Plastic-free sex, part 2: "Pedro offers you his protection"

Couldn't resist the above. In our house, we quote Napoleon Dynamite whenever possible. Clearly, this post has nothing to do with Pedro, but everything to do with protected sex. And despite the fun title, this post is going to be more serious than yesterday's, so once again, consider yourself warned.

Looking over yesterday's post on using olive oil for lube, I realized it was written from a totally married hetero-centric point of view. Which makes sense, considering this is the blog of a married woman in a monogamous het relationship. I don't worry about whether or not using olive oil will break a condom because, like my kitties, I've been fixed. But you can believe that if I were the parent of a sexually active teenager, I'd be harping on them night and day to use a condom every single time and would make sure they had access to as much water-based condom-friendly lube as they wanted. (Oh, what an annoying, creepy parent I'd be. You readers with young kids, just think what you have to look forward to!)

So, let's talk about condoms. They're made of latex, polyurethane plastic, or natural animal skin. According to Treehugger, the "jury is still out as to whether latex condoms are biodegradable and what effects additives and lubricants might have on biodegradability." Polyurethane condoms are good for people allergic to latex but are not biodegradable at all. And natural animal skin condoms protect from pregnancy but not disease. It's important to discard condoms, latex or plastic, in the garbage rather than flushing them down the toilet and adding them to our already plastic-filled waterways. And all three kinds come packaged in plastic wrappers that are another source of plastic waste. BUT considering the possible alternatives, disease or unwanted preganancy, I would consider condom plastic in the same category as my plastic eyedrop containers or plastic prescription bottles. Why?

Because condoms save lifes. No other form of birth control besides latex or polyurethane condoms protects us from life-threatening diseases like HIV and possibly HPV. And if you think you're sparing the environment by not using disposable condoms to prevent disease (an argument I used to hear in my young activist days), compare the small amount of spermicide and plastic in a few condoms to the toxic drug cocktail you'd be subjected to if you contracted HIV, and I think you'll see which has the greater environmental impact. (And let's take a second to be grateful for those toxic cocktails that are keeping so many people alive.)

Okay, second over. So, what if you're in an adult long-term monogamous relationship and have decided that your risk of contracting disease is small but you're also heterosexual so you need to prevent pregnancy? Burbanmom, in the same post I linked to yesterday, describes how she chose the most eco-friendly birth control method for her. And Treehugger gives a quick comparison of the environmental impact of other alternatives. What does Fake Plastic Fish say?

Choose the most reliable method of birth control that you will actually stick with, and use it EVERY TIME.

This post isn't really about plastic-free sex after all because to me, using any reliable method of birth control every time (unless, of course, you're trying to get pregnant) is one of the most pro-environmental things any of us breeders can do. Even if our chosen birth control method involves a bit of plastic or hormone, the environmental impact is going to be much lower than bringing another human being into the world who will, over a lifetime, consume a lot of energy and generate a lot of waste.

Consider these facts from Population Connection:

• Our world population has grown more since 1950 than it has in the previous four million years. With these additional people come additional demands on our earth: eighty percent of the original rain forests have been cleared or degraded; one-third to one half of the Earth’s land surface has been transformed.


• We lose one or more entire species of animal or plant life every 20 minutes— some 27,000 species a year. This rate and scale of extinction has not occurred in 65 million years.


• Americans are only 5% of the world’s population, yet we consume 25% of the world’s resources. Resulting social and environmental problems reverberate around the world.

And from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

• Each year in the U.S., there are over 500,000 children in foster care.


• During 2005, an estimated 899,000 children in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were determined by Child Protective Services to be victims of abuse or neglect.

And from Unicef:

• There are an estimated 133 million children who are orphans (children aged 0–17 who have lost one or both parents) world wide.

Numbers and statistics. But the lives they represent are real. Condoms are disposable. Children should not be. Do I sound like a public service message?

Sorry. I'm not here to give an opinion about how many children each person should bring into this world. And I'm not here to be self-righteous about Michael's and my decision not to have any children. It would be easy, after the fact, to claim that our choice was a sacrifice we made for the environment, but that would be a lie. Our reasons were as personal as those of anyone else deciding whether or not to pass along their genes. And finally, I'm not here to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do in the case of an unplanned pregnancy.

But imagine a world in which we adults are truly mindful of the consequences of our actions and take measures to be responsible each time reproduction is a possibility. Imagine a world in which nearly every child is planned, cared for, and loved. Yes, accidents happen occasionally. No birth control method is 100% effective except for abstinence and certain medical procedures. And sometimes an unplanned child can end up being the great joy of his/her parents' lives. But in order to be able to take care of each other and the planet, I believe we need to treat the creation of our family with thought and care for its impact on the environment and our society as a whole.

So anyway, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Let's be safe, smart, and responsible in whatever way we choose to celebrate. Sex talk over. Join me tomorrow for my latest recipe. I promise, it'll be G-rated.
 

 

Plastic-free sex, part 1: "reducing friction in relationships"

Happy Valentine's Day week. We're all adults here, right? If Burbanmom can make the astonishing admission that she and her husband like to do it (gasp!) then I'm prepared to grab that ball (NPI) and run with it. Warning: this post gets a wee bit explicit. Read at your own risk.

So I'm sitting here looking at a #3 (PVC) plastic bottle of Liquid Silk sensual lubricant. The long list of chemical ingredients includes many parabens: methyl paraben, butyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben, as well as the preservative BHT. And this is what Michael and I are putting on and in our bodies each time we get extra specially close. The Skin Deep database gives it a provisional moderate hazard rating of 4, which is not what I'm looking for when I get in bed with my guy.

Now, I know there are natural, non-toxic water-based lubricants on the market: Firefly (formerly Nude), Good Glide, O'My Natural Lubricant, Love Lube, Sensua Organics, Sylk, and more. The problem? They all come in plastic bottles.

So we've recently switched to a somewhat controversial solution: pure olive oil. Controversial because there is disagreement over whether or not using olive oil in this way can be harmful or not. Also, I don't think you can use it with condoms, if that's your birth control method of choice. Some doctors, like this one from the U.K., go so far as to scoff at the very idea of using olive oil as something for the poor unwashed masses. He says:

Well, I have never heard of anybody doing this in the UK – though I have recently learned that it is sometimes done in Mediterranean countries, particularly where people can’t afford proper sex lubricants.

Frankly I wouldn't recommend this practice, partly because no one has ever done any research so far on the effects of olive oil on the vagina – or indeed the penis.

The attitude of superiority that rings through in that statement makes me want to use olive oil just to be ornery. "Proper" sex lubricants? What "proper" sex lubricants did people use for thousands of years before synthetics were invented? And why does a lack of research automatically make something unsafe? And Mediterranean folk seem to be right about food. Maybe they know something about sex, too. Ya think?

On the other side of the fence is this couple who believe that olive oil can be great for the vagina. And in between, there are various opinions all over the web about whether or not olive oil is okay to use as lube, although none of them seem to be based on facts. I've also read about using coconut oil or sweet almond oil for this purpose, but they're more expensive and harder to come by plastic-free, so we're opting to smell like salad rather than pina coladas for the time being.

So what's the olive oil feel like? It's nice. Doesn't dry up like water-based lube. You don't need to use a lot. And smells great if you enjoy the smell of good olive oil, which I do. It's runny, so you do have to be careful not to spill it all over the place. We put ours in a used pump bottle (yes, plastic, but reused and not PVC) but any kind of bottle with a narrow spout would work. And you can use it as massage oil at the same time. Whether or not it will have negative vaginal consequences down the line remains to be seen. For now, it's working great.

Well, that was Part 1 of my Valentine's Day sex posts. Hope it wasn't TMI, but I did warn you. Stay tuned for Part 2. And as always, your feedback is welcome!
 

 

Plastic-free Feminine Hygiene. It had to happen enventually.

Since I had my hysterectomy in June, (Wow! She just jumps right in with the personal stuff, huh?) I have been relieved not to have to deal too much with the issue of plastic-free feminine hygiene products. At the time I started blogging, Crunchy Chicken was running her Diva Cup Challenge and I was happy not to have to consider whether or not to participate.

The Diva Cup, for those who still have not heard about it, is a silicone contraption, kinda like a diaphragm I guess, that you wear inside once a month, rinse out, and reuse. The environmentally-friendly thing about it is that you don't have any tampon or pad waste each month. But what is silicone?

The Dow Corning web site says that it is "a unique synthetic elastomer made from a cross-linked polymer which is reinforced with silica." Web MD says it's "A polymer of organic silicon oxides, which may be a liquid, gel, or solid, depending on the extent of polymerization." In other words, a type of plastic. A safe plastic? I don't know. The makers of the Diva Cup say yes. Feedback from those who can shed light on silicone in general or the Diva Cup specifically is quite welcome.

Personally, I'd rather stick with something more organic. For a while, and before my surgery, I used NatraCare disposable products. The tampons are 100% certified organic, unbleached cotton, which are made with or without biodegradable card applicators. The pads and liners are plastic-free, unbleached, plant cellulose and compostable in any backyard composter. I know. I've composted them.

Even after the hysterectomy though, I do like to use a liner. (Feel free to move on if this is too much information.) I thought I was doing fine using the NatraCare liners and tossing them in the compost bin until I thought about all the raw materials and energy that go into producing these pads, liners, and tampons. They may be natural. But they are not "no-impact," are they? So I looked into other alternatives.

LunaPads and GladRags are companies that make reusable, washable cloth menstrual pads and liners. They are sold online and in some stores like Whole Foods and Elephant Pharmacy. I think that tossing a few of these pads into the laundry once a month is probably more eco-friendly than buying new disposables. And much more wallet-friendly too, after the initial purchase.

The problem is that with these pads, you're pretty much limited to the sizes and shapes available, which, trying not to get too personal, did not satisfy me. I wanted a cloth liner in a different shape.

That's when I checked one of my favorite web sites, Etsy and found a couple of craftswomen who would work with me to customize some handmade liners in the shapes and fabrics that I wanted. The two sellers I've worked with are Stella Pads by Ashley Norris and County Cloth Creations. But there are quite a few Etsy sellers making cloth sanitary products and I'm sure others would be happy to customize pads to your specifications.

The other nice thing about working with the Etsy sellers is that you can communicate how you'd like the package shipped (i.e. no plastic, minimal shipping materials) directly to the crafts person without having to go through a customer service rep and warehouse and bureaucracy, and you can even check the site to find the sellers closest to your geographical location.

So that's been my plastic-free feminine hygiene solution. Zero waste liners custom made. What's yours?
 

 

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:

--------------------------------------------------------

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

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.