Dairy Wars: Battle of the Milk & Cheese

The last two posts were about coffee. This post is about what goes in the coffee. Well, half of it is. The other half is about cheese. Anyway, I need your input. I confess I haven't been using my soy milk maker as regularly as I'd planned, opting for cow's milk in my coffee. (The soy milk maker is a pain to clean, plus I keep forgetting to soak the beans at night.) My question is which cow's milk is better? The Clover cow or the Straus cow?

Now, before you weigh in, I need to give you all the facts that I am aware of:

Straus Family Creamery is a local certified organic dairy farm in Marin County (not far from me) whose cows are grass-fed and gmo-free. You can read about their healthy farm practices here and their position on GMOs here. Packaging: Straus milk comes in heavy glass bottles that are returned to the store and reused (rather than recycled.) The drawback: a fat non-recyclable plastic cap on each bottle.

Clover Stornetta is a much bigger company, also located in Northern California, that produces both conventional and certified organic milk. According to their web site, they support family farms and are Free Farmed certified by the American Humane Association. (Anyone have info on that certification?) They say nothing about GMOs, and it looks like the cows are fed grains along with grass. (Grains being poor food for cows, according to Michael Pollan.)

Packaging: This is where the company show its responsiveness to customers. Click on the image to read the full letter from Clover (PDF file). Their milk used to come in paperboard gable-top cartons with a plastic cap and spout, just like soy milk does. And if you've been reading this blog a long time, you know that I wrote letters to both Wildwood and Silk soy milk companies asking them to give up the plastic fitments. We don't need them. Well, others, including members of Green Sangha, wrote to Clover about that issue, and Clover listened! They have done away with the plastic spout and cap in response to requests from environmentally-concerned consumers. And I feel like I want to support them just for taking this step.

The paperboard container, of course, is coated with polyethylene, as are all cardboard milk cartons these days. The coating is not wax, folks. But here in Oakland, we can put these cartons in our green compost bins anyway. In fact, many people use cardboard milk cartons on the kitchen countertop to collect food scraps destined for the bin, and toss them all in together.

So what do you think? Is it a tie? Does one company appeal to you more than the other? If so, why? And which packaging (both containing plastic) do you think is more sustainable?



Next up: battle of the cheeses. Last week, I had a craving for cheese. I went to Trader Joe's and was all set to give in and buy plastic-wrapped cheese, when low and behold, I spotted white cheddar cheese coated in wax without any plastic wrap around the outside! I have never seen this before in my area. Sure, we have plenty of waxed cheeses. But they are all covered with a layer of plastic, which has always seemed like overkill to me. You're not going to eat the wax. Why put plastic wrap over it?

The cheese: Kerrygold Aged Cheddar. Notice on the web site, it looks like it's wrapped in plastic. But this block is not. A new way of packaging? A deal with Trader Joe's? I don't know. But here's the drawback: It's from Ireland. Now, I have nothing against Ireland. Some of my best friends are Irish. But Dude, think of the fuel miles! Plus, it's not even organic. But I've been looking for plastic-free cheese for so long, I couldn't resist. I bought two blocks. It's delicious. I plan to save the wax and melt it down into one black candle for casting spells against the evil-doers. Or just to entertain the kitties. Supervised, of course.

My local alternative is Springhill white cheddar from a Northern California farm one county away. It's sold in stores around here and also at my farmer's market every Sunday. But this cheese is always wrapped in thick plastic shrink wrap. And the blocks are small, so there's a lot of plastic being used. Supposedly food wrap is no longer made from PVC, but who really knows what could leach into the cheese from the plastic?

So which do you think is better? The local plastic-wrapped cheese? Or the imported wax-coated but plastic-free cheese? And please don't tell me to make my own mozzarella. I'll probably do that someday. But this post is about cheddar. So let's stick to the topic. Discuss!
 

 

Plastic-free yogurt? Well, almost. Plus ways to use whey.

Turns out we do have an almost plastic-free prepared yogurt here in the SF Bay Area. Saint Benoît yogurt comes in a reusable, returnable ceramic container and is sold at Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl, and other natural foods stores. As with the Straus milk containers, you pay a deposit which the store refunds when you return the container. The containers are covered with foil tops, which can be reused until the yogurt is gone, and have a small plastic seal around the rim. That's way less plastic than buying yogurt in disposable polypropylene containers, but I've found a better way.

I thought that in order to make yogurt myself, I needed to invest in a yogurt machine. Not worth it considering the small amount of yogurt we eat. But then Melanie Rimmer of Bean Sprouts revealed a brilliant method of making yogurt with only a Thermos in her post, How To Make Greek Yogurt. You should check out her post to see photos of the step by step process. Here are the basics:

1. Fill a Thermos with any kind of milk you want to use. I used nonfat milk in my handy KQED Public Radio travel Thermos. This step is simply for measuring out the correct amount of milk.


2. Pour the milk into a pan or microwave bowl and bring it to a boil. I used a Pyrex container in the microwave.


3. Remove it from heat or microwave and stick a thermometer into the milk. I used a candy thermometer attached to the side of the Pyrex container. Allow the milk to cool to 122°F (50°C).


4. Pour milk back into Thermos and add a tablespoon of yogurt from a previous batch. I used a tablespoon of my Saint Benoît yogurt.


5. Cover the Thermos and let it sit for 8 - 14 hours. I left it at 8:30 this morning and opened it back up at 7:00 tonight. And it worked!


6. For less watery yogurt, strain it through a cheese cloth. Actually, I put it in a wire sieve over a bowl, and that method worked fine. As you can see in the photo, I ended up with some nice yogurt and a bowl of whey (the watery part.)

In fact, I left the yogurt draining for so long that it was a little thicker than I wanted, so I stirred back some of the whey for a softer consistency. But apparently, if you left it straining longer, you'd end up with yogurt cheese. I may just have to try that.

So now I have this delicious yogurt and a bowl full of whey. I hated to pour out the whey, so of course I did a little more research and found all kinds of nice uses for it. According to this Fias Co Farm article, whey is full of protein, vitamins, and minerals. You can use it in soup, bread, to cook pasta and beans, drink it plain or sweetened, and even feed it to your plants. You don't get that added benefit when you buy prepared yogurt from the store. And this way, I can save the last tablespoon of each batch to start the next one, only needing to buy more milk (which is also not entirely plastic-free, but I've discussed that fact elsewhere.)

And there's another use for whey that the article doesn't mention which I actually discovered this weekend before ever making yogurt. I needed a non-toxic coating to protect an unfinished pine bookcase I bought a few weeks ago. I don't enjoy painting or staining furniture, so I wanted something clear I could slap on quickly. The salesperson at the Ecohome Improvement Store in Berkeley recommended Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey Natural Furniture Finish, which is made from, of course, whey instead of petroleum! This whey is a biproduct of the cheese industry.

So I happily slapped on several coats of the mild-smelling stuff (the smell is a little like Elmer's glue) until the container was all used up. It wasn't until I was rinsing out the empty can to recycle it that I noticed it was made from black plastic! Fortunately, this plastic is 100% recycled polypropylene, just like my toothbrush. San Francisco accepts wide-mouthed polypropylene in its recycling bins, so I thought I was all set.

Until I noticed the rim of the container. It's metal! I tried to pry it off with a screwdriver to no avail. The metal rim, as far as I know, renders the container unrecyclable. So I e-mailed the Vermont Natural Coatings company last night and this morning received the following e-mail back:

---

From: "Gregory Hebert" (ghebert@vermontnaturalcoatings.com)
To: beth@fakeplasticfish.com
Subject: RE: VNC Website Inquiry
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:52:36 -0500

Beth,

Thank you for purchasing PolyWhey Furniture Finish.

Good to know San Francisco's recycling includes #5--not every city is embracing the full range of plastics. Regarding the metal lid, a handsaw is probably the only way to adequately remove the metal lid from the plastic can. Please be careful if you choose to use this method.

Currently, only one U.S. manufacturer makes the recycled plastic cans and so we source from them. They now produce all plastic gallon cans (including the rim and lid) and our newest batch was just put into these. All plastic quarts will be available in 2008 though the company has no plans to make pints. We hope more manufacturers will move toward recycled and recycle-able containers.

Please let me know if you have other questions and good luck with your wood projects.

Gregory Hebert
Vermont Natural Coatings
180 Junction Road
Hardwick, VT 05843
802-472-8700 phone
802-472-5227 fax
ghebert@vermontnaturalcoatings.com

---

So that answers that. I've already hacked open a plastic Brita cartridge. I guess I'll be breaking out the saw again. I do like this coating (although, as Anna Hackman from Green-Talk suggested when I contacted her for furniture finish recommendations, I should wait and see how it holds up in the long run before recommending it to others. So that's what I shall do.)

Is this way more than you ever wanted to know about whey? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
 

 

Sending things back...

You've heard of paying it forward? This post is about sending it back. And no, I'm not talking about that mean thing that sport fishermen do. I'm referring to unwanted plastic that shows up my my doorstep unsolicited. I've decided that in addition to e-mailing or sending a letter to the company, I'm just going to ship it right back to them! So here are a few things I've sent back this week:

As many of you know, I've been having no luck finding plastic-free cheddar cheese here in the Bay Area. (And no, I haven't found a deli that will wrap it in plain paper that is not lined with plastic.) Yet cheese is one of the few things I'm not willing to give up. So I decided that I would put my eco-energy into purchasing good quality local organic cheese from happy cows that graze on pasture, rather than hormones, antibiotics, and corn (organic or not); and allow it to be one of my few plastic indulgences. That said, I didn't want extra plastic. Just the unavoidable cheese wrappers.

So when I ordered several blocks of organic cheddar from Loleta Cheese Factory, I included a note asking not to have any plastic or styrofoam packaging if possible and for them to call me before shipping if there was any problem with that instruction. Well, the cheese arrived, packaged with a bunch of styrofoam peanuts. I could have cried.

Instead, I took out the cheese, put a nice letter inside the box explaining why I was sending them a bunch of styrofoam peanuts, sealed it up, and mailed it back to the company. And two days later I received a very apologetic e-mail from Loleta employee, Cindy Davy. Turns out I'd accidentally used the word, "extra," in my instructions. As in, "no extra styrofoam." So they interpreted that to mean I wanted some styrofoam. I've got to be soooooo careful with my words!

Anyway, Cindy graciously offered me a credit in the amount that I paid to ship the box back and promised it wouldn't happen again. The cheese is great, so I may reorder. We'll see. There is another cheesery, Spring Hill Cheese Company, that is geographically closer to me and also raises happy cows. In fact, they sell at my farmer's market. But I didn't care for the taste of their cheese the last time I tried it. Maybe I should give them another chance too.

That worked so well, I decided to send a few more things back. I received this DVD along with a bunch of coupons from Straus Family Creamery after sending them a love letter about their ice cream. Straus, located in Marin County, also raises happy cows (we've got a theme going here) and in addition to selling the milk, they make the best ice cream in the world. (Okay, Michael, besides Toscanini's in Cambridge.) And they use the least plastic possible on their cardboard cartons: just the coating on the inside. You guys know that all cardboard ice cream and milk cartons and pretty much any paper products that hold food are coated with plastic, right?

Well, I gladly accepted and used those coupons! But I don't need the DVD, which is just extra plastic. Especially since the videos, showing how Straus's farm and dairy operate, are also on their web site. So tonight I'm sending that back with a very nice note thanking them nicely but letting them know I don't need the extra plastic.

And here's another send back for tonight. A promotional mailing from General Mills. It's a plastic ring that says, "Eat Better." You're supposed to wear it around your finger to remind yourself to... um... eat better. (Than what?) And it's packaged in a plastic sleeve. I don't feel like composing a letter for this one. The label is marked "Return Service Requested." So I wrote, "Return to Sender" and in the tiny available space, "Please do not send me unsolicited plastic. Plastic waste is harmful to the environment." And I'm not even getting into the irony of General Mills, makers of Hamburger Helper, Cocoa Puffs (sorry Marika!), and Totino's pizza rolls, advising me to eat better.

And finally, I'm sending myself back. Back to the old homestead in Maryland for a few days where my dad advises me to "metamorphize vis-a-vis plastic use in this here household. Just give it up, babe! Don't think about it. Then, we all will be HAPPY!" Are you reading this Dad? I'll be there in a day and a half, reusable bottle and camera in hand. Are your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator ready for my exposé?

As Bill Maher might say, "I kid my dad from love!"

And I do plan to blog for at least a couple of days while I'm there to capture the parental perspective. Don't worry. It'll be fun.
 

 

Store Report: Rainbow Grocery

I've mentioned Rainbow Grocery in quite a few posts, and now I'm going to explain it, so those folks who are not lucky enough to live in the SF Bay Area will know what I'm talking about. Rainbow Grocery makes me wish I still lived in San Francisco. There's a certain familiar smell and feel that I can only describe as "crunchy" that takes me back to the early 90's when I'd first moved to San Francisco from Maryland and everything was new and wonderful. And even though Rainbow is no longer in its former location in the Mission District, it still has the same dreadlock-sporting, tattoo-wearing, shaved head, tie-dyed, just rolled out of bed looking staff and customers that make me feel so at home. (Even though I don't actually look like any of them anymore.)

See the "staff" are all owners of this co-op grocery store, as well as workers. So it's like it kind of is their home, sort of. Well, if their house were a huge warehouse with bins and bins of bulk foods and produce and all kinds of other natural products.

The entrance to Rainbow Grocery is a patio, where in addition to selling fresh herbs in Eco pots, they grow their own small native plant garden. In fact, Rainbow Grocery is currently the only Certified Green grocery store in San Francisco. You can read about their ecological practices here: http://www.rainbowgrocery.org/community/ecology.html

Inside is a wonder of fresh, organic produce, natural foods and body care products, and sustainable household products. But the main reason to shop at Rainbow are the bulk bins. Rainbow Grocery carries over 800 bulk items: herbs, teas, spices, coffee, over a dozen types of rice, over 30 types of flour, all kinds of beans, whole grains, dried pastas & noodles, oils, cereals, dried fruit, a full olive bar, nut butters, honey, miso, tofu, crackers and chocolate and trailmix, oh my!

If you were wondering how I have been avoiding buying foods wrapped in plastic lately, Rainbow Grocery is one of the ways. The system is beautiful. You bring your own containers to the weigh station near the back of the bulk foods section and weigh and label them empty. That way, the cashier can subtract the weight of the container from the total weight and only charge you for the contents. Rainbow also sells all kinds of empty containers for you to use if you forget to bring your own or need extras.

Alas, Rainbow does provide free plastic bags in the bulk section which are preprinted with their logo and a message about reusing the bags. I don't know why they don't use compostable bags. I'll have to ask about that. In addition to the free plastic bags, they also sell organic cotton drawstring bags in 2 sizes. The bags are kind of pricey ($3.99 and $4.59), but I bought a few that I use for flour and other dry goods and then throw into the washing machine with the rest of the laundry. Washing out plastic bags is starting to become a headache, even with our handy Bag-E-Wash bag dryer.

Besides dry bulk pasta, I recently discovered the wonders of Rainbow's bulk handmade fresh pastas. That's right! I can bring my own containers and fill them up with different kinds of fresh ravioli or gnocchi. I've stopped whining about finding plastic-free frozen entrees because I can stock up on these and freeze them for later. (Thanks for small miracles.)

Cheese is another story. As I mentioned in a post last week, I can bring a container to the cheese counter and have it filled with whatever they happen to be cutting at the moment. But it's a lottery, really, and since I don't care for every kind of cheese (moldy blue veins, no thanks), I'm not going to count on this method.

On the other side of the store, Rainbow carries personal care and household products. Some of these are offered in bulk too: liquid soaps, shampoos, massage oils, lotions, bath salts, henna, dish soap, washing soda, laundry detergent, even boric acid and diatomaceous earth. And then there is a whole counter devoted to essential oils, many of which are offered in bulk.

There are also, of course, aisles of vitamins and supplements, packaged foods, frozen and refrigerated foods, mostly organic produce, and wines. The only grocery item you won't find at Rainbow is meat. But I'm not a huge meat-eater and for those times when I really need some flesh, I am happy to get it somewhere else. Here is Rainbow's statement about why they don't carry meat: http://www.rainbowgrocery.org/products/meat.html

Rainbow's packaged items tend to be a bit more expensive than what I've found in other stores. For example, a roll of Seventh Generation toilet paper is $1.35 at Rainbow; whereas, it costs .99 at Berkeley Bowl. (I'll write a full report on Berkeley Bowl in a few days.) And a 1 gallon bottle of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap costs $44.95 at Rainbow. Berkeley Bowl sells it for $38.75. And buying a lot of perishable foods at Rainbow is not practical for me anyway since I have to cart them across the bay on public transporation. The real reason to make the journey all the way down to Rainbow is for those wondrous, plastic-saving bulk bins.
 

 

Week 7 Results: 4.9 oz of plastic

Okay, I know this photo is not as creative or fun as the previous ones. It's a gray, drizzly day and the photo fits the mood I'm in. So let's just cut to the tally:

Items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• 8 Refresh Endura single-use eyedrop containers (#4 plastic).


• 1 Ak-Mak crackers inside wrapper.Finished the box this week. I'm now sticking with Wasa Crispbreads because they are the only crackers I've found without any plastic packaging.


• 1 plastic label from a bottle of Fantastik spray cleaner. Now that the bottle is empty, I'm going to reuse it and make my own spray cleaner. Thinking of using No Impact Man's recipe. Does anyone have a better one?


• 1 plastic film from a pint of Haagen Dasz ice cream. I can't believe this was still in the freezer and I didn't know about it. Now that I do, for sure the rest will be gone this week. How could it not be!?


• 2 So Delicious mini frozen sandwich wrappers. I think there are 2 or 3 left in the box.


• 1 sandwich steak (like Steak-Ums) wrapper. Yeah, this one is truly embarrassing. This stuff is like pressboard made out of meat. Reporting my plastic packaging is making me aware just how much junk I had been eating!


• 1 plastic wrap from around the neck of a glass olive oil bottle. This will be a nice bottle to refill.

Recyclable items purchased before the plastic project began:

• 1 250-ct bottle of Spectrum Essentials Fish Oil gel caps & lid (#2 plastic). Recyclable at Michael's office in SF. I haven't found any decent replacement for this one. This particular fish oil is made from wild caught small fish and is certified to be free of mercury, PCBs, and lead. We take it for medical reasons and have found flax oil to be less effective. So, in fact as you'll see below, I purchased another plastic bottle-full this week.


• 1 Santa Cruz organic applesauce cup (#7 plastic). These are now recyclable through the curbside program in Daly City where I work. This was the last one. But:


• 1 Safeway Organics applesauce cup (#7 plastic). I discovered I had a package of these hiding in the refrigerator at work. 3 more left.

Now for the new plastic waste:

• 1 Haig's spicy hummus container (#5 Plastic). I'll either reuse it or Michael will recycle at work. Today, I made my own hummus with part chickpeas and part okara from the homemade soy milk. It's not quite as good as Haig's (how do they come up with that creamy texture?) but it's not bad.


• 1 wrapper from a block of Trader Joe's English coastal cheddar. No real solution for plastic-free cheese. I had a conversation with a worker in the Rainbow Grocery cheese department this week. She said that if I come to the store at just the right time while they are cutting some cheese (go ahead and laugh), they will put some in my reusable container. And, in fact, she was in the process of cutting up some very pungent gruyere and did sell it to me in my repurposed Haig's hummus container. But buying cheese this way means I can't choose what I want. I'll take or leave whatever they happen to be cutting that day. And since Rainbow Grocery is in San Francisco, it's not a store I can stop by most days.
  
  Other than that, there's no way to get plastic-free cheese because retailers can't cut into a wheel or block without dividing up the whole thing and wrapping the individual blocks in plastic to keep them fresh. At least at Rainbow Grocery, the staff understand what you're talking about and don't look at you like you're from outer space when you ask questions about buying products without plastic. And they don't offer to take the plastic off and throw it away for you!


• 1 plastic wrapper from around the lid of a new Spectrum Essentials fish oil bottle. See above.


• 1 bag covering the new soy milk maker.


• 1 bag covering the new soy milk maker drip pan.


• 1 plastic bag from soy beans that came with the new soy milk maker.


• 1 plastic bag from parts for new compost tumbler tea collector. More on this in a future post.


• 1 small clam shell package from plastic hose shut-off valve for new compost tumbler tea collector.

New plastic purchased this week:

• 1 bottle 250-ct Spectrum Essentials fish oil gel caps


• 1 glass bottle of New Chapter Organics Every Woman multivitamins with a plastic lid.


• 1 glass bottle of Spectrum Essentials vinegar with a plastic lid.


• 1 glass bottle of Spectrum Essentials canola oil with a plastic lid.


• 1 glass jar of Spectrum Essentials coconut oil with a plastic wrapper around the metal lid.


• 1 Urban Compost Tumbler with compost tea catcher. The compost tumbler is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. The only new plastic is the tea catcher. Maybe I shouldn't have purchased this add-on. Looking at it, I realized I could have purchased the hardware from any hardware store and used some other container to catch the leachate. Lesson learned?

And like I said last week, I'm not buying anything new (except of course food) for a long time!
 

 

Frozen Foods Summary

Most frozen foods contain some plastic. Of course, the ideal way to reduce plastic waste would be to avoid these "convenience" foods altogether. But that's not always practical. So, here is an ongoing list of the amounts of plastic hidden inside packages of frozen foods.

Feel free to e-mail me info to add to the list, so I don't always have to find out the hard way. Click the Frozen Foods link on the sidebar to return here in the future.

Last update: 08/12/2007

Frozen Entrees:

Brand: Amy's Kitchen
Tray: Cardboard tray with inside plastic coating
Plastic Film: Overwrap surrounds the entire tray

Brand: Helen's Kitchen
Tray: Cardboard tray with inside plastic coating
Plastic Film: Across the top only.

Brand: Michael Angelo's Italian Natural Cuisine
Tray: #1 Plastic
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Brand: Organic Bistro
Tray: Cardboard tray with inside plastic coating
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Brand: Safeway's Eating Right
Tray: #1 Plastic
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Brand: Seeds of Change
Tray: Cardboard tray with inside plastic coating
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Brand: Stouffer's Lean Cuisine
Tray: #1 Plastic
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Brand: Whole Kitchen (Whole Foods brand of frozen entrees)
Tray: #1 Plastic
Plastic Film: Across the top only

Misc frozen foods

Brand: Gardenburger (veggie burgers)
Plastic-wrapped 2-packs of burgers inside the box

Brand: Helen's Kitchen (marinated tofu steaks)
Plastic 3 mil bag inside the box

Vegetables:

Brand: Cascadian Farms Organic
The boxed vegetables contain a "microwaveable flavor seal pouch" inside. I assume this means plastic.

Brand: Stahlbush Island Farms
Do not be fooled! The vegetable package looks like an innocent kraft paper bag. In fact, that is how it's advertised on their web site. But inside, the bag is lined with plastic. I have e-mailed the company to find out what kind of plastic it is. (Bio? Petro?) Will post an update if/when I get an answer.

Brand: Western Family
Wax paper over a cardboard box.

Ice Cream & other frozen desserts

Brand: Ben & Jerry's (pint)
Plastic seal around the outside of the lid

Brand: Dove (pint)
Plastic seal around the outside of the lid as well as a ring of hard plastic around the lid.

Brand: Haagen Dasz (pint)
Plastic film under lid over ice cream as well as a ring of hard plastic around the lid.

Brand: Mashti Malone's ice cream & sorbets (pint)
Plastic-free

Brand: So Delicious (dairy-free mini sandwiches)
Individually wrapped in plastic

Brand: Stonyfield Farm (pint)
Plastic film under lid

Brand: Strauss Family Creamery (pint)
Plastic-free
 

 

Store Report: Rockridge Market Hall

The Pasta Shop in Market Hall. Or as my friend calls it, Markup Hall. It's pricy, alright. But they do have bulk pasta! All different shapes and sizes! And Market Hall is only a few short blocks from my house right near the Rockridge BART station. Unfortunately, they only offer the standard roll of plastic bags near the bulk pasta. But if you ask at the counter, they will give you paper bags. It was very crowded today, so I didn't want to try and get into a discussion about bags. I'll find a less busy time (if there is one) to approach the manager about putting out paper bags as an alternative to the plastic. Most customers will simply take what's available rather than ask for something different.

At Market Hall's Cheese Shop, I asked to have my cheese sliced to order and wrapped in paper. However, the merchant wasn't really clear on the concept. When I got my paper-wrapped cheese home and opened up the wrapper, I found inside a sheet of plastic to add to my pile this week. And later, I discovered that the plastic is actually attached to the paper wrapper, so unless I bring my own baggie or paper with me, there won't be a way to buy cheese from them without plastic.

Paul Marcus Wines at Market Hall does not believe in using styrofoam shippers. They use molded pulp bottle shippers
to package their wines for delivery and were very happy to show and demonstrate to me how they work. The merchant told me that the only time these types of shippers might not work is if the wine is being shipped to an area with a very wet climate. These shippers might not survive a heavy rainstorm. Otherwise they work great.

In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, Market Hall Produce has a few bulk bins of nuts, seeds, & grains. Once again, I only saw plastic bags offered, but I imagine they too would give you a paper bag if you asked. Of course, the best thing to do is bring your own bags, but barring that, having paper available would be nice.

Market Hall also houses a bakery, meat market, fish shop, florist, and Peaberry's Coffee & Tea. Other than ordering an iced chai in a paper cup from Peaberry's, I didn't have time to check out the plastification of any of these other shops today. I was on my way to Elephant Pharmacy in Berkeley. More on that later.