Quan, who co-authored the ordinance with Councilmember Nadel.

Oakland’s ordinance, passed on July 17, 2007, contains four elements:

• It bans the use of non-biodegradable plastic carry-out bags provided at the point of sale at retail establishments in Oakland that gross one million dollars or more.


• It encourages affected retail establishments to offer incentives to customers to use reusable bags.


• It allows the use of single-use paper bags, but stipulates that they must contain recycled content.


• Although it does not encourage or discourage their use, the Ordinance allows the use of biodegradable plastic bags.

A growing list of countries and foreign cities from Bangladesh to Zanzibar have already banned plastic bags, including China, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa, Taiwan, Singapore, Melbourne, and a number of East African countries. Recently, San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags and a growing number of other U.S. cities are now considering similar legislation. Just last week, Whole Foods, Inc., announced that it is phasing out the use of plastic bags in all of its stores nationwide by Earth Day, April 22, 2008. City Car Share, which helps reduce air pollution and gasoline consumption by reducing the number of cars on the road through car sharing in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, now provides reusable bags for grocery shopping in all of its cars.

---

I'd love to see you there!
 

What's wrong with this picture?

Out for a nice stroll, buying nothing yesterday, Michael and I were dismayed to see Telegraph Avenue lined with plastic bags full of brown leaves. What's wrong with that? Everything!

Our city councilwoman, Jane Brunner, has been working on getting more trees planted along our streets. Do more trees mean more garbage for the landfill? This beautiful compostable material gets sealed up in a plastic bag to mummify with the rest of the garbage instead of being returned to the soil to nourish new trees? If that's the case, someone's not using their noggin.

I'm going to call the city on Monday and get to the bottom of this. Oakland ought to be handing out compostable leaf bags and hauling them to our commercial composter. Well, I rescued one bagful for my personal compost. Any other Oaklanders could do the same. Even if you don't have your own composter, you could free the leaves from the plastic and empty them into your green bin.
 

San Francisco Green Festival, the aftermath

The San Francisco Green Festival was somewhat of a sanctuary after my dismal visit to the bay on Friday. It was huge, HUGE! I went intending to browse and gather information. I ended up with a backpack and tote bag full of stuff but almost zero plastic. (I'll tell you about the one bit of plastic I'll be sending back at the end of this post.)

Anyway, after walking a couple of miles to the festival from the wharf, I was starving and headed directly for the food court, where I was happy to see that all the offerings were organic, the tableware was compostable, and the water was piped into a water station rather than served in plastic bottles. I had a tasty veggie wrap and salad from Back to Earth Organic Caterers and filled up my own Klean Kanteen at the water station. Instead of taking their disposable napkins and compostable cutlery, I used my own cloth napkin and To-Go-Ware utensils.




I was also heartened to see many waste stations at convenient intervals throughout the festival with bins for garbage, recycling, and compost. And each station was manned by at least one volunteer who made sure materials were placed in the correct containers. It's reassuring to think that the compostable foodware used at this event will actually end up being composted.


After regaining my strength, I was ready for some serious browsing. I was happy to see some of my favorite vendors there.

Klean Kanteen:


To-Go Ware:


Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps (whose soaps come in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles):


Doug Farquar from BuyGreen who also created and sells ReJavanate Bags:

Straus Family Creamery:


And by the way, Kristin at Straus told me that the company is working on creating a potato-based container for their yogurt to replace petro-plastic. They are shooting to have it in place a year from now. They are committed to organic ingredients and will not use containers made from corn or other GMO sources.

I ended up buying:

• 3 bars of Kallari Rainfamily Rainforest chocolate (promoted as the only chocolate bar at the festival actually harvested, processed, and marketed by a family in the Amazon rather than being shipped to the states for processing.)


• 1 Soi natural soy candle and skin moisturizer (the wax melts into a liquid that can be used on your skin) for a co-worker's birthday


• 1 Littlearth Road Journal made from a recycled license plate and recycled paper


• 2 Purrfectplay.com organic natural fiber catnip "mice" for my friend's new baby kittens


• 1 EcoMetro Guide Community Coupons book, which is like a green version of the Entertainment coupon book. In addition to East Bay, CA, there are also coupon books for Eugene, Portland, Seattle, and Twin Cities.


• 1 Cobrahead long-handled weeding/cultivating tool for when I get around to cultivating the hard, dried-up patch of earth along the side of our house. (And yes, this impulse purchase occurred late in the day after my visit to the organic beer and wine garden.)

And I also took away a bunch of freebies from various vendors: movie passes, T-shirt, soap, chocolate samples, reusable tote bags, and even a couple of CFLs in plastic-free boxes.

Of course, there were a lot of items at the festival in plastic packaging. I didn't bother taking pictures of or noting most of it because I've become so used to seeing organic, natural products packaged in plastic these days that it doesn't phase me anymore. I just don't buy those things. But there were two plastic problems worth mentioning.

First, my favorite grocery store in the world, Rainbow Grocery, was giving out plastic bottles of Crystal Geyser water at their booth.


Huh??? I asked the Rainbow representative why they were selling bottled water, and she replied, "We're not selling it; we're giving it away!" Oh, how silly of me. That makes all the difference in the world. NOT! What were they thinking? It's not like everyone else was doing it. While a few vendors were selling their own juices and energy drinks in bottles, not a single other vendor was thoughtless enough to bring bottled water. So I asked, "Why, Rainbow Grocery, why?" And the rep showed me a stack of "Think Outside The Bottle" brochures and said she was educating the people who took the water by giving them a brochure with each bottle. Once again, "Huh???" Why not educate people by NOT GIVING OUT BOTTLED WATER IN THE FIRST PLACE? How about handing them a brochure and pointing them to the water station if they're thirsty?

So that was plastic surprise #1. I didn't notice plastic surprise #2 until I got home and emptied out my goodie bag and noticed a terrible smell. In fact, this smell is not unlike that of San Francisco Bay earlier in the day. It came from the Discovery Channel's Planet Green reusable tote bag, which I'd been planning to give away. But I can't subject anyone to the plastic fumes from this bag besides the folks who brought it into the world to begin with. So I'll be sending it back to the Discovery Channel with a nice little note. Funny, the bag says, "My Carbon Footprint Is Smaller Than Yours." Somehow, I doubt it.

So, that's my report on the Green Festival. It was a lot of fun and kind of overwhelming. There were many, many more organizations, vendors, and topics represented than I have touched on here. If you have a chance to go to a Green Festival in your area (the next one is in Seattle in April), I recommend it. But maybe leave your money and credit cards at home if you don't want to break any vows you might have made to not buy anything new.
 

San Francisco Bay oil spill

By now, everyone has heard about the terrible oil spill in the San Francisco Bay last week. Friday, I stopped at the wharf on my way to the Green Festival, to see for myself. The smell was terrible. Like walking into a chemical factory, except it was outside! Oil floated on top of the water instead of ducks. And the boat that hit the Bay Bridge was still anchored out there like a bad dog tied to a stake. Here are a few of the photos I took on Friday:








And here's a little irony:


Those who would like to help with the cleanup can sign up at SFBaykeeper.org. Just one more reason that we need to discontinue our dependence on oil, including oil used to make plastics.
 

Mixed Messages: Assemblywoman Hancock's Forum on the Health of San Francisco Bay

Last night, I attended a public meeting called "Troubled Waters: A Forum on the Health of the San Francisco Bay." Along with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, who presented the forum, the panel consisted of Harold Gilliam, a journalist; David Lewis, the executive director of Save The Bay; Shin-Roei Lee, chief of the SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board's South Bay division; and Dejal Choksi, staff attorney for Baykeeper. They presented information about sources of pollution in the bay, the largest of which is urban runoff, which brings huge quantities of wildlife-harming plastic trash, motor oil, pesticides, and other contaminants into our waterways. A Water Board pilot study found an average of three pieces of trash along every foot of Bay Area streams.

While I appreciated the thought that went into presenting these speakers to us, I was more struck by the irony of what I saw when I first stepped through the auditorium door. Knowing it was dinnertime, the organizers had been kind enough to provide snacks: individual plastic-wrapped granola bars! Several speakers mentioned that plastic wrappers are some of the worst trash entering the bay. Did no one notice the plastic wrappers just a few feet away?

What does it take to change behaviors when even the people who are trying to do good can't see some of their own contributions to the plastic mess that we're in? Perhaps one thing it takes is someone noticing and speaking up. So I filled out a question card, politely thanking the assemblywoman for the forum and the snacks and asking how we can address the source of plastic waste when the organizers themselves were sending mixed messages by providing plastic waste at this very forum.

Unfortunately, my question was never read. Neither were the questions of many other audience members. The forum was 2-1/2 hours long. Of that, only 50 minutes were allocated for questions, and of that 50 minutes, only about 25 were actually spent on the questions because Assemblywoman Hancock decided to change the agenda and have representatives from each of the non-profits tabling at the event come up and speak to us. There were a lot of words addressed to us but not a lot of listening going on.

So, me being me once again, I sent her this e-mail tonight:

Dear Assemblywoman Hancock,

I want to thank you for last night's meeting, Troubled Waters: A Forum on the Health of the San Francisco Bay, and also give you some feedback on the event.

I appreciated the panel and the non-profit organizations tabling at the event. A lot of good information was given out. However, I wish there had been more time for questions. I wish that instead of having the representatives from the non-profits come up and speak to us, you would have stuck with the agenda, as there were many more questions than time allowed as it was.

Many people who come to an event like this already understand what a lot of the problems are, and they want answers to their specific questions. I kind of felt like we were "talked at" rather than listened to last night. I know this is not what you intended. But perhaps next time you could organize a more interactive forum in which your constituents' concerns could be given more weight.

Additionally, I was surprised when I entered the auditorium to find a table full of granola bars that were individually wrapped in plastic. While I appreciated that refreshments were provided, I couldn't help feeling that there were mixed messages being sent. Plastic wrappers were mentioned by several panelists as causing problems for wildlife in the bay. Yet, just a few feet away was a table full of them.

I am personally working very hard to reduce the plastic waste that I generate, and I'd like to see some support from our representatives for measures to curb this kind of waste at the source. But first, I'd like to see my representatives set the example for the rest of us by eliminating wasteful packaging and bottles from their own offices and events as Mayor Newsom has done in San Francisco.

I look forward to your response to these comments. Once again, I do thank you for putting on last night's event.

Elizabeth Terry
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

There I go again, being a little sh*t disturber. Wait'l tomorrow, when I tell you what I did tonight!

Oh, and I created a separate page to keep track of the Trash Challenge. Tomorrow, I'll update it with the results from today.
 

Recycled Art: The Panhandle Band Shell

Last week, I went to bed and found this newspaper clipping on my pillow. Michael had left it there for me. Then, a few days later, my friend Sharon e-mailed me the same article. So I knew I had to make a visit to the new Panhandle Band Shell in San Francisco between Oak and Fell near Clayton and see for myself this creation made from plastic water bottles, old car hoods, and computer parts. Here are the photos I took today, as well as one taken of me by some nice guy. Click images to see larger.



















I don't know if the band shell will be there after September. I should have taken my ukulele and made music. Or sung. Well, I sang all the way home from BART today even without a band shell to amplify my sound. The cats in Rockridge are very forgiving.
 

Danger feared from chemicals getting into bay

From yesterday's SF Gate:

Danger feared from chemicals getting into bay
by Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Chemicals found in household products like antibacterial soap and plastic bottles are found in sewage water that is discharged into San Francisco Bay, posing a threat to wildlife and humans, according to new data.

Sophisticated sewage systems treat biodegradable food, human waste and metals, but they are not designed to capture the thousands of tons of synthetic chemicals used to manufacture consumer products, say officials at the East Bay Municipal Utility District, who found evidence of potentially harmful substances in sewage from businesses and homes.

Chemical ingredients are leaching out of toothpaste, deodorant, canned food liners and vinyl and polycarbonate plastics. They pass through the municipal sewage plants virtually untreated, the experts say.

[...Click the link above to read the rest of the article. It concludes with the following list of problem products:]

Problem Products
-- Perfumes and beauty products labeled "fragrance."

-- PVC/vinyl flexible plastic in food wraps, toys and shower curtains.

-- "Antibacterial" detergents and hand soap with triclosan.

-- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in nail polish.

-- Hard, clear polycarbonate plastic baby bottles and water bottles.

-- Canned food containing solid colored liners.

-- Plastic pet products, including toys and some water dishes.

-- Foam shoe insoles.

Source: Environmental Working Group

E-mail Jane Kay at jkay@sfchronicle.com.

It's official: Oakland bans plastic bags

Good news reported in yesterday's Oakland Tribune:

The Oakland City Council Tuesday banned petroleum-based nonbiodegradable shopping bags in an effort to reduce the amount of waste Oakland sends to landfills and prevent the plastic bags from polluting the environment.

The ban would apply to stores with gross annual sales of more than $1million, which would include all supermarkets and chain drug stores.

However, the measure would not apply to restaurants or fast food eateries.

"It's a good first small step," said Councilmember Patricia Kernighan (Grand Lake-Chinatown). "It's not going to solve all of the problems in the world."

The new law does not apply to the sacks provided by grocery stores to bag fresh fruit and vegetables or meat, only those bags shoppers get at the check stand.

So, this ban does not address the problem of all the plastic bags used for bulk foods at stores like Berkeley Bowl. I'll have a report on Berkeley Bowl soon.