About Me

I became aware of the ocean pollution problem when viewing videos on youtube of Capt. Moore. Another one who had my mellow harshed. I have been uncomfortable for years by the prevalent amount of packaging in stores but didn't quite make the connection to the ocean. I always thought plastc bags were a bad idea as well as plastic bottles for drinks. We are so awashed with it it's almost unavoidable.  Recently I began shopping at Whole Foods where I can buy milk in glass returnable bottles and meat packaged in butcher paper.  These are the small but steady changes we need to make.  We need to urge manufacturers that we buy from to make all possible changes to packaging. Bottled water needs to fade into history, a highly profiting & polluting idea that should be killed off. So many people are ignorant of what is happening. I am starting to write articles on sustainability and wildlife conservation.

It's awesome what you're doing, congratulations!

The picture you show is quite unbelievable. It shows a bird skeleton packed full of plastic, so full in fact that there would no longer be any place for the other internal organs. The only plausible explanation is that  the plastic were placed there by somebody before taking the picture. The cause to eliminate plastic is good but to make fraudulent photos to prove it is very evil indeed.

Hi! I just had a quick question-- in the short guide to plastic living on your home page, you mentioned using a bin for your compost that was made of RECYCLED plastic. Do recycled plastics still contain Bisphenol A? I use bags made from recycled plastic bottles to carry groceries; should I start avoiding those too? Thanks!

HI Beth, 

I love your sight we are busy spreading the word in the UK and your sight is full of brilliant ideas, suggestions and articles. Thank you from www.ecotales.co.uk 

I used to think that all plastic could be recycled so I put it all in the recycle box, but, then I found out they only accept some things and the rest is to be put in the garbage, it makes me feel sick, it's wrong, so I have been trying to come up with ideas to reuse the plastic and find ways to use less. I have been reusing plastic boxs and other things for about 20 years, I buy lot's of second hand things for my home and business, I reuse as much as possible to create my jewellery, but I need to do more and Im always looking for new ideas.  Your website is great and now I have so many new ideas to change the way I live. Thank you so much for doing this! God bless you!

                         Jacqueline Neves

Dear Beth,

Only thing that comes to mind bout your site is to paraphrase the song and say "I been waiting for a site like this"

While in the past couple of years I have made strides in my lifestyle by reducing my direct and indirect carbon and plastic footprint, i sure needed a site like yours, motivate me to fine-tune some plastic aspects of my life.

I sure will make sure to send you site info to as many ppl in my circle as they would listen.

Thank you again.

NIck

You have inspired me to collaborate with the people in my community and start a new environmental drive out here! Thank you so much, Beth! 

Here is the response I recieved from Highwood Crossing.

<<<<

Thank you very much for your email and for your on-going support of our organic products. We appreciate hearing about how our customers use the items we make and how we can improve our products and service to you. 

The packaging issue that you raise, is something that we also struggle with on a regular basis...

The challenge that we face is trying to find an environmentally friendly container that is reasonably priced, will keep our products fresh, transports well and looks good on the store shelf. While plain paper bags are environmentally friendly and inexpensive, they offer a poor barrier to oxygen and moisture and as a result, the quality and shelf-life of our products is greatly reduced. Plain paper bags also tend to look very "shop worn" after shipping and being handled a few times on the store shelf.

Our decision to use the deli tubs is based on the fact that the product can be easily seen, the container can be opened and re-sealed many times, it provides an excellent oxygen and moisture barrier to keep product fresh, reasonable cost, and they can be easily re-used and/or recycled. 

Because of the same concerns that you raise, we do offer both the Power Grains and Steel Cut Oats in a 1kg kraft paper bag with an OPP film liner. While this is technically not a "plain" paper bag, it does offer an excellent barrier to oxygen and moisture and keeps our products fresh for much longer than just plain paper. (The downside to this bag is that because it has a laminated liner, it is not accepted at all recycling programs.) Not all stores carry our products in this type of packaging, but it is available and might be something that you would like to bring to the attention of your local grocer.

We are also looking at a kraft cardboard tube container with a metallic-foil liner to replace the deli tubs. Unfortunately, with this type of package you cannot see the product, they are a lot most expensive and like the laminated paper bags, they are not able to be recycled at all locations. 

Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to write us about our products. As a small company with limited resources, this type of feed-back helps us when we are making decisions concerning packaging and other factors. If you have any other observations or suggestions, I would certainly welcome your comments.

Best regards,

 Tony

 Tony Marshall

Highwood Crossing Foods Ltd.

>>>>>>>>>>

Now I've done it and it is all your fault. <g>

Before I read your book, it always annoyed me that a company selling organic products would have the nerve to use plastic packaging. After reading your book, I e-mailed Highwood Crossing, www.highwoodcrossing.com and using your example, complemented them on their great cereals and then said I wonder why a company who makes a fantastic organic product would even think about packaging in plastic and that my experience with their product would be even better if the plastic packaging was replaced with plain paper packaging.

This is so easy to do. I don't know why I never thought of it before. Hopefully  I am not the only one who has contacted Highwood Crossing about it.

Thanks, Beth.

I really enjoyed your book--totally inspirational.  I was at a grocery store cafe for lunch today and later at an outdoor restaurant for dinner.  This evening I emailed both about their use of disposable plastic cups.  For the cafe I used your section on bioplastics to discuss how the "compostable" label is misleading, and for the restaurant I requested in a nice way that they consider nondisposable cups for their very yummy drinks.  And I mentioned your book to both.  Thank you, now I am obsessed.  ;)

Wow.  I have just found your blog today.  What an amazing journey you are on.  I have found this very inspirational.  I am always striving to use less myself.  Thank you for sharing your knowledge.  I will be reading your blog and book from now on.

LOVE YOU!!!

Beth,

Just listened to your "Living On Earth" interview, and I'd say you are right on target.  What an insightful and meaningful action to take in reducing your plastic consumption.  And by making the additional effort to go public through talks and your book, I believe you display considerable courage in our wasteful society. You are certainly swimming upstream, against the current, so to speak.  Brava!  Let's hope that many others take notice of your example and decide to follow suit.  

Best wishes for success wrought by your efforts,

Susan Bernat

NYC 

You're obsessed. But you're also great. Well done! 

I am glad to have found your site. I have spent years thinking and thinking and worrying and worrying more about the environment and EPR and Individual SR and CSR. But have not done anything concrete about spreading the awareness, other than practicing reduced consumption and recycling. Best wishes in your work.

I would be honored to have you on my radio show!!

Beth, I was recently challenged by a good friend to stop using new plastic. I knew it was bad for me and everyone else, but it was difficult to imagine life without it. So I dug in. I did some research. And I have to say that you are my new plastic-free hero. Your commitment and your journey are inspiring. Now, instead of dreading a life without frozen berries, I’m looking forward to the challenge of living more sustainably. Thank you for sharing your story, for your activism, and for the significant resource your experience is for others. I can’t tell you how much I admire your “adventurer spirit” the ability to go (among the) first and to report your experiences to the rest of us travelers. I look forward to continuing to read your insights and do keep perusing your previously posted articles.

I don´t really have any intelligent comments right now, just wanted to tell you that your blog is a huge inspiration to me right now... I come back to it all the time and browse for more posts I haven't read yet - feels much more satisfying than aimlessly browsing YouTube or other things I usually do when I'm too tired or uninspired to do anything else. Thanks!

Thanks for this great resource. We have started our own project on this issue, and so much of the information here is relevant and useful. We are really working hard on de-plasticizing our personal/family/household lives, but at the same time are very keen on various forms of action--for instance, a locally-directed petition on plastic packaging that we're working on now. I like your comment on your "own unconscious overconsumption." I have considered myself to be "environmentally conscious" for a long time, but since beginning this project on plastic, have become increasingly and often painfully aware of the myriad dimensions of our consumeristic dysfunction. It's interesting how plastics and overconsumption are so closely intertwined, and dealing with the one inevitably leads to questioning the other. For me, it has really started to bring into even clearer focus issues that I was already aware of, but had not--and still have not fully--grappled with, such as how our definitions of success and work are so often at odds with the needs of sustainability and sanity, at personal, family, and community levels. Anyway! Thanks for the inspiratioN!

I agree we need to stop all the use of plastics and not just toss things in the trash. Thanks to Oprah's show where I first learned about this on youtube, I have changed my ways of living with plastic. I do want to note that that picture is totally staged. What bird has food in its lungs/ribcage? Its so dramatic that it doesn't look even possibly real.

Hi. I appreciate your job and I post on my blog about PS I need to read “Plastic Ocean” but the connection dont' go. Can you help me to find a good link? thanx bye Andrea Mameli (Cagliari, Sardinia Island, Mediterranean Sea)

Why not consider moving away from disposable water filters all together. I purchased one of these water filters over two years ago and love it. Just pour water in the top and get from the built-in tank when needed. It looks like a tea container at a restaurant. They make small to large sizes. A little history below: As early as 1827, Henry Doulton developed ceramic filters for removing bacteria from drinking water. "Offensive to the sight, disgusting to the imagination and destructive to the health." This was how London drinking water, which was drawn from the Thames, was described in a pamphlet published in 1827. The Thames was heavily contaminated with raw sewage; cholera and typhoid epidemics were rampant. The first ceramic water filters were made using various earth and clay materials. By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne, Doulton was established as a manufacturer of domestic and industrial products in a fine stoneware body that bore comparison with any in Europe. Google "Big Berkey" to find out more.

Hi Beth, I was at your presentation "Hooked on Plastic" a few weeks ago and took away life-changing knowledge. I would like my readers to receive the same knowledge. Looking on your site, I cannot easily find a clear definition on "single-use plastics." Do you have something that I can refer my readers to? Also, please feel free to read my take on the challenge on my blog. Thanks Nimisha

Beth, What a wonderful blog you write! i have only just found it today, but I am enthralled by it! I am a fairly recent eco convert but in case I was in any doubt, this has well and truly sealed the deal. I've taken the liberty of sharing your blog on a forum I frequent (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18149730) and, although the initial reaction has attracted the normal frostiness, I hope to convince at least a few people to think twice before they get that straw in their soda! Keep up the great work! John

Hi Beth- As I was reading through your plastic-free guide, I noticed that you mentioned Berkeley often...and so I had to see where you reside! YAY! You live in the Bay Area, I like in SF. Just yesterday I started a blog, recording all the plastic I use everyday, hope to cut it down to almost none I realized I kept talking about how our society need to cut back, but never told myself to do it. Its quite shocking how many materials are plastic that I just don't even think of. yuck. Anyhow, so glad I found your site! I would love to get more involved in the community as well, so let me know if there is anything I can do to help rather then just my own duties to rid my life of plastic. Thanks, Brenna

Thank you so much! I was so happy to find this site. I've realized the importance of recycling after my kids were born. During the first week of recycling paper and plastic the amount of our trash per 2 week period changed from 3 large cans to 1/2!!! It seems like one person can't make a difference, but if compare 3 cans per two weeks over one year versus 1/2 I think it helps A LOT. If we all do a little it adds up to a lot. The problem is not only plastic. We are obsessed with quantity. I've started a business of remaking and reusing old clothes (read unwanted in PERFECT condition) to make new garments. We overstuff our closets with things we never wear (hey, it was on sale!), get bored with it and then replace it with more stuff we don't need. Think about all the energy and resources that goes into making it! I agree, a lot needs to change in our society, but I think it all starts with each and every one of us.

Beth - You are a true inspiration and I love what you are doing!!!! Thanks a million for bringing such awareness!

here is the link :)\ http://sudhasrinath.blogspot.com/2010/02/fake-plastic-fish.html

Hey Beth I hope you dont mind me mentioning your blog in one of my posts under - Co-green blogs segement... :)..take care and hope to interact with you soon!!!! It would be wonderful to have a friend who thinks on the same lines as I do :)...for that matter is a lot advanced in her quest for a greener life than I am :)....

Hi Chanda. I completely agree with you that one person's actions don't make a difference in the larger picture of creating global change, which is why I have created this blog in order to reach a broader audience. I believe that personal action, while not enough, is crucial. When individuals begin changing their own lives, they see the limits that they are up against, and hopefully will be inspired to become active on a bigger scale. Voting for change not only at the polling place but also in the letters they write, store managers they contact, companies they target, etc. That is why I created the Take Back The Filter campaign (http://takebackthefilter.org) back in 2008 to ask Brita to take back and recycle their plastic water filter cartridges. And the campaign was successful, due to the participation, on small or larger levels, of other people. We were able to concentrate our individual voices into a campaign for change. That is also why I created a discussion board on Fake Plastic Fish for supporters to discuss various ideas for creating change. I am looking for another campaign that speaks to me. I want to get involved in making changes in companies that affect me directly. I feel that companies are more willing to listen to their customers because those are the people whose money they rely on. Since I don't generally eat in food courts, I would like to direct my energies elsewhere, but if you do, I would be happy to share my experiences with how we targeted and succeeded with Brita. Finding a company that is already making responsible choices is a great way to start. You can use them as an example to request the same changes from other businesses. When we started our campaign, we were able to point to Brita in Europe, which was recycling their cartridges already and had been doing so for many years. Your idea of finding out how Ikea is operating their eatery is a great place to start. Get as much information as you can before starting a campaign. Also, it's good to first target the low hanging fruit. Find a company that seems like it wants to do the right thing, and target them (in a kind way) first. Because once that company makes changes, you can ask other companies to follow their lead. The Clorox Corporation (which owns Brita) was already making environmental strides with their development of Greenworks cleaning products, which had been endorsed by the Sierra Club, and their purchase of natural products companies such as Burt's Bees. I don't think we would have been successful targeting a company like Procter & Gamble, their biggest competitor, because that company continues to market the same toxic products without offering alternatives. At least that was the case back then. These are just some ideas that come to mind right now. If you are serious about beginning a campaign, I would be happy to give you more ideas. Thank you for reaching out to me.

Hi Beth, Nice to see others concerned about cruelty to animals and giant garbage patches in our oceans. I think it is time for people like us to unite and take action. For every person who is aware of this issue there are hundreds of people who squander away earth's precious resources. One person's cut backs are not going to make any big difference. Rather we shall try to make food courts in malls etc install dishwashers and make them use reusable plates, cutlery etc. Ikea is a good example, they don't use plastic cutlery. I want to know the economics of operating a dishwasher in a food court and want to eliminate wastage in a bigger scale than at the individual level. Please contact me, we can share ideas and work together towards this goal. Thanks, Chandana

Hi Beth - thank you for your investigative comments on the CR blog. You are right there is much more the consumer should know about Harmless-Dissolve; much more. I am very happy to give you all this information and contribute to the great work you are doing through fake plastic fish. Please e mail me or call (I'm happy to call you straight back) so we can take this forward. Rest assured Beth, this has passed the EN13432 compostability standard and is totally harmless during degradation and when degraded - its fabulous. And, for someone who has spent most of their life trying to good in the world, its the least I could do as a packaging specialist. Look forward to getting to know you. Will

Hi Jeet. I am glad you are working on this project. I have been working on it for over two years. Every detail I have is here on this site or on the sites listed on my right sidebar. I'm not sure what else you are asking for, but please feel free to peruse this site and use the information for your project.

Hello! I am from India ,I have a keen intrest in knowing about the plastic monster which we have created ourselves.Now finally I got a chance to interact with you .Actually I have an assignment about plastic monster So can you please give me every detail you have or send me sites which would help meto make my project.