Pure & Natural is just a name, not necessarily a description

My friend and co-worker Marika picked up a bar of Pure & Natural soap for me while shopping at Target. Marika is very sweet. She makes the best cupcakes and brownies in the world, and she lives to love and protect animals of all kinds (even though she tortures her dog by making him wear orange sweatshirts.)

So anyway, she thought of me because Pure & Natural soap comes packaged in 100% post-consumer paperboard packaging that is embedded with flower seeds to encourage users to return it to the earth rather than throwing it away. Cute idea. And the soap itself is labeled as 99% natural origin. That's great. But what's the 1% that's not natural?

Listed among all the ingredients you'd find in most natural soaps is "fragrance." That must be the unnatural 1%. And what is in the fragrance? I didn't know, so I called Pure & Natural's toll free number (1-877-711-8188) to find out. Will answered my call. I asked him if there were phthalates (hormone-disrupting chemicals often added to fragrances to make them stick to your skin) in the fragrances used in the soap. First, he said that Pure & Natural does not add any phthalates to the soap. But then he admitted that P&N purchases their fragrances from an outside fragrance house which does not divulge its ingredients, citing trade secrets.

Companies that manufacture food products are required to list all the ingredients on the label. Companies that make cosmetics and soaps don't have to, even though these things enter our bodies through our skin. I told Will I would not be using Pure & Natural as long as the company was unable to provide information about the ingredients in their fragrances, and he said he'd pass the word along.

After my phone call with Will, I remembered that Ideal Bite had written a paid review of the soap in their Greenchip Showcase. These reviews always contain a section called "Keeping it Real" where the reviewer mentions anything not so great about the products, so I checked the P&N review to see if they'd mentioned the unknown "fragrance." Nope. So of course, I sent them an email:

Dear Ideal Bite:

Regarding the Pure & Natural soap greenchip showcase tip: http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/greenchipshowcase/ideal_bite_gcs_freshened_up_pure_natural/

In addition to what you listed in the "keeping it real" section, there is another aspect of these soap bars to be concerned about. The ingredients list "fragrance." I assume this is the 1% that is not natural. Fragrances often contain phthalates, which are hormone disruptors. So I actually called Pure & Natural today to find out if there are phthalates in the soap.

I spoke with Will. Will said that the company obtains its fragrances from an outside fragrance house, which doesn't reveal the ingredients in its fragrances citing trade secrets. So Pure & Natural actually doesn't know whether there are phthalates in the fragrances it uses or not.

You can read more about phthalates in fragrances at Enviroblog:

http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/05/cheatsheet-phthalates.htm

Until companies are required to disclose all the ingredients in the products we are putting on and in our bodies, I am going to steer clear of anything with the word "fragrance" in the ingredients list.

Well, there's my letter writing and phone call for the week. Want to call Pure & Natural and express your concern? Once again, here's that toll free number: 1-877-711-8188. Operators are standing by.
 

 

Update 3: Soap and Shampoo and Deodorant, oh my!

One of the best ways for us to eliminate unnecessary plastic is to eliminate the water. No water = no plastic bottle. The easiest step in that department is to switch from liquid hand soap and bath gels to solid bar soaps. But there are other products that many folks don't realize come in solid form, like shampoo, so here's an update on my experiences with solid soaps, shampoo bars, and even plastic-free deodorant.

SOAPS:

Plastic-free soap bars are hard to find in mainstream grocery and drugstores, I will admit. Even Ivory comes packaged in plastic wrap these days. But natural stores like Whole Foods are chock full of castile soaps wrapped in little to no paper. Dr. Bronner's is a good choice for many. Right now, I'm enjoying two different solid soaps:

Dessert Essence lemongrass calendula soaps that I found, believe it or not, on sale at Grocery Outlet for a buck a piece and are packaged with just one strip of paper.

Iyoba Body Essentials handmade soaps that I buy directly from her stall at the Berkeley Flea Market on the weekends. I love the fact that the soaps are handmade right here in the East Bay and that I am supporting my local community. And they smell great. Unfortunately, the kitties think the oatmeal soap is food, so we can't keep that particular one within reach of little paws.

The thing I have noticed about natural castile soaps is that they do tend to dissolve fast if you let them sit in water. You need a good soap dish with holes to let the water drain. Or a bowl of little stones, which is what I use. Or a bowl with a strategically shaped and placed seashell, which is what Axelle uses. Or a handmade soap drainer like this one made by Cat at It's A Green Green Green Green World.

SOLID SHAMPOOS:

I've tried three different solid shampoo bars to date:

Lush Re-Incarnate Shampoo Bar comes with zero packaging if you buy it directly from a Lush Store. Through the mail, they wrap it in paper for you. (Correction: Per comments below, sometimes they wrap it up in plastic. Not good. Maybe you have to specify no plastic when you order. *Sigh*) As I've explained before in my original post about Lush, when you shop at the store, you buy the product by weight and it's cut to order from a big block. Lush shampoo bars are a great from a packaging standpoint. But the ingredients in the bar itself are questionable. This shampoo contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS), a detergent which can be irritating to some people. According to their web site, Lush has developed some SLS-free shampoo bars, but I haven't tried them. My main objection to the Re-Incarnate shampoo was the smell. I just didn't care for it. And that's really my main objection to Lush products in general. Most of them are very strong-smelling. In fact, I kind of get a headache when I walk into the store from all the strong fragrances (albeit from natural sources) bumping up against one another. Your mileage may vary.

Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint shampoo bar, on the other hand, smells great to me. And it comes in a cardboard box with zero plastic. But I find it a little drying for my hair. Plus, the company's now owned by Clorox, and I'm not sure I want to continue to support them. On the other hand, since the company's now owned by a big corporation, their products may become easier to find. Burt's Bees may be the one shampoo bar that folks in mainstream or more rural areas can get from a local store, and that would not be a bad thing.

J.R. Liggett's Old Fashioned shampoo bar is the one I'm using right now. It has the mildest fragrance of the three. It comes wrapped in paper with a biodegradable corn plastic inner lining. Okay, but here's the thing. Read the ingredients: Olive oil, coconut oil, caster oil, fresh pure New Hampshire spring water, sodium hydroxide [aka lye], Rosemary-Lavender-Cedarwood and other essential oils for fragrance. My question: how is this any different from the natural soap I've been using on my body???

Why am I spending extra money for a bar labeled "shampoo" when perhaps I could just be using the same olive oil-based soaps on my hair that I use on the rest of me? Iyoba's soaps are made from olive and coconut oils. The main difference I can see is that instead of pure New Hampshire spring water, she probably uses Oakland's finest. Not a problem.

So, when these shampoo bars are used up, I'm either switching to soap OR baking soda. Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man, cleaned his hair with baking soda for a year. And there are all kinds of instructions online for "no-poo" hair cleaning and a whole no-poo community using baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Life Less Plastic is already doing the cider conditioner portion of the no-poo procedure. We'll see. I already use baking soda for a lot of other things. Including the next item on this list.

But before that, I just want to mention one more thing. Conditioner. Remember that homemade solid hand lotion I made a few months ago? Well, a tiny bit of that run through my hair after showering, and I'm tangle-free and good to go. Really.

DEODORANT:

I'd been using a Lush Aromarant container-free deodorant block since August and for the most part it worked just fine. But it's expensive. And after reading that Colin Beavan was also using baking soda as deodorant, I swore I'd try it when this bar ran out.

Well, the bar is almost gone, but not quite. I was scared to switch to baking soda without having some deodorant bar left as a backup. Just in case. Because I can get pretty funky sometimes, and I was just not at all sure that plain baking soda was going to do the trick.

But a few days ago, I had an idea: what if I added a few drops of tea tree oil to the baking soda, just for insurance? Tea tree oil is an antibacterial. And bacteria are what cause body odor. So here's my recipe: Add few drops of tea tree oil to a jar (in my case, a tea tin) of baking soda. Shake well. Apply with a fuzzy powder puff (which I already had.) And guess what:

No odor!

And guess what else:

No wetness either!

Huh? How can that be? I don't know, but my pits are not only odor-free; they're also dry. I've never used antiperspirants because of the nasty ingredients in them. So I just live with sweat-stains under my arms occasionally. Maybe this is a fluke and the sweat will return. Or maybe I'm not drinking enough water. Any ideas?

P.S. You should see me secretly sniffing my pits all day when I think no one's looking, just to make sure. Am I paranoid about B.O. or what? Another victim of advertising perhaps?
 

 

Week 23 Results: 3.5 oz of plastic

Yay! The total weight's back down again. But my plastic still doesn't fit in the palm of my hand. Maybe this week coming up?

Before I get on with the tally, here is a PVC update and a local Deal Alert:

First, the PVC update: As you know, I found four bottles in my house made from PVC a couple of weeks ago and had determined to find out if the products are still being bottled in PVC or not. The hair gels are, so I sent them back to the company with a letter. No response yet. I can't find the La Paila dulce de leche sauce in any stores around here (I think it was a close-out item at Grocery Outlet) so I've sent an e-mail to the manufacturer asking if the product is still bottled in PVC. And today, during my travels, I found Sun Luck toasted sesame seeds at Piedmont Grocery in a #5 polypropylene container. Since this company has already made the switch, I won't bother sending the container back. Instead, it goes in my hazardous waste stash (per National Geographic's Green Guide) waiting for the next time I visit our hazardous waste facility.

Local Deal: Speaking of Grocery Outlet, I was in there today looking for the dulce de leche sauce. I didn't find the sauce, but I did find a huge stack of Desert Essence calendula and lemongrass soaps wrapped in nothing more than a minimal amount of paper for 99 cents each. I can't find this soap on Desert Essence's web site, so I have a feeling it's a discontinued item. If you want to stock up on a natural plastic-free soap, now's your chance. I found these in the store on Broadway in Oakland. I don't know if other Grocery Outlets carry it or not.

And now for the week's tally:

Non-recyclable items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• 7 Refresh Endura single-use eye drop containers (#4 plastic).


• Cap from a 1-oz. container of McCormick ground red pepper. Using up and consolidating my spices this week.


• Cap from a 1/2-oz. container of Trader Horn crushed red pepper.


• Plastic ring from around the neck of a glass bottle of dried basil.


• Plastic from a blister pack of Radio Shack AAA rechargeable batteries.


• Plastic Avery labels package. I took the remaining labels out so I could tally the plastic and get it out of the way.


• Plastic 5,000-ct box of Swingline staples. From now on, I'll be getting staples packaged in a cardboard box.

Recyclable items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• One-oz. bottle of McCormick ground red pepper (#5 plastic). I can recycle this in San Francisco at Michael's office.


• Half-oz. bottle of Trader Horn crushed red pepper (#5 plastic). I can recycle this one at Michael's office too.

And that's all the old stuff. Now for the new plastic waste.

• Wrappers from two blocks of Loleta white cheddar.


• 1 plastic cork from a bottle of Boissonneau Chateau Moulin de Ferrand Bordeaux Blanc. I have 2 bottles left. Once they're gone, I'll try to find only bottles with natural cork stoppers.


• Plastic cap from a glass bottle of Straus organic whipping cream. Used for the Thanksgiving pumpkin soup. Mmmmmm!


• Plastic label from a bunch of fresh spearmint. Bought for my latest mouthwash experiment. More on this later.

That's it for the week.

And here's some plastic I received this week and will be sending back. Intuit automatically sent me this year's Turbotax software on CD, along with a bonus CD of financial something-or-other. But Turbotax is available for download. So I'll be returning these CDs with a note asking Intuit not to send me anymore automatic plastic through the mail.

Have you all checked out Burbanmom's web site, Going Green? She's been sending things back, too. And writing letters to the editor. Let's make this a trend!
 

 

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.
 

 

Flushing plastic down the drain!

Say what? The little grains in exfoliating scrubs more often than not are made of plastic these days! Plastic that is meant to be rinsed down the drain, where it enters our waterways and the bodies of aquatic creatures. I almost didn't believe it when I read it in this article: Polymers Are Forever. So I did a Google search, and this is what I found...

MD Formulations Face & Body Scrub contains polyethylene granules.
Peter Thomas Roth AHA/BHA Face & Body Polish contains micro-fine polyethylene beads.
SkinCeuticals Body Polish contains polyethylene beads.
Helen Pensanti Exfoliating Cleanser contains polyethylene beads from Switzerland. (Do the Swiss make better plastic?)
Isomers Manual Microderm Cleanser contains polyethylene beads.

Thinking that it was just the high-end cleansers that contain plastic, I went to drugstore.com and did a search on "polyethylene." There over a thousand items that contain "polyethylene" in the ingredients list! Among the facial scrubs containing plastic are pretty much anything described as having "microbeads," such as:

Dove Gentle Exfoliating Foaming Facial Cleanser
Nivea face scrub
Aveeno daily scrub
Neutrogena Body Clear body scrub
L'Oreal Pure Zone Pore Unclogging Scrub Cleanser
Ambi Even & Clear Skincare, Exfoliating Wash
Clean & Clear Oil-Free Daily Pore Cleanser
Phisoderm Nurturing Facial Polish
Garnier Nutritioniste Nuti-Pure Microbead Cream Scrub

There are many more, and I could go on and on, but I'm tired of looking. Here's a search list of just the facial scrubs containing polyethylene. See for yourself.

So how about some good news? Here are some facial scrubs on the drugtore.com web site which do not contain polyethylene. Several of these are labeled as 100% biodegradable.

Alba Botanica Clarifying Scrub
Alba Hawaiian Facial Scrub, Pineapple Enzyme
Aubrey Organics North Woods Face Scrub
Avalon Organics Exfoliating Enzyme Scrub
Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub
Burt's Bees Peach & Willowbark, Deep Pore Scrub
derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub
Earth Science Gentle Facial Scrub, Apricot
Grandpa's Old Fashioned Oatmeal Soap, For Face & Bath
Jason Natural Cosmetics Scrubble (various types)
Jason Red Elements Exfoliating Scrub
Juice Organics New! Apple Exfoliating Peel
Kiss My Face Organics Jump Start, Exfoliating Face Wash
Kiss My Face Organics So Refined, Jojoba & Mint Facial
Nature's Gate Revitalizing Facial Scrub
Zia Natural Skincare Natural Microdermabrasion Scrub

So the moral to the story is: Read labels! You might be buying more plastic than just the container!
 

 

Store/Product Report: Lush (Some more good news)

03/25/2008 UPDATE: Warning to those who would order Lush products through the mail. I have had several reports from readers who ordered what they thought would be naked chunks of shampoo or deodorant, only to have them arrive wrapped up in a ton of plastic. So either be very specific in your ordering instructions that you don't want any plastic packaging, or don't order from Lush. Reading the comments on my updated 03/24/08 blog post might be helpful to you.

When you walk into a Lush Cosmetics store, (there is one at 240 Powell Street in San Francisco, as well as locations throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world) you are greeted not by rows and rows of products packaged in plastic (as you are when you enter The Body Shop, for example), but by big unwrapped chunks of solid soap as well as shampoo, deodorant, bubble bath, and massage oil. That's right, big solid chunks of these things! They are sold by weight. You tell the staff how much you want, and they cut off a piece, weigh it, and wrap it in paper for you. I tried 4 products which have been working great for me for the past 2 weeks:

Lush Bohemian Soap smells like lemon, the fruit, not the furniture polish. I find it really refreshing in the morning. And if you don't like that smell, there are about 20 more kinds of soap to choose from.

Lush does sell some products in plastic containers, including shaving creams. While I was assured by the salesperson assisting me that they are recyclable, I was not about to add more plastic to the waste-stream, recyclable or not. (In fact, much of the plastic we think is reyclable does not actually get recycled. More on that later.) So I asked her what Lush product she would use if she had to shave her legs with something other than shaving cream. She recommended the Emporer of Icecream Buttercream cleanser, as it's the most moisturizing soap. And in fact, it works. It makes my legs and other areas slippery enough to shave without wounding myself. It also smells awesome, lightly scented with vanilla and orange blosson honey. Unfortunately, I can't find this one on the web site. Perhaps it's only sold in stores. Oh, and by the way, the plastic container in the photo did not come from Lush. I made it from pieces of that Chinese food container from 2 weeks ago.

The Re-Incarnate Shampoo bar seems to work just as well as liquid shampoo, once you get over the initial weirdness of rubbing a bar of soap on your head. It lathers up really well and rinses out well too. I'm not crazy about this particular scent which reminds me of Chinese 5 spice powder (although, looking at the list of ingredients, I can't tell what would cause that particular smell for me). But others may love it. And there are about 12 other shampoo bars to choose from.

And finally, the Aromarant deodorant bar is the wonder product for me. I was skeptical about whether it would really work, but after using it for 2 weeks with no odor and no irritation, I am sold. Lush warns that you should not keep these deodorant bars in the bathroom because of the steam. They work best if kept dry and used on dry underarms. I've been keeping it in my underwear drawer, where it does double-duty making my underthings smell nice. As with the other products, if you don't like this scent, there are others to choose from.

Unfortunately, if you don't like any scented products, you are kind of out of luck with Lush. Everything is made with essential oils and contains some scent, although some are stronger than others.

After my visit to Lush, I spoke with Jennifer Graybeal who handles press inquiries for Lush. I asked her about the products that are packaged in plastic containers. She said that Lush is currently looking into more biodegradable options and is very serious about being environmentally responsible. However, at the moment, there is no non-plastic alternative for some of the products.

I also asked her how the bars are packaged for mail-order shipping. I would hate to order a product that comes without plastic in the store only to find plastic packaging in the box. She told me the only packaging they use is old paper copies of the Lush Times, and that they are looking into even better alternatives, including possibly using actual popcorn to pad the products for shipping.

The main drawback I can see to these products is that they are pricey. I purchased 1/4 pound of each item, and the average price was about $8.00 per bar. The salesperson at the store told me that the Lush bars last longer than other brands. That remains to be seen. But to me, the price is worth it for products that will not contribute to the plastic problem.
 

 

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.