The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Monthly Archives: June 2010

June 9, 2010

Can a Fake Plastic Breakfast Cure a Panic Attack?

bowl of breakfast oatmeal

Um… probably not. But this kind can…

“The world is going to end and I’ll never get my book written in time to save it!” That was the crazy thought I had last night at 1am while riding home on BART. Suddenly, my heart raced, breathing quickened, stomach churned, and I started to sweat. I tried taking slow, deep breaths, but that didn’t help. I scrunched down in my seat, afraid my fellow passengers would think I was crazy or wasted, or that BART police were going to come through and toss me off the train for being inebriated. Which I wasn’t.

Why am I telling you this? Because sometimes all the news about plastic pollution and research and blogging and worrying about writing the Fake Plastic Fish book can throw me into my head, where I get trapped into spiraling negative thoughts. And when that happens the only thing to do is concentrate on the physical moment, breathe, ride it out, and when I get a chance, eat.

This … Read the rest

June 8, 2010

Plastic Ocean. Plastic Art.

Plastic Century art exhibit

Today is World Oceans Day. It’s also, appropriately, No Plastic Day. The ocean is magnificent and yet fragile. In awe of the ocean’s vastness, we humans discard our waste, imagining that the sea will wash away the things we don’t want. We believe that oil, plastics, mercury, fertilizers, pesticides will all simply disappear. And yet, the living systems that depend on the ocean (including humans) are coming to learn that while the ocean may be vast, it is also finite. Can you imagine a world without oceans? Several artists want us to do just that.

Plastic Century

The Plastic Century artists set up an installation at the SF Academy of Sciences last week asking visitors to think about the rise of plastics in the world’s oceans from 1910, the year Jacques Cousteau was born, to 2030, an imaginary time when plastic has completely filled up the ocean. Setting up 4 water coolers representing the years 1910, 1960, 2010, and 2030, t… Read the rest

June 7, 2010

Plastic-Free plus Meat-Free = Easy

bulk produce

People keep asking me if going meat-free is going to make it harder to be plastic-free since so many meat-free foods come packaged in plastic.  Foods like veggie burgers, Tofurkey, seitan, tempeh, etc.  But why should it? I gave up processed foods when I gave up plastic. I see no reason for anything to change now.

My solutions…

Fresh produce from the farmers market:

Fresh bread…

Bulk bins:  Beans, lentils, split peas, all kinds of grains & nuts.

Fresh tofu from Whole Foods in my own container.

And when I want to grab something and go, I’ll just keep bringing my reusable containers. The new sushi vendor at Whole Foods didn’t want to put my veggie sushi in my LunchBots container, but I can be very persuasive when I’m hungry.

There’s no conflict between going plastic-free and meat-free. At least not where I live.… Read the rest

June 7, 2010

Switch to Stainless Steel Popsicle Molds Instead of Plastic

stainless steel popsicle molds

Every summer, moms write to me and ask how I would make popsicles without plastic.  Until now, silicone popsicle molds were the only alternative to plastic. But is silicone safe? It is a synthetic polymer made from silicon (sand) which is commonly recognized to be inert. But my concern is not the polymer itself, but (as with plastics) the additives and fillers in the silicone and the question of whether or not they can leach out. What colorants are used to create those bright colors and what chemicals are they made from? I’m not saying that silicone popsicle molds are not safe. I’m saying that I don’t know and would rather err on the side of caution.

Stainless Steel Popsicle Option

… Read the rest
June 4, 2010

First Graders Learning to Say No to Plastic Trash

children from Rooftop School collected plastic

Julia Smith’s first grade class at Rooftop Alternative School, perched high up in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks area, is different from most, and Julia Smith is a special kind of teacher.

For example, in an effort to teach the children how to choose plastic-free grocery options, she actually took them on a field trip to Whole Foods to learn how to bring their own bags and containers to shop from bulk bins.  After a lesson about the problems of ocean plastic pollution, the class participated in the Show Your Plastic Trash Challenge to collect and tally their classroom-generated plastic waste for a week.

Check the Challenge site to see the full results from their week of plastic collecting and read more about what they learned. Last week, I visited the classroom to pick up the plastic they had collected and chat with the kids about the plastic I had found on the beach and find out what they had decided to do about their classroom waste.

Several o… Read the rest