Let me be your guinea pig, please!

Seriously, if you have created something that you think will help us reduce waste and won't just add to the mountains of garbage, plastic or otherwise, littering our world, send it my way to try out. But don't send any plastic packaging or I'm liable to ship it right back to ya. I received two nifty items in the last few weeks, both packaged sans plastic and both very cool.

The first was from Bibi Rogers, who has created a company called 4U2ReUSE. Bibi has sent me several emails explaining how important this project is to her and her vision for a healthier planet. While out on a kayaking trip with her son, they came upon a beach littered with plastic bags, the sight of which profoundly affected her. She wanted to do something to solve the problem. Experience told her that carrying reusable bags was the best choice, but often people forget to bring them. What if they had a cute carrier to store their old plastic bags in so they could reuse them over and over again instead of tossing them after one use? Might this be a way to transition people from plastic to reusable bags in the long run?

Her philosophy of bag reuse matches what I wrote all the way back in August about how we should reuse the plastic bags we already have before running out and buying new reusable bags. Since then, cleaning out plastic bags has become a hassle that I subsequently whined about in December. But you know, I think her idea is right on. Through her work, she seeks to promote the following:

• Saying NO to new plastic bags
• Reusing plastic bags already in existence
• Once plastic bags have been reused, disposing of them at local drop-off points to be collected for recycling
• Not disposing of plastic bags by picking up pet waste or dumping them in the trash
• Reducing consumption in general, and making sustainable choices

Bibi called her first plastic bag carrier the Ridley, after one of the world’s smallest, most endangered species of sea turtles. She sent it to me wrapped lovingly in recycled paper with hemp cord inside a plain cardboard priority mail envelope. In her note to me, she says that this is how she will be sending them to all her customers. I'll admit it took me a few weeks to actually open the package, being busy with so many other things. But honestly, I was enjoying just looking at the wrapping!

Inside is the bag, made from 100% hemp with piping of hemp & organic cotton and handle made from grosgrain ribbon remnants. All her other bags are made from either new organic fabric or recycled materials. Even the instruction tag attached to the bag is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and attached with a piece of twine. And the bags are sewn at a workshop in L.A. that employs fair labor practices.

The Ridley is meant to hold up to 10 plastic or biodegradable bags and has a little side opening from which you can pull them out like Kleenex. You can toss the Ridley into your purse or backpack or attach with the strap to grocery tote. Having the Ridley attached to a reusable canvas bag might remind folks to bring their own produce bags back to the farmer's market or grocery store instead of taking new ones. And another bag, the Kemp's, is made to attach to a dog leash for storing biodegradable poop bags.

So anyway, I wish Bibi all success in her endeavor. Hers is the kind of business we should be supporting!

And another entrepreneurial diva answered my call when I wrote about how I needed a non-plastic packaged reusable filter for my new porcelain plastic-free coffee maker. Organic Needle is that seamstress and she sent me a filter that works like a dream! Made from 100% organic cotton canvas, this #4 cone filter hasn't gotten clogged once since I started using it daily a few weeks ago. I just scoop out the grounds into my compost container, rinse the remainder with cool water, and I'm good to go for the next mug.

Yes, it takes a bit more work than using a disposable filter, but think of all the trees saved. Plus, Organic Needle's filter does not come wrapped in plastic like some reusable filters you can buy in the store. She'll send it to you in a plain envelope. You can buy these filters from her Etsey shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5619053. And if you want to see what it looked like before I made coffee in it the first time, here's a great photo of the filter as demonstrated by Organic Needle's trusty assistant. The Internet is just great, isn't it!
 

 

And still one more...

Reading the comments from yesterday's post about coffee, I realized there was a bunch of stuff I forgot to say. So this is Coffee, Part 2. Tomorrow, I'll get to the white stuff that goes in the coffee.

1) French Press vs. Filtered Coffee: Some readers are advocating the French Press as a filter-free alternative. While this method certainly saves a lot of paper coffee filters, it might not be the best option for those of us with cholesterol issues, like Beth Terry aka Fake Plastic Fish.

High cholesterol seems to run in my family. And the oil in coffee contains a compound called cafestol which raises LDL (the bad cholesterol). Paper filters, and I'm assuming cloth filters, trap much of the oil and therefore reduce the cholesterol-raising properties of coffee. Recent studies have shown that even filtered coffee raises LDL some. But not as much as unfiltered. Here's an MSNBC article that summarizes the research in terms that non-scientists can understand: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6242467/. And here's an article that explains the mechanism by which cafestol raises cholesterol: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614162223.htm.

So, this explains my choice to buy a filtered coffee maker rather than a French Press. But it doesn't mean it's not a great choice for other people who have less cholesterol risk than I and who prefer stronger coffee.

2) Buying plastic-free coffee: I totally forgot this part yesterday! Most coffee bags, while they might be paper on the outside, are lined with plastic on the inside. This turns out to be the case at my local coffee shop, Peaberry's. So, I take my own brown paper bag with me and have them fill it up with a pound of their Fairtrade Organic blend. This is my coffee-buying bag that I bring back with me each time.

At home, I empty the coffee into a metal tin that originally contained popcorn from the Popcorn Factory. It's got a nice, tight lid. I keep it in the refrigerator. If you have better ideas of how to keep coffee fresh without plastic, let me know. This seems to work fine for me.

3) My travel mug: Cave-Woman asked what kind of mug I use. It's a Timolino Vacuum Travel mug from Peaberry's: stainless steel inside and out with a polypropylene plastic lid. Would I rather put my lips on something other than plastic? Yep. So when I'm sitting still, I drink right from the metal mug without putting the lid on. But while in transit, I do use the lid.

Cave-Woman also mentioned that she can detect a metal after-taste drinking from a stainless steel mug. Maybe her palate is more sensitive than mine. I don't notice any metal taste. But I would be interested to know if any of you know of a travel mug that contains no plastic, is made relatively locally (Mine's from China, natch. It would be local if I lived in China.), doesn't leak, and works well for you.

I'm not about to buy a new one for myself. I'll sticking with mine, imperfect as it is. But your suggestions could be useful to those who are in the market and can't find a good one used. No Impact Man talks about drinking coffee from a glass jar. But how do you pick up a glass jar of hot coffee without burning yourself? Make a cloth cozy to go around it? Hmmm...
 

 

More on Coffee: Saying goodbye

Goodbye old friends. You served me well. But did you poison me in the process? I don't know. Supposedly #5 polypropylene is safe. But that's what they used to say about your buddy polycarbonate, and look what he's doing to us! So you have to go. White coffee drip cone, black coffee drip cone, and Braun electric coffee maker with the plastic coffee cone, goodbye. And you, new Melitta coffee filters in the plastic bag, you have to go too. Hope you will all enjoy being with the brave Freecycler who has agreed to take you home, despite the warning in my Freecycle post that I was getting rid of you because I wasn't sure it was safe to drink hot liquids poured through plastic.

So hello new coffee friends. It's a good thing I bought you last week before Crunchy Chicken's Buy Nothing Challenge began on April 1. Too bad you came with a plastic bag of bleached white coffee filters, which the above-mentioned Freecycler is going to enjoy. But considering that you are all porcelain, come in a cardboard box with only a tiny bit of cardboard inside and no plastic packaging, and will last me for many, many years if I'm careful, it's a small price to pay. (Maybe I should send the filters back to Melitta with a note, but at the moment, I have too many other things going on.)

You're nice because I can set your coffee cone directly on my travel mug for making coffee for myself in the morning. Or I can use the porcelain 6-cup pitcher and make coffee for friends as well. I still have half a box of unbleached #2 filters (smaller than this #4 cone, but still workable.) But when they are gone, it would be nice to get some reusable coffee filters. And not the gold/stainless mesh ones because they still have plastic in and around them. How about it organicneedle? Are you up for sewing organic cotton or hemp coffee filters that don't come in a plastic bag? (I've only seen reusable cloth filters in plastic bags. If anyone knows of filters that come sans bag or at least in paper or cardboard, please let me know.)

The other nice thing about you is that you came from Greenfeet, an environmentally conscious online retailer that packaged you 100% plastic-free. They even used paper tape on the box instead of plastic! That is rare these days, indeed. And when I emailed them to find out about their packaging policies ahead of time, this is what customer service rep, Jessica, wrote:

At Greenfeet, we do not purchase new plastic or styrofoam packaging. If anyone ever receives styrofoam or plastic packaging, it is packaging that we are reusing. Though typically, we try not to use those materials at all. If the merchandise ships out from one of our manufacturers, there may be plastic or styrofoam packaging in there. However since most items ship from our facility at Greenfeet, we try not to use those packing materials.

See? The box was full of paper and a little bonus surprise...


This photo is dedicated to homeschoolmom's almost 13yo son, who likes it when the kitties come out to play. The packing paper is still all over our living room floor. Yes, I know it would be better to gather it all up and save it to be reused. But Soots and Arya are enjoying it so much, I just can't take it away from them!

Tomorrow, I'll have a post about the milk that goes in the coffee. And another dairy product. I said I was going to slow down on posting, didn't I? Not this week, I guess. I seem to have all this extra energy. Could it be because of Madonna???

I April Fooled my co-workers today telling them that "Oh my god! You will not believe this! Madonna read my blog and called me this morning! She did! Well, her rep did, but then she herself got on the phone after I picked up. Really. She says she's banning plastic from all of her tours from now on just because of Fake Plastic Fish!" It's a nice thought. Tomorrow I have to confess I made it up, right?

But that's not why I'm in such a good mood. My energy level is being artificially boosted by repeat playings of the Madonna/Justin Timberlake/Timbaland single, 4 minutes, on my iPod, which has me dancing Ellen Degeneres-style at the BART station in the morning exactly 4 minutes at a time over and over and over again. Sometimes being a little obsessive is a fun thing!
 

 

Week 39 Results: 4.3 oz of plastic waste.

Another milestone reached. Zero new plastic waste for the week! Everything in the tally was purchased before I started this project. I'm sure there'll be more new plastic to add to the tally before the year is up, but it's nice to have a week with no new plastic!

So, here's this week's tally. Items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• 1 outer cap and inner "sprinkle cap" from a broken glass spice bottle. One of our rascally kitties climbed onto the spice shelf and knocked the glass bottle onto the floor. Some might cite such an occurrence as justification for unbreakable plastic spice bottles. Fortunately, it happened while I was in the kitchen and neither human nor feline was harmed. But instead of blaming it on the cat or the type of bottle, we simply moved the spice shelf to another wall of the kitchen away from the window the kitty was trying to reach. So far, since the move, Soots and Arya have had no further interest in this shelf. But we have learned that glass, while environmentally preferable, requires more care than plastic and we need to make sure it's out of the reach of curious cats.


• Plastic from a blister 4-pack of GE nightlight bulbs. We're using the last bulb from this pack now, and I'll have to purchase more when that one burns out. I was thinking of switching to an LED night light, which would last longer and use less electricity, but I'm wondering if it's really worth it. These standard bulbs are 4-watts. I don't think they're destroying the planet. Plus, I haven't been able to find any nightlight bulbs, LED or otherwise, packaged without plastic. If you know of some, please tell me!


• 1 2-qt container of Kikkoman soy sauce (#7 plastic) plus cap. #7 plastic? This confuses me because #7 means "Other" and when describing petroleum-based plastic, usually refers to Polycarbonate, that hard plastic that Nalgene bottles were made from. But this bottle is soft and feels to me like #2 plastic. So I have no idea what this "Other" could be. Anyway, I found out today that Berkeley Whole Foods sells soy sauce in bulk from a spigot. I just poured the last bit from this container into a smaller glass bottle today. When that finally runs out, I'll take the bottle to Whole Foods and refill it.


• Plastic wrappers from 2 Pepto Bismal chewable tablets. Tummy probs earlier this week and then spent the weekend on the couch with aches and chills. All better now.


• 1 10-oz plastic bag of Jeremiah's Pick coffee. Found in the back of the freezer and used up this week. I don't often make coffee at home, preferring those very expensive yuppie coffee drinks in my stainless steel travel mug while I'm out in the world. I think the reason is that if I don't actually buy and brew coffee, I can fool myself into believing that I'm not really a coffee drinker. Right. Just like those people who only smoke "socially" and never buy their own cigarettes but bum them off their friends every chance they get. (And no, I haven't been one of them in many years!)

But this is a good place for a coffee segue. Did you know that March is National Caffeine Awareness Month? Well it is. I am fully aware that caffeine is an evil, beastly chemical, and it's such a darned shame that a drink as thrillingly delicious as coffee is loaded with it. (Surely the thrill has nothing to do with the caffeine.) Anyway, the web site, Howtodothings.com has a whole Caffeine Resource Guide, including 10 Ways to Reuse Coffee Grounds, How to Compost with Coffee, and How to Endure Caffeine Withdrawal, as well as other caffeine-related articles, including one that I don't even want to think about.

I love this guide because I can go either way with it. I can keep buying coffee (Fair Trade, of course, and from a bulk bin rather than pre-packaged in plastic) and recycle the grounds in earth-friendly ways, or I can learn how to give it up and survive the inevitable withdrawal (Or as Michael would say, "withdraweral.") headache and crankiness. Don't think I can quit it? Come on! I've done it hundreds of times!
 

 

Of Coffee, Crayons, Crackling Firelogs, and a Freebie!

I had a very nice conversation today with Doug Farquhar, president of a company called Renovos, which specializes in helping businesses come up with waste-reduction strategies. They also have a subsidiary called BuyGreen.com which rates and sells eco-friendly products. But their most heart-warming green project is ReJavanate bags. These are reusable tote bags that are made out of recycled burlap coffee sacks. They are manufactured by workers from The Arc, an organization that helps find housing and employment for people with developmental disabilites. These bags are both environmentally and socially responsible.

Currently, ReJavanate bags are made from coffee sacks from Boyd's Roasters in Portland which are shipped to a workshop in Hood River to be cut and sewn. They are then sent to ReJavanate where they are printed, either with the ReJavanate logo or an organization's custom logo, using soy inks.

Doug sent me a bag to try out. It's definitely lighter than a canvas bag. For me, the burlap is a little scratchy, but then I can't really deal with wool either. Since I already have quite a few canvas bags, I'll send this one to a reader who'd like to have it. Just leave a nice comment. I'll choose a recipient at random next week.

And speaking of coffee, last Sunday at the farmer's market, a woman asked me if I knew what crayons were made from. I didn't. So when I got home, I did a little research. Most crayons are made from paraffin wax and pigment. Well, I know what pigment is. And I think I know what wax is. Or do I? So I looked up paraffin wax. Turns out it's made from petroleum! You probably already knew that. Silly me. I had no idea.

So I did a quick Google search and found several brands of alternative crayons. Here are a few examples:

• Lyra natural beeswax crayons


• Stockmar beeswax crayons


• Crayon Rocks made from soy wax

Okay, that didn't have anything to do with coffee. But maybe this does. After looking up crayons, I started wondering about other things made from wax. Like waxed paper. I've seen eco web sites promoting waxed paper as an alternative to plastic wrap. But if they're both made from petroleum, is there a difference? Does paraffin wax biodegrade? Apparently, it does, according to a study by Fabien Marino of the Department of Chemical Engineering at McGill University, Montréal. Click here if you'd like to read the PDF-format report.

I searched to see if there were any alternatives to paraffin waxed paper. I did find one Canadian brand called Chefs Select 100% Natural Soy Wax Paper. It doesn't seem to be available in the United States, though. So I contacted Natural Value, the company that makes the "natural" unbleached waxed paper sold in most U.S. health food stores, and I received a very nice reply:

...our wax is indeed paraffin wax…we have considered using the new soy based wax, but both of our waxed paper producers have told us that they do not like the way the product turns out (smell, consistency), and that they cannot guarantee that the soy wax is gmo free…so we are still searching for something that will work for us…if we can do that, we will…I hope this helps

So I guess paraffin waxed paper is somewhat better than plastic because it will biodegrade. But since it's made from petroleum, we should find alternatives.

Which brings me to the subject of coffee. It really does this time! Did you know that artificial firelogs like Duraflame are also made from paraffin wax? Still not coffee-related? Oh, but it is! There is an alternative to paraffin fireplace logs, and that is the Java Log, made from coffee grounds and 100% vegetable wax. And I'll bet it smells good when it's burning. Normally, I like to compost my coffee grounds (as well as those of my co-workers) but maybe this winter I'll try them out in the fireplace in the form of a Java Log or two.

So there, we've come full circle. If you're wondering why I didn't mention the obvious product made from paraffin, candles, it's because natural soy and beeswax candles are ubiquitous these days. A Google search will bring up a huge list of choices.

I hope you enjoyed reading this meandering post as much as I enjoyed writing it. The more logical, organized ones are great, but sometimes a little stream of consciousness helps to lighten things up.

And with that, here are the latest results of the Trash Challenge. If you've tried to comment on the Trash Challenge blog and received a message that you have to be a member of the team, please try again. I think I've fixed the 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:

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

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.