Comments on: Okay, So It’s Not the Cover of the Rolling Stone, But Still…

By: Billie

Billie — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:12:46 +0000

Woohoo! A long time ago in university, I wrote to the editor in response to a letter that was printed in the Letters to the Editor section. I wrote about what it felt like to be sexually assaulted by someone I knew. I ended up in the Editor's Comment on Page 2. I still have that newspaper as well as the newspaper letter that prompted my passionate response. I have yet to be prompted again to write but it sure feels powerful to be heard! .-= Billie´s last blog ..Happy Vacation =-.

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:54:37 +0000

Hi Melaney. I happen to use these bags for everything from produce to flour and sugar:

http://www.reusablebags.com/store/acme-bags%E2%84%A2-produce-snack-organic-cotton-muslin-p-689.html

and

http://www.ecobags.com/Organic-Cloth-Drawstring-Produce-Bag-Medium?sc=2&category=35

The only reason I use these particular bags is that an organization to which I belong, Green Sangha, happened to be selling them.

You can also find many people making and selling cloth bags on Etsy.com. Just search for “cotton produce bag” or “cotton bulk bag.”

I agree that Drugstore.com calling Zip Locs “eco-friendly” is total greenwashing. I just left my own scathing review of the product, but it’s not yet showing up on the site. Maybe it has to be moderated.
.-= Beth Terry´s last blog ..Okay, So It’s Not the Cover of the Rolling Stone, But Still… =-.

By: Melaney

Melaney — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:03:39 +0000

I’m trying to live with less plastic, at least for starters, and have been looking for reusable cotton produce bags in stores. I have not found them. So today I decided to buy some online. I started at Drugstore.com because they’re offering free shipping and they have a “Green & Natural” section of their online store.

Guess what reusable bag came up first, in the Eco-Friendly section? Ziplock plastic bags. They have a big green “Eco-Friendly” logo next to it. Go figure. It makes me so mad when companies try to trick consumers into thinking they’re buying something “green”.

If you or your readers have a favorite reusable produce bag I’d like to know. I’m leaning towards unbleached cotton because I’ve heard it can even hold flour or sugar. I need something to take with me to the bulk aisle in the grocery.
.-= Melaney´s last blog ..I’m back…. =-.

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:54:45 +0000

Thanks, Martin. The Beth Terry who comes up first is the motivational speaker who bought BethTerry.com before I even knew the web existed. Turns out, she is an awesome person, and actually comments on Fake Plastic Fish sometimes. We are both happy to share our name with each other. .-= Beth Terry´s last blog ..You’ve Got Your Reusable Bottle. Now What? =-.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:27:33 +0000

Great letter. If it’s any consolation, they do say you are Beth Terry from the internet… I Googled your name and FPF was above the jump on the 1st page.

I did the same for my own name and gave up after going through page after page without finding my blog. I did find what Facebook thinks might be the wrong Martin Higgins on page 5. He’s pretty wrong :(
.-= Martin´s last blog ..My New Reusable Shopping Bags =-.

By: Nick Palmer

Nick Palmer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:44:39 +0000

Hi Beth,
I’m still plugging away at the plastic fibres in teabags problem. I’ve had several responses, which I’ve published on my blog, from major tea retailers in the UK and they all use teabag paper containing about 3% plastic. I reckon the same applies in the USA.

Apparently they need this plastic fraction so that the bags don’t split on their extremely high speed packing machines which heat seal the bags. I suggest they think about getting different packing systems! I was told the extraordinary fact that in the UK if a product is 95% or greater compostable it can legally be classified as compostable. Most people would think this term meant fully compostable. It’s fooling the public.

Nick Palmer
.-= Nick Palmer´s last blog ..Tetley tea folk comment on this humble blog =-.

By: Aaron Shaw PhD

Aaron Shaw PhD — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:02:15 +0000

Wow, I am really impressed by this! .-= Aaron Shaw PhD´s last blog ..Baby Animals of the Day! Baby Porcupine! =-.

By: BillyO

BillyO — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:42:10 +0000

Good for you. I think the turning point for me was when I was watching one of those wilderness survival shows and the host (who was demonstrating foraging), was looking for plastic bottles and cast off tin cans to use for his camp. This was in a remote part of the world and he explained that there are almost no places left where plastic waste cannot be found. I was thinking last night about how great it would be if I could just compost all of the plastic stuff I get stuck with everyday. The individual who develops a cheap compostable plastic substitute will do very well. .-= BillyO´s last blog ..Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Colored Water Bottles =-.

By: Ellen Halloran

Ellen Halloran — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:02:13 +0000

It’s true that a half century ago people lived well with much less plastic. I like to watch old films from the 1940s and 1950s and I always look at the interiors, the sets, the places lived in by the characters and I see almost no plastic. In fact , a few weeks ago I watched Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” and I couldn’t identify one single piece of plastic in the home of the prosperous family at the center of this movie. How did things change so suddenly?

By: autumn

autumn — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:59:03 +0000

hey, maybe they will take the next step and publish an entire
article by you on the real nuts and bolts of HOW to do it! im fwding
this very webpage to them as an invitation to hire you as a guest
environmentalist writer.