Contest Answer: BioBags okay for compost only.

A week ago, I showed this photo from the SF Green Festival and asked what was wrong with this picture. No one offered the specific answer I was looking for, but many gave great partial attempts.

Ken O. noticed that all the bin liners are biodegradable, and he's right. In fact, they are all corn-based BioBags. Lara S. gave an excellent answer, "the plastic bags are unnecessary and shouldn't be there (compostable or not... it's a waste)." If these bins were at our homes, most of us could do without any liners at all. Michael and I don't use any kind of garbage bags at our house these days... compostable or not.

But for a big 3-day event where there is quite a bit of solid waste (despite being a zero-waste event!) it's more practical to swap out some kind of liner than to move many, many bins around.

So here's what happened: these green BioBags were the first thing I noticed when I entered the convention hall. A green BioBag in each bin. And of course, my assumption was that the BioBag would travel with whatever it contained: a BioBag to the compost facility, a BioBag to the recycler, and a BioBag to the landfill. And my biggest concern was that BioBags should not go to the landfill.

Now, this opinion is the exact reverse of what I thought over a year ago when I first started Fake Plastic Fish. In fact, I argued vociferously that BioBags were better than re-used plastic grocery bags for garbage. My reasoning was that since BioBags are made from a renewable resource, it's less harmful to landfill them (since we can grow more corn) than to landfill plastic bags which are made from non-renewable fossil fuels.

Of course, I now understand that in anaerobic landfill conditions, bio-based bags will break down and create methane gas, which is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2. BioBags are not benign in the landfill, as I thought, but probably worse than plastic bags. (Not to mention the fossil fuels used to grow that "renewable" corn.)

So, back to Green Festival. Before checking out any of the booths; before finding any of my friends; before getting food (I was starving), I set out to find out who was in charge of this mess and set them straight. I was as self-righteous two weeks ago about BioBags not being landfilled as I was over a year ago that they should be!

And when I did find the culprits out back, I was happily put in my place.


A whole team was out there removing the contents from the green BioBags, sorting it into huge containers, then reusing the BioBags if possible or putting them in with the compost. In fact, when I asked the guy in charge about the bags, he seemed as aghast as I was at the thought of landfilling them. "Oh, no!" he said, "They're worse in the landfill than plastic bags!" And, of course, the bags would not be sent to the recycling center to clog up the sorting machines either.

I've grown to love being wrong. I love how this blog constantly gives me a chance to show my ignorance. I love the feedback from you guys and the "Aha!" moments I have (as Oprah would say) when I realize I've been up to my self-righteous act again. It's how I learn... not just environmental information but where my own blind spots are. Man, I have a lot of them.

So maybe there is no right answer about landfills and plastic bags and garbage. The best solution I know of is to reduce our waste as much as possible so we don't have to make these kinds of choices in the first place. To me, even thought they're not going to the landfill, it's sad to see so many brand new bags used for a weekend and composted. We're moving towards zero waste, but we have a long way to go. Still, it's a fallible imperfect perfect world, with each of us doing our best, getting better only as quickly as we can.

So with that, since you all gave such good guesses, I'm going to choose a winner at random from among the folks who attempted to answer the question. And that winner is...

Maya!

Please email me your mailing address, and I'll send you the book this week.
 

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.
 

Hidden Plastic

Confession time again. Well, maybe not a confession, but more of a clarification. There is some plastic that I use that I don't include in my tally. It's plastic that hides in objects that many people don't realize contain plastic. Plastic that coats and lines cartons and cans and caps and lids. Plastic that can't be separated from the material it's attached to, and therefore can't be weighed. I do avoid most of these kinds of plastic, but not all. Here's a rundown of some of them.

Paper milk cartons are lined with two layers of polyethylene, inside and out. Many people are under the mistaken belief that these cartons are waxed. In fact, although the original paperboard milk cartons were coated with paraffin wax, they haven't contained wax since the 40's when polyethylene became the waterproofing material of choice.

Here is a diagram of how they are made, directly from Elopak's web site. Also, eNotes.com has an excellent history of the milk carton which describes the production process in detail.



The point is that if it's made from paper these days, and it holds liquids, it's generally going to be coated with plastic. As far as I know, there's no ice cream container that's not coated with a petroleum-based plastic, although there are manufacturers experimenting with bio-based plastic coatings.

So choosing paper cups and paper plates does not necessarily mean plastic-free. Cups are always coated with a layer of polymer film to make them waterproof. Plates may or may not be coated with plastic. You can tell if they are shiny or not and if wet food soaks through them or not. Georgia Pacific's Dixie Brand (pictured) contains a "Soak-Proof Shield." Their site does not reveal what the shield is made from, but you can be sure it's plastic.

There is a new paper cup being used by Tully's and a few other coffee houses called the Ecotainer. It's coated with NatureWorks PLA, a corn-based plastic, rather than petro-plastic. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of new, more environmentally-friendly options, as they are fully compostable (the cups, that is; not the lids.) Still, disposable is disposable, NatureWorks PLA is produced by Dow Chemical and Cargill, and bringing your own is always the best choice.

Moving on from paper products, we come to cans. There's been a lot of news lately about the fact that many food cans are lined with polycarbonate, which has been found to leach Bisphenol-A. As far as I know, there is no comprehensive list of canned foods that contain this lining and canned foods that don't. Most do, however, contain some form of plastic. So buying canned foods is not a way to remain plastic-free.

Neither is buying canned soda! Aluminum soda cans also contain a plastic lining to prevent the soda from reacting with the metal. See for yourself in Steve Spangler's Inside The Soda Can demo.
 
 
 

So, what kind of food container is really plastic free? Glass? Not quite. The lids of glass jars are lined with plastic as well. Some Mason jar lids don't seem to contain plastic, but all of the twist-off ones do. See my discussion of the differences between jar lids.

And metal twist off caps are not plastic-free either. This photo shows a twist-off wine cap. Wineries have been switching to these lately as an alternative to cork. However, these caps are lined with PVDC, a possible hormone-disruptor, which is yet another reason to stick to natural cork stoppers, especially since producers are taking new measures to make sure natural corks do not develop mold.

So, these are the types of hidden plastics that would not end up in my tally at the end of the week. It seems like nearly everything has some bit of plastic in it these days. I eat as little as possible from cans. And I use as few disposable products as possible. While I buy my milk in glass bottles (the carton in the photo belongs to someone else), I do indulge in Straus's local, organic ice cream and I do use glass jars with those plasticized lids.

I'm not listing these things to scare you or make you think you have to avoid everything. But I think it's a good idea for us to be mindful of all the plastic we use every day and to try and minimize our consumption as much as we can. I always think it's better to be educated than blissfully ignorant.

Every item on this page is either recyclable or compostable. The question to think about is what happens to all that plastic? As we know, it doesn't biodegrade. It's all still out there somewhere, even if the metal has been made into new cans, the paper has been pulped into new paper or broken down into new soil. The plastic's still there in our environment. I don't know the ramifications of this fact. But I do think it's important to keep in mind.
 

Think outside the Biota bottle

Marika sent me an e-mail a few days ago asking what I thought of the new Biota water, which is the first water bottled in a compostable corn-based bottle. This issue is probably moot because according to Biota's site, the company is out of business, having been "stomped To Death By UPS Capital, A Division of United Parcel Service, one of the World’s Largest contributors to Global Warming." However, a note at the bottom of this announcement suggests that Biota water may be granted a second life, and if not Biota, surely another company will takes its place. So I think it's important for me to explain why I would not buy this "planet friendly" beverage which was all the rage at the 79th ACADEMY AWARDS and was even chosen as a sponsor for the Hollywood Premiere of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

According to the company, what makes Biota so green is its bottle. It's made from NatureWorks PLA, a plastic derived from corn. It's compostable at high temperatures. And according to Biota, "The containers are made from corn, the contents are used by the consumer, then the container is turned into compost, to feed the corn."

While it may be true that the container can be turned into compost, I doubt it's feeding much of the corn. NatureWorks PLA is a joint venture between Cargill (one of the world's largest processors of corn into such lovelies as high fructose corn syrup and other food additives that kill humans slowly, as well as corn-based feed for cattle, that kills cattle slowly since their stomachs did not evolve to process corn) and Dow Chemical (producer of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, soil fumigants, genetically-modified seeds, and a host of other agricultural chemicals.) According to Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, in this NY Times opinion piece about corn-based ethanol:

The way we grow corn in this country consumes tremendous quantities of fossil fuel. Corn receives more synthetic fertilizer than any other crop, and that fertilizer is made from fossil fuels — mostly natural gas. Corn also receives more pesticide than any other crop, and most of that pesticide is made from petroleum. To plow or disc the cornfields, plant the seed, spray the corn and harvest it takes large amounts of diesel fuel, and to dry the corn after harvest requires natural gas. So by the time your “green” raw material arrives at the ethanol plant, it is already drenched in fossil fuel. Every bushel of corn grown in America has consumed the equivalent of between a third and a half gallon of gasoline.

So right off the bat, I'm not a huge fan of NatureWorks's corn-based plastic. But even if the bottles were made from organic corn or some other plant source, I wouldn't buy Biota bottled water. Why? Because the company would still be using energy and resources to create packaging for something that runs cheaply and cleanly from my faucet. I live in California. Think of all the energy used not only to bottle but also to ship that water to me from Colorado. Think how much lower our impact would be on the planet if least packaging and shortest travel distances were our priorities in making purchasing decisions.

If the clean water that comes into our homes is picking up contaminants from old pipes, we can filter it at the faucet. Buying filter cartridges once or even a few times a year is going to require fewer resources than buying bottled water every day or week. And some people feel their tap water is so good they don't need any filter at all.

And finally, aside from all the environmental issues here, I wouldn't buy Biota or any other bottled water because, as I've learned from the Think Outside The Bottle Campaign, clean drinking water is a human right that should not be privatized. We need to support our local tap water. If we don't make it a priority, our leaders will not make its quality a priority either, and our public water infrastructure will suffer.

So come on, Marika, and anyone else who hasn't done it yet. (And by the way, I'm not picking on Marika. She makes the best cupcakes in the entire world, so I'd never do anything to make her mad!) Take the pledge! I'm going to be pounding the pavement this weekend with pledge forms for my neighbors to sign. But you can do it easily online. You'll be glad you did!

10/26/07 Update: Here is an excellent and comprehensive article about the bottled water issue throughout the country: http://www.alternet.org/environment/65520/?page=1
 

BioBags vs. Plastic Bags: A Continuing Debate

In response to yesterday's post on Eco-runners collecting litter in BioBags, an anonymous commenter had this to say:

If you're planning on landfilling non-reusable, non-recyclable materials, there really isn't any point in using compostable bags to do it in. Organic material doesn't compost or properly biodegrade in landfills. It breaks down anaerobically, producing methane.

It would probably better to reuse one of those pernicious plastic shopping bags, which would ensure that its marine-life killing career would be diverted to a landfill and save the biodegradable, compostable bags for an application that will actually result in their decomposition (like collecting compostable waste) instead of just making us feel better.

I responded with a comment of my own, but I'd like to expand on the issue with a few more thoughts on why using biodegradable bags for garbage is preferable to using plastic grocery bags.

Plastic grocery bags are made from polyethylene. As far as I can tell, polyethylene has not been shown to leach toxins like other plastics, but that fact alone does not make it a good candidate for the landfill. Polyethylene is made from ethylene gas derived from nonrenewable natural gas or crude oil. And once made, it doesn't go away. Like all petroleum-based plastics, polyethylene will last many human lifetimes without biodegrading, whether we put it in a landfill or leave it out in the rain.

What is the point of extracting a non-renewable, super long-lasting resource only to use it once and throw it away? Disposable products are a ridulous waste of such a potentially useful material. The commenter suggests that we can divert plastic bags from our waterways by burying them in landfills. I have a better idea.

We should be reusing and recycling the plastic bags that currently exist. And by recycling, I don't mean creating new disposable plastic bags from old ones. While doing so might prolong their life a little bit, it's a short-sighted solution at best. There are currently markets for creating lumber out of the resin derived from plastic bags. Let's take that increasingly scarce material and build things that are meant to last. That's the best way to keep them out of the mouths of sea turtles.

And as for biodegradable bags not composting in a landfill, that may be true. But plastic bags certainly will not. And whereas petroleum-based plastic is a non-renewable resource, organic materials such as corn and sugar are grown and harvested in a season.

Now, I am not suggesting that because we can create bags and other disposables from organic materials, we should continue our mass consumption of disposable products. Growing field crops takes its own toll on the earth. I believe that we still need to reduce our waste as much as possible.

But in terms of eco-running, which is the context in which this discussion began, picking up litter on the street requires some kind of container. And if the street sweeper is not doing it, and if the only people who care about collecting the plastic waste before it enters storm drains and does its damage are a few idealistic runners with bags, then let those bags be made from renewable, biodegradable materials and save the petroleum for the long haul.
 

Store Report: Trader Joe's & NatureWorks ® PLA

When we learned in February that a Trader Joe's was going to be moving in to the old Albertson's building just a few blocks from our house and right near the Rockridge BART station, we were thrilled. In fact, the idea of Trader Joe's coming has been enough to lift me out of the dumps on quite a few occasions this year. Especially in the morning when I'm tired and grouchy, I'll be standing in the shower and suddenly the thought, "Oh, but Trader Joe's is coming! Yippee!" will enter my head and give a whole new brightness to the day. (Some of us are simple that way.)

So when shortly after starting the plastic project, I was reminded by my friend Nancy what a packaging nightmare Trader Joe's is, the sun over Rockridge grew just a little bit dimmer that day. Then, yesterday online, I ran across a random posting referring to the biodegradable plastic that Trader Joe's uses. A ray of hope! I e-mailed them immediately to find out if it was true. And this is their very quick response:

Subject: RE: Trader Joe's Product Information Form
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:19:09 -0700
From: "Web Customer Relations" wcr001@traderjoes.com
To: beth@fakeplasticfish.com

Hello Beth ,

Thank you for you interest in our packaging. Trader Joe's does use Biodegradable packaging for some of our produce items. They are made by Natureworks PLA. These packages will be labeled as such. You may use the link below to read more detailed information on these types of packages.

http://www.natureworksllc.com

Thank you for your inquiry and thank you for shopping at Trader Joe's .

Kellye
Trader Joe's Customer Relations
------------------------------------------
So I actually went on the Natureworks PLA site and found out that what the Trader Joe's rep told me is actually not quite true.

Natureworks PLA (polyactic acid) is made from corn sugar, which is fermented into lactic acid, which is then used to create the polymer. In the United States, PLA is categorized as "compostable" rather than "biodegradable" because it requires the heat of compost conditions in order to breakdown, unlike a paper bag, for instance, that breaks down immediately regardless of temperature.

PLA will NOT biodegrade in the Ocean because the temperature is too low, so I can see it still being a potential hazard to sea creatures! It will take a long time to biodegrade in landfills (although much shorter and without the toxicity of petroleum-based plastic.) It is not suited for home composting, but rather needs the high heats of commercial composting operations.

The good thing about PLA is that it can be produced with non-GMO corn rather than fossil fuels and is less toxic. And in the right conditions, it will biodegrade.

So, I guess the lesson in all this is that regardless of what the packaging is made from, less is still better! Why does Trader Joe's encase their produce in any kind of plastic when other grocery stores do not? I don't know. Maybe for uniformity of pricing so they don't have to weigh anything. But really, how much time does that take at the register? Most other grocery stores have scales at the checkout counter that swiftly measure the weight and calculate the price in a second.

I have sent Trader Joe's a follow-up e-mail. I'll be interested to hear their response, but in the mean time, I will continue to purchase produce from other stores besides Trader Joe's because I believe that items that don't need packaging shouldn't be packaged.
 

Store Report: Elephant Pharmacy

Just like Whole Foods, this natural pharmacy contains very few items that are not packaged in plastic. Recycled toilet paper in plastic. Recycled napkins in plastic. Natural cellulose sponges in plastic. Natural cleaning products in plastic. Natural cosmetics, drugs, foods, bric-a-brac in plastic. Here are the few plastic-free items that I found and bought:

2 boxes of BioBags, 3 gallon size. BioBags are made from corn and are 100% biodegradable and compostable. We are going to use them in our kitchen garbage can instead of the plastic grocery bags that we have been using. Hopefully, we won't be putting much into them anyway. We put all of our food waste into the green compost bin; we put all of our paper, cans, and curbside-recyclable plastic into the gray recycling bin; and since the beginning of this plastic project, I have been saving all the non-recyclable plastic "for later."

Ever since I heard about Casabella natural cellulose scrubbers, I've been searching for them in area stores. I finally found them at Elephant Pharmacy... in a 3-pack packaged in plastic! Feh! I stood in front of the scrubber display and pondered this dilemma for a full 5 minutes before I noticed the cute Loofah-Art scrubbers above them. (Short people like me often miss things that are over our heads.) Loofah-Art scrubbers are made from organically-grown loofah, and the only bit of plastic in the packaging is the tiny thingy that connects the loofah to the cardboard backing card. (What are those tiny thingies called?) I thought I could deal with a tiny thingy of plastic. So this scrubber is what we will use to clean our dishes from now on.

And finally, I spent way too much ($19.99) for this Bag-E-Wash plastic bag dryer. You put it on the counter or hang it under the cabinet and leave your washed plastic bags on it to dry. It could be useful. Or it could be a good idea that gets pushed to the back of the counter and gathers dust. I'm not much of a dish-washer to begin with. Just ask Michael. Yeah, I do my dishes, half-heartedly, eventually, and this could be just too much for my non-domestic nature to handle. But why think negatively? It could be fun, right? Or it could be that Michael will do it! Now there's a great idea!

And here's an awesome looking product that I didn't buy: Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint shampoo bar. It smells wicked cool, and it comes in a cardboard box with zero plastic. I didn't buy it because I'm already using the Re-Incarnate shampoo bar from Lush (more on that later.) But it's on my list. As soon as the current shampoo bar is gone, that thing is mine!

Eventually, I found myself once again in a toothpaste aisle opening boxes of toothpaste hoping to find something without plastic. No go. I don't think such a thing exists anymore. Not in the U.S., anyway. And no mouthwash that's not in a plastic bottle either. So when I got home, I looked up recipes for homemade tooth powder, and here's one I found on the Yes! Magazine Web site:

Combine equal parts salt and baking soda. Add a tiny bit of stevia for sweetness (1/16th tsp stevia per 2 tablespoons baking soda/salt.) For flavor, add a few drops of peppermint oil or 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon. (I wonder if peppermint extract would work as well as oil.)

So, I'm gonna do it. If I haven't found any other alternative before my current tube of toothpaste runs out, I'm just going to make my own. Martha Stewart will be so proud.
 

Store Report: Whole Foods, Berkeley & E-mail Response

I took a notebook, pen, and some canvas bags with me today and went on a fact-finding mission to Whole Foods Market on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. I wanted to find out what non-plastic options were available at this hipster natural foods mecca. And mostly what I found were shelves and shelves and shelves of plastic. Unless you stick to the produce or bulk foods sections, which inhabit about 1/4 of the store, you will find it difficult to find much in this store that is not contained in or does not contain some type of plastic. So, here's a run-down, section by section.

1) Outside -- the garden section. I was curious to find out if I would be able to purchase plants for my roof garden that were not contained in plastic pots. While Whole Foods does carry herbs and vegetables grown in biodegradable Eco-Forms pots, all non-edible flowers and plants come in plastic. I wonder if I'll ever be able to buy another shrub or if must stick to planting seeds from now on. Seeds are not so bad. I have a beautiful money plant that I planted 2 summers ago, and just look at it now!

2) Bulk Foods -- There is one aisle of bulk foods. It's not as extensive as Berkeley Bowl or Rainbow Grocery (Oh how I miss shopping at Rainbow Grocery when I lived in San Francisco!) but it does contain a fair selection of nuts, dried fruits, flours, salt, sugars, broth mixes, granola and cereal flakes, rice and other grains, beans, trail mix and candy, honey, and you can grind your own peanut butter. I was thrilled to find bulk pretzels, but when I got them home I discovered they were stale. There was a bin labeled "chocolate chips," but it was empty. And surprisingly, there wasn't any bulk pasta at all. There were both plastic and paper bags available for the bulk items.

3) Frozen Foods -- I addressed the problem of frozen meals in my previous post. It's impossible to tell what plastic is inside the box without opening it, so I bought a Seeds of Change brand frozen meal this time, just to test it out and see. I'll let you know after I open it. Vegetables -- surprisingly, all the vegetables except for one brand were packaged in plastic bags. What ever happened to the cardboard boxes covered in wax paper that used to contain spinach and peas and french cut green beans? I got excited for a second when I noticed the square Cascadian Farms box of spinach, but then I noticed the label that read "microwaveable flavor seal pouch" inside.

I did discover one excellent-looking non-plastic enclosed brand of vegetables: Stahlbush Island Farms Fruits and Vegetables. These vegetables are flash-frozen and are packaged in natural kraft paper bags. Unfortunately, Whole Foods only carried 2 varieties: cauliflower and butternut squash. Nothing green, although, according to the web site, Stahlbush also produces spinach, peas, broccoli, corn, and sweet potatoes, as well as fruits. I'll have to do some research to find out where else these products are sold. (7/13/07 update: The "natural" kraft paper bags are lined on the inside with a layer of plastic!)

The other important frozen item I checked out was ice cream. Ben & Jerry's comes with a plastic seal around the lid. Haagen-Dazs has a plastic film under the lid. I surreptitiously pulled up the lids on 2 other pints of ice cream -- Stonyfield and Strauss Family Creamery -- and the winner is: Straus Family Creamery! There was nothing but creamy, inviting, chocolate ice cream under that lid. I can't wait to finish up the Ben & Jerry's I already have so I can buy some of that!

4) Bottled water -- My favorite drink during the day is 2/3 sparkling water mixed with 1/3 fruit juice. Here, the choices were better. Besides San Pellegrino mineral water, which is just expensive, Whole Foods also carries its own 365 brand of Italian mineral water which comes in your choice of plastic bottles or glass bottles with metal caps. I think we know what my choice is. There were other flavored sodas in glass bottles as well.

5) Personal care items -- Several brands of soap are sold plastic-free, including Sappo Hill bar soaps which have no packaging at all. All of the deodorants come in plastic. All of the toothpastes come in plastic. I saw something called Eco Guard bandages (an alternative to bandaids) and when I looked them up online I saw that they were made from recycled PVC plastic. How much of it is recycled content, they don't say. Whole Foods also carries Preserve toothbrushes, which are made from recycled Stonyfield yogurt containers and are 100% recyclable, and also Natracare feminine hygiene products that are biodegradable and non-chlorine bleached. (i've been using their panty liners for years.) Another product I'm going to check out are BioBag trashcan liners. They are made from corn and according to their web site, 100% compostable. Does anyone know anything else about these? Are they legit?

5) The Dairy case -- All the refrigerated soy milk cartons have plastic caps with one exception: the quart-size carton of Wildwood soy milk. However, the Wildwood half gallon does contain the plastic cap. What is up with all these plastic caps on milk cartons these days??? I don't want to pay extra to buy quart-size cartons when I go through a half gallon a week! (If I don't find a better alternative, I may stick to Silk even with the plastic cap.) Also in the dairy case, yogurt and cottage cheese -- all in plastic tubs. Milk cartons without caps (but I've been told that some milk cartons these days are coated with plastic.) And butter. Good old butter in cardboard and waxed paper.

6) Pasta -- Every single cardboard box or paper bag of pasta in this section contains a plastic window. Why do we need this? Why do we need to see the pasta inside? We don't get to look inside cracker boxes to see the crackers; we rely on the picture. We don't look inside cereal boxes or cookie boxes or any number of other packages of dry foods. What makes pasta different? Can anyone answer that question? So, since Whole Foods has no bulk pasta and no packaged pasta without windows, I'll be buying pasta elsewhere.

7) Herbs, spices & teas -- Whole Foods sells bulk herbs, spices, and teas. I bought some Frontier organic loose Earl Grey tea that smelled just great! Most of the packaged boxed teas are wrapped in plastic. I didn't really bother checking them too much. Whole Foods also sell herbs and spices in glass jars with metal lids, but do not be fooled! Under the lid is a plastic bottle cover with holes for sprinkling. Stick with bulk, I think. And oh, I was happy to see that you can still buy vanilla extract in a glass bottle with a metal lid, just like in the old days.

8) Meats and Cheeses -- They only way to purchase these plastic-free is to order them fresh from the meet or deli case. Not much more I can say about that.

9) Hot prepared foods and salad bar -- Whole Foods has a large hot foods section, soups, and salad bar. They use brown cardboard boxes for the salad and cardboard cartons for the soup, but the hot food is served in honkin' big plastic trays and all of the packaged prepared foods in the refrigerator case, including salads, are in plastic as well. I don't know if you can ask for a non-plastic option when you purchase hot food.

10) Chocolate candy aisle -- One of the most important sections in the store, if you ask me. There are large bars wrapped in paper. But if you want something small to fill your candy dish, you're out of luck. I'm giving up my favorite candy dish filler, Whole Treats dark chocolate Belgian Little Bites. They are velvety and rich and tiny -- only 25 calories each -- but they come in a plastic bag and are individually wrapped in plastic covers. I can't justify them, although I'd like to.

It was these last two items, the Belgian Little Bites and the hot food served in plastic, that prompted me to write to Whole Foods Market a few days ago before my excursion today. I don't have a copy of the e-mail I sent, but here is the response from Whole Foods:

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Subject: Green Mission and Private Label Packaging
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:39:45 -0500
From: "PrivateLabel Customer Service"
To: "Customer Questions (CE CEN)" ,

Dear Beth,

Thank you for your email.

The reason the Whole Treat Dark Chocolate Belgian Bites are packaged the way they are is to make single serving easier. They are meant to be able to grab a piece of chocolate and go. This way you the customer does not have to worry about the chocolate melting in their hands or pockets before it ever gets to their mouths.

As far as green mission goes, we are currently working with our package designers and outside firms to help us better walk the walk. We want to be as green as our customers expect us to be as it is one of our Core Values.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/corevalues.html
Caring About Our Communities & Our Environment

Sustainable Agriculture
We support organic farmers, growers and the environment through our commitment to sustainable agriculture and by expanding the market for organic products.

Wise Environmental Practices
We respect our environment and recycle, reuse, and reduce our waste wherever and whenever we can.

Community Citizenship
We recognize our responsibility to be active participants in our local communities. We give a minimum of 5% of our profits every year to a wide variety of community and non-profit organizations. In addition, we pay our Team Members to give of their time to community and service organizations.

Integrity In All Business Dealings
Our trade partners are our allies in serving our stakeholders. We treat them with respect, fairness and integrity at all times and expect the same in return.

I have logged your comments in our customer/product database, which is forwarded to the buying and product development team on a regular basis. It is comments like yours that help us constantly review and improve our products. "Satisfying and delighting our customers" is a core value at Whole Foods Market. We are always interested in hearing what our guests are saying about our products. We take everything into careful consideration when reviewing product lines. Thank you for your insightful input on our product.

Thank you,

April Riggs
Product Information Associate, Private Label
550 Bowie l Austin , TX 78703 l (p) 512-477-5566 x: 20020

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So, that's my Whole Foods report. Seems like they as a company, like many of us individuals, are somewhat conflicted. They sell organic food in plastic containers. They compost their waste and sell it to gardeners in plastic bags. Their Berkeley store is solar-powered, yet they sell regular light bulbs. I guess shopping at Whole Foods is better than shopping at Safeway, which I guess is better than shopping at Walmart.

Maybe tomorrow I'll report on Market Hall, which is just down the street from me in Rockridge. Good night.