A few nights ago, while in the throes of editing my book, I received an email from Jen Williams of Dress Me Up Organic asking if I would review her natural, organic baby products that she packages and ships without any plastic. I took a quick look at the site and was blown away by [...]

It should go without saying that I choose wines bottled in glass rather than the new plastic-coated aseptic cartons that are growing in popularity. But glass has its drawbacks too. And wine-related plastic is about more than just the container. Not only do I have to look for wines with natural cork stoppers–as opposed to [...]

The following is a guest post from 17-year old Mary Katherine from Mountain View, CA who has been participating in the Show Your Plastic Trash Challenge since October of last year and has done an incredible job reducing her plastic waste.  See her trash challenge posts here.  Recently, she started her own blog called The [...]

Two weeks ago, food columnist Mark Bittman published ten Recipes for the Semi-Vegan in The New York Times Magazine along with photos that left many of us salivating. What a great source of inspiration, I thought, for those of us who aspire to eat more plants and fewer animal products.   I, in particular, need [...]

As many of you know, 2011 was difficult and challenging for me in many ways. My mom passed away early in the year, and I didn’t really have time to truly grieve until after I finished the biggest project ever: writing my book. Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Toois [...]

6.7 oz Plastic Waste [6.7 oz new/0 oz acquired prior to June 2007] Here’s the final tally for 2011. Beth’s September to December 2011 plastic waste collection New plastic waste (6.7 oz): 21 plastic envelope windows from various sources, including financial institutions that don’t offer online banking yet. Learn about what plastic envelope windows are [...]

30.5 oz Plastic Waste [15.1 oz new/15.4 oz acquired prior to June 2007] 2011 was a busy year, and while I’ve been dutifully collecting my plastic waste, I’m just now getting around to posting it. Here’s the 2nd third of the year. Beth’s May through August 2011 plastic waste collection Plastic purchased before June 15 [...]

I sleep with my smartphone. There, I said it. My virtual life is out of control. I am powerless over my addiction to checking email, Twitter, and Facebook. Listening to podcasts while playing endless rounds of Yukon solitaire. Googling the answer to any question that happens to pop into my head at 3am. I know [...]

On New Years Day, I decided I needed some fried potatoes to go with the homemade ketchup my friend Mark and I had made the previous week. And not just any fried potatoes. No siree. I wanted the king of fried potato junk food goodness: greasy, crispy Tater Tots. But authentic Tater Tots come in [...]

Plastic bag recycling rates suck, and recycling is not the answer to the plastic bag problem in the first place. But the plastics industry continues to justify bag production by insisting that voluntary recycling programs are the solution to plastic bag litter and pollution. And this week, after the U.S. EPA released the recycling rates [...]