My little plastic-free veggie garden

Sorry for the quality of the photos. For some reason, my camera and the sun would not cooperate last week when I took these. Anyway, here's my very little front yard garden grown almost entirely without plastic. Yep. Little. And late. Because I didn't get started until June. But it is what it is, and maybe you can offer some advice for next year.

If you'll recall, the soil/fertilizer for my garden is a mixture of front yard dirt, my own homemade compost, and recycled potting soil from my dismantled roof garden. No new plastic bags of anything.

On the left are my four tomato plants, which are probably way too close together. They arrived plastic-free from my friend Jennconspiracy in little coconut coir planters. I removed them and tossed the planters in the compost. Then later found out I should have put the whole thing into the ground.



I was mocked and derided back in June for thinking that I could use one metal cage for four plants. I had tried tying each plant to a corner of the cage. When it became apparent to even stubborn me that this was not the way to go, I bought 3 more metal cages and put them over each plant. Now I read that they should have been spaced two feet apart.

When I first planted the tomatoes, I watered them every evening with the hose. A lot of water. Maybe too much. I don't know. The lower leaves of some of the plants turned a bit yellow. Later, a friend told me that maybe if I wanted better tasting tomatoes, I should water less. So I started watering every other day. And then the leaves started to look dry and crispy. So I have no idea if I have been giving too much or too little water.

This plant is Principe Borghese. It's the most prolific, which isn't saying much. Unfortunately, the tomatoes are kind of mushy and flavorless eaten raw. Cooked in a sauce, they're fine. Suggestions anyone? Could I have watered them too much? Not enough?



Here is my favorite, Blondkopfchen cherry tomato, which unfortunately has many more leaves than tomatoes. The tomatoes are really only forming at the top. The rest of the tall plant is greenery. But the little yellow fruits pop sweetly in your mouth. How can I get more next year?



This is Paul Robeson. He's had a tough time. Midway through the season, he broke in half, so only one small stem continued to grow. There are two tomatoes forming, but they are still little, green, and hard.



And this one... I'm not sure what it is because the ID tag disappeared. Small and red tomatoes. They tend to fall off the vine before they seem completely ripe, and I bring them in the house to "finish."





Oh, and one more thing about the tomatoes before you give me your suggestions for next year. Frustrated with how few tomatoes I was getting, I bought Peace of Mind organic tomato and vegetable fertilizer a few weeks ago and fed the plants. It comes in a cardboard box. No plastic. Good idea? Too little too late?

I laugh when I remember how I thought I'd have enough tomatoes to make canned sauce for the winter. We don't even have enough to eat right now! Should I bother trying to save seeds? If so, how? If not, why not?

The other plants are organic veggies that came in little compostable eco pots. (Once again, no plastic.) Yellow squash, which is just beginning to form something that looks like actual squash after months of yellow flowers and no fruit, catnip which I obviously bought for the kitties (tips on drying?), and basil which just smells awesome. I've been picking off the flowers every few days to keep the leaves growing. Next week, I plan to mix up a big batch of vegan pesto and freeze it in my empty little glass Fudge Is My Life jars. The pesto is the one piece of this whole operation I feel pretty confident about.
 

 

Year 2, Week 6 Results: .2 oz of plastic waste.

I took my mini plastic stash (.2 ounces! Yes!) outside today to hang out with my...

MASSIVE TOMATO PLANTS!

Okay, okay, don't laugh. You guys told me I was an idiot to think I could grow 4 tomato plants using one cage, so I bought 3 more. The plants may not be humongous yet, and certainly not like Allie's plants that are reportedly taller than she. (Of course, I've never seen what Allie looks like. Maybe she's really, really short.) But don't forget, I got them in the ground weeks and weeks after Jennconspiracy gave them to me, so I'm confident I'll be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes by this fall. And learning to can them. Thanks for all your great advice.

Okay, here's last week's tally. It's all new plastic waste:

• 2 plastic tags and 2 plastic tag hangers from tomato cages. One of the three new cages was missing its tag, so I only ended up with two.


• Plastic cap loop and foam cap insert from a bottle of fresh maple syrup. Michael's sister visited us last week and brought a big bottle of dark maple syrup fresh from her neighbor's trees in Western Massachusetts. Mmmmmmmmmm! The bottle was plastic, but we decanted the syrup into a glass jar, and she took the plastic bottle back home with her in hopes that her neighbor would be able to reuse it. We'll find out.


• Address label from the card that came with my Fudge Is My Life fudge sauce. Somehow I missed including this in the week that all that fudge sauce arrived.


• 1 plastic seal from around the neck of a jar of Fudge Is My Life fudge sauce. So far, I've given away two jars and opened one for myself. Trying to limit my consumption to one moderate spoonful per day. We'll see how that goes!


• Plastic from the ends of a bunch of organic bananas.

Gotta get going to feed and pet Soots and Arya's brother Robb and step brother Ginger. Our friends are out of town, so we have new kitties to play with and torture. (Just kidding, Laura!)
 

 

Urban Compost + Recycled Potting Soil = Good Tomato Food? We'll see...

Yesterday, I mentioned recycling the potting soil from my dead roof garden as well as harvesting the compost (finally) from my Urban Compost Tumbler to add to the dirt in the front yard where we planted tomatoes. Back in March, I whined about how the Urban Compost Tumbler was just not as great as I'd hoped it would be. I stopped filling it because it had become too heavy to actually tumble by myself, and we switched to dumping our food waste into our curbside green bin instead, to be sent away to the city's commercial compost facility.

Feh. I'd rather we could keep our food scraps and use them ourselves. Maybe now that we have a bit of yard, we can switch to the kind of composter that sits directly on the ground. As I mentioned in the March post, we'd had great success with one of those before. (A worm bin is not an option at this time. We have no place to put one and would probably let the worms die, anyway, just like the plants.)

So okay, this Saturday was the day to harvest the compost from the tumbler, such as it was. Michael pulled the thing forward and held that sucker down:


He is able to do things like that because he has a pair of these:


While he held it down, I slid a table under the back end to prop it up:


And a plastic tub under the opening to catch the compost:


Okay, the compost didn't actually tumble out. I had to pull it out with a hoe. It was kinda smelly and wet, not at all like the beautiful, rich compost we'd gotten from the traditional composter a few years back. Still, I ended up with 3 bins half full of the stuff, most of which seemed broken down.


Some of the shredded paper was still intact. And a nylon tea bag. (Where the heck did that come from???) The biggest mystery was a mini glass brandy bottle, the kind you'd get on a plane. No freakin' idea. But there wasn't anything still recognizable as food, so I was happy about that.

The next step was recycling the roof garden. This is what I started with:






(Oh, my poor babies. Here's how they used to look...)




See more photos here from last year.

I just now made myself really sad.

Okay, Beth, get over it. Drought Schmought. You didn't feel like watering them, and this is what happens. Let it be a lesson to you. Don't neglect your cats and husband or the same thing will happen to them! (Well, no, because Michael actually feeds all four of us. And loads the dish washer. And does the laundry. We'll be making a chore wheel soon, but that's a discussion for another day.)

Right. So we carted the whole mess down to the front yard, raked up the dirt, mixed in the compost and recycled potting soil, and planted the tomatoes that Jennconspiracy had brought over in their own little coconut coir pots. No disposable plastic pots for us!


And here are the tomatoes. Can you see them? Look carefully; they're small. There's one at each leg of the metal cage.


Will the soil be good for them? It's pretty chunky and lumpy. Chlumpy. How often do I need to water them? I could look it up, but it's easier to just ask you guys. What's the best way to grow tomatoes when you've already waited way too late to plant them in the soil and you have no idea what you're doing?

Oh, and what other veggies are easy to grow starting in the middle of June? I can get vegetable and herb seedlings in biodegradable eco pots from Long's. They'll still come with those ubiquitous plastic identification tags, but whatcha gonna do? Anyone in the area have some to share without the plastic tags???

Oh, and lest you feel too sad about the dead plants, this is how the roof looks now with the remaining cactuses and drought-tolerant succulents that are left:




Aside from the college dorm-looking plastic crates (we won't mention where they came from) I think it's elegantly simple. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
 

 

Update 2: Urban Composting

Inspired by Life Less Plastic's excellent Step By Step Composting Guide and info about her Compost Tumbler, and also after many questions from readers about my experiences composting with my Urban Compost Tumbler, I thought I'd post a quick update.

Back in August I wrote a detailed post about the various composting options for someone in an urban environment without access to a yard: Compost Tumbler: a solution to the potting soil problem? So I won't rehash every option and the reasons why I chose a compost tumbler instead of worms or bokashi. But I will reiterate that I ultimately chose the Urban Compost Tumbler over other tumblers because it is made from 100% recycled plastic rather than new plastic. And I had heard about rust issues with metal compost tumblers.

I've now been using this one for over 7 months, and I've found it's not as wonderful as I'd hoped. It's a little over half full now, and because of the shape and the way it tumbles end over end, it has become extremely heavy and difficult to flip. I can no longer do it myself, and I assure you, I have really, really tried. Fortunately, I live with a very strong Michael. But if I lived alone, I'd have to stop using it.

Another issue is the importance of making sure to have enough brown material in there. My experience has been that with a traditional composter that sits on the ground, making sure the green/brown/water mix is perfect isn't as important as with a tumbler where the materials are sealed in and don't have access to elements and helpful critters like worms. Let me give you an example.

Before we bought the Urban Compost Tumbler, we had a traditional plastic composter (non-tumbling) on our roof. We managed to do that by putting down a sheet of black plastic and then a wooden pallet that the composter sat on. The composter had a bottom with holes in it so air could get through from the bottom. And it had some tiny holes in the top so rain could get in. For the first couple of months, I was diligent about adding the proper amounts of greens (food scraps & plant clippings) and browns (mostly shredded newspaper) and water. But I never turned the compost. And then over time, I became less diligent about the ratio of greens to browns, and when winter came, I gave up altogether and just let it sit.

When I opened it up in the Spring, I was surprised to find beautiful, sweet-smelling soil that was full of fat earth worms. They must have gotten in when I added some dry leaves from the sidewalk. The compost was beautiful. So why did we give up this system and opt for the tumbler? Because I was worried about the roof. As I've said before, we are renters. And I was worried about what was happening to the roof under the wet plastic. It was yucky under there. And I thought having a system where the composter doesn't touch the roof would be better for us.

But you can't accidentally get fat juicy earthworms in a compost tumbler. If you do, they'll die from the tumbling. And you don't get natural air flow, which is the reason you have to tumble it to begin with. So my compost is not developing as beautifully as I would have liked. Right now, I've stopped adding green material and am only adding shredded newspaper because the compost had started to smell bad, an indication of too much nitrogen and not enough carbon. Fortunately, we have a "green bin" system in Oakland, and our food and yard waste are picked up curbside and taken to a commercial composting facility. So I'm not wasting my food scraps. I'm putting them in the green bin and sending them away instead of using them myself right now.

My recommendation is that if you have a patch of ground where you could put a traditional composter, you should go that route before considering a tumbler. It's easier AND those composters cost a lot less. I don't have that option.

If I were more diligent about composting, I'd probably get a worm bin. But I'm not, and I just don't want to have to worry about letting worms die. Worms, unlike kitties, don't pounce on you and bit your nose and cry to let you know they're hungry. Also, I don't have any shaded place to put it, so they'd probably fry in the summertime.

I still wouldn't buy a composter made from virgin plastic. So at this point, I'm not sure what I would try if I weren't using this one. Overall, it's fine for someone who is strong or who lives with someone who is strong and willing to turn it periodically. I'll write another update when I finally take the compost out and show you the finished product.

Next week: more updates on shampoo bars and soap and plastic-free deodorant. Stay tuned.
 

 

Compost Tumbler: a solution to the potting soil problem?

Good lord, what is that Death Star looking thing on your roof, Beth?

No Worries. It's my new Urban compost tumbler and tea catcher, ready to devour food, garden, and some paper waste and deliver rich, fragrant compost... in 2-6 months, depending on how diligent I am in feeding it.

But it's made of (gasp) plastic!

That's right. 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. The only part that is not recycled is the tea catcher, and I'm having a few regrets about ordering that part. Seems like I maybe could have figured out another way to catch the compost leachate without buying a brand new piece of plastic. Well, live and learn.

So, how does it work?

Glad you asked! Simply add your "green" (fresh leaves, grass, food scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, anything wet and pungent) and "brown" (dry leaves, grass, shredded paper & cardboard) waste, close the lid, spin the compost tumbler a few times to mix it all up, and leave it alone until you have more to add. That's it. Over time, the materials will decompose into fresh dirt that no longer resembles (or smells) like the original ingredients. I know this because we had a different composter a few years ago, and after neglecting it all winter, we opened it up in the spring to find gorgeous, sweet-smelling soil.

So why aren't you using that one?

Well, the thing is, we don't actually have a yard, only a roof deck. The composter we had was meant to sit on the ground. Instead, I had it on a wooden palette on top of a black plastic sheet. Still, the deck underneath got pretty gross. I didn't think it was the best idea, especially since as renters, we didn't actually own the deck we were grossifying. So I traded the composter for a worm bin, but I never found time to purchase the worms to go in it and worried that if I did purchase the worms, they'd die from neglect. Composters, on the other hand, love neglect. Hence, my decision to re-Freecycle the worm bin and spring for the compost tumbler, which will never touch the deck.

Why did you buy that one?

Boy, I stayed up several nights in a row researching which compost tumbler to buy. I'll list for you the ones I considered, the pros and cons, and the reason I chose the Urban Compost Tumbler.

1) Back Porch ComposTumbler:

• Materials: Drum made from new polyethylene; frame made of polyester powder coated steel tubing.
• Tumbling method: Drum spins on metal frame, turned by a metal crank.
• Mobility: wheels attached to frame so tumbler can easily be moved.
• Tea catcher: No.
• Appearance: attractive green drum with black frame. Blends in with garden or deck.
• Reported Problems: Several reviewers reported that the door doesn't stay closed properly when the unit is fairly full, and therefore turning the tumbler becomes a problem. I also read one report of the metal crank breaking off, and a few reports of rusting of the metal frame.
• Bottom Line: I didn't want new plastic, especially with a door that might not shut, a crank that might break, and a frame that could rust. Also, I wanted a way to catch the leachate, which is good fertilizer for plants.

2) Other larger ComposTumblers:

• Materials: Galvanized metal drum and tubular steel frame.
• Tumbling method: Drum spins on metal frame, turned by a metal crank.
• Mobility: None.
• Tea catcher: No.
• Appearance: attractive green drum with black frame. Blends in with garden or deck.
• Reported Problems: Rust seemed to be the biggest problem with these all-metal units. Many people reported rust.
• Bottom Line: Didn't want to deal with possible rust problems. Preferred not to purchase all new materials. Also, I wanted a way to catch the leachate.

3) Envirocycle Composter/ Composteamaker:

• Materials: This is interesting. The company's web site does not specify what materials it is made of. Online merchants vary in their descriptions. OutdoorDecor.com says it is 50% recycled plastic. PlanetNatural.com says it is made from recycled plastic, but doesn't say what percentage.
• Tumbling method: Push the drum itself over the wheels in the base to roll it.
• Mobility: Drum rolls off the base and onto the ground, where it can be rolled anywhere you want.
• Tea catcher: Included in the base. Leachate drains through holes in the drum into the base where it is collected.
• Appearance: Green plastic drum and base. Could blend in with garden or deck.
• Reported Problems: I've read reports that if the compost gets too wet, it leaks through the vents in the drum so that rolling it becomes a messy, stinky process. Also, when the drum gets too heavy, it becomes difficult to roll.
• Bottom Line: Afraid of stinky, messy drum that I wouldn't want to touch. Also, this unit is only partially recycled, if that.

4) Tumbling Compost Mixer with steel frame or Compost Mixer with plastic base:

• Materials: 100% recycled plastic with optional steel frame.
• Tumbling method: Either turn it end over end on its steel frame or roll it on its plastic base with your feet.
• Mobility: With the steel frame, it is stationary. With the plastic base, it can be rolled off the base onto the ground and rolled around the yard.
• Tea catcher: No.
• Appearance: Black Death Star look, one that only its mother could love.
• Reported Problems: Haven't read of any problems.
• Bottom Line: A good one except that I really wanted a way to catch the leachate to feed my plants.

So how does my Urban Compost Tumbler compare to the four mentioned above?

• Materials: 100% post-consumer recycled plastic drum and frame. Optional tea catcher, as far as I know, is not made from recycled plastic. It could be, but the company's web site does not state that it is.
• Tumbling method: Turn it end over end on its frame.
• Mobility: Stationary.
• Tea catcher: Optional.
• Appearance: Black Death Star look. Not beautiful, but functional.
• Reported Problems: Some reviews have said that getting the compost out is not as easy as shown in the photos. We'll see if that's true. Also, one review said that when the composter gets full, it can be mishapen and harder to get the lid on. However, the unit came with instructions for how to get the lid on in that case.
• Bottom Line: I bought it because it's 100% recycled, there's a way to catch the leachate, and there are no metal parts that can rust. Since it will be on my deck, I don't need it to be mobile. And I would rather have a narrow frame than a flat base sitting on the deck. It seems like the right choice for us, given the options available. (Note: there are a few others, but the features are pretty similar to the ones I listed above.)

Finally, let's talk packaging. The Urban Compost Tumbler was delivered in 3 boxes: 2 great big ones containing the drum and base and a smaller one containing the tea catcher. Except for a cardboard ring to hold the drum in place, the big boxes had no additional packaging and were sealed up with paper tape! The smaller box was stuffed with newspaper, as opposed to styrofoam or plastic. There was some plastic inside besides the tea catcher itself: a plastic bag containing the smaller hardware parts and a small plastic clamshell containing one of the parts. Oddly, this box was sealed with plastic tape.

Bottom Line: Investing in this composter will allow us to recycle our organic waste in a way that is responsible and will provide nutrients for the plants in my garden. Mixing the compost with dirt from the side of the house, I'm hoping to provide potting soil for the garden that doesn't come in a plastic bag. And catching the leachate, I'm hoping to provide my own fertilizer that I don't have to buy from the store.

And finally, for those who don't want to compost, I do want to mention a company out there that is creating organic fertilizers and even potting soil that is packaged in recycled soda bottles and milk jugs. That company is Terracycle, and currently, they are being sued by Scott's, the makers of Miracle Grow, which claims that Terracycle's packaging looks too similar to Miracle Grow's. Check it out for yourself and see if you think this is true.


 

 

Gardening without plastic? My trip to Long's Drug

I took a walk to the Rockridge Long's today, or as my friend Christine calls it, the Mother Ship Long's. It's huge. With a huge nursery/ gardening center. I wanted to find out if I could buy plants, soil, fertilizer, and other plant necessities in non-plastic containers. Here's what I found:

1) Plants -- just as at Whole Foods, Long's sells herbs and vegetables in Eco-Form pots, but all the other plants are sold in plastic. I'll be sticking to seeds until I can find a way to buy plants without plastic.

2) Soil -- Nope. Not a single bag of any kind of soil in non-plastic. How do people avoiding plastic obtain potting soil? I won't be planting anything new until I figure this out.

3) Fertilizer -- This is where I hit the jackpot. Long's has a whole aisle full of organic plant foods in cardboard boxes and heavy paper sacks. Brands include Sweet Earth, Down to Earth, Grow More Research Farms, Peace of Mind, and Bradfield Organics.

4) Insecticidal soaps and other anti-pest products -- Not much luck here. I bought a cardboard carton of ladybugs, who will be relocating to their new home tonight after I finish this post, and a box of Concern diatomaceous earth to get rid of the ants that are farming the nasty scale on my citrus trees. Other than those 2 items, I found nothing else that was not packaged in plastic. Fortunately, there are recipes online for making your own insecticidal soap, such as these from eSSORTMENT:

Recipe 1: 1 ½ teaspoons of liquid dish detergent per one quart of water.
(This mixture should assist you with the removal of mites, whiteflies, aphids, thrips small scales and leafhoppers. This recipe has a very low toxicity to wildlife and humans but should not be applied on a sizzling hot day, windy, or humid. It can burn some plants with dull leaf surfaces so always test a non-visible area before you attack the whole plant or growing section.)

Recipe 2: To combat adult scale, mix one cup of generic isopropyl alcohol with one tablespoon of the above insecticidal soap recipe. Mix those two ingredients with one quart of water and apply on your plant’s leaves (top and bottom) every three days for two weeks. This mixture will penetrate the adult scale insects’ shells which will kill them soon after contact.

Recipe 3: The last recipe can be used to spray on those plants that you want to bring inside for the winter. Mix three tablespoons of isopropyl alcohol in a quart-size spray bottle and fill with lukewarm water. Add one teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Spray the topside and underside of the leaves and let it sit for three minutes, rinse all the leaves thoroughly and let them dry outside.

I'm going to start the second recipe in a few days and see if it really will work on scale. Any other suggestions?
 

 

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

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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.