My Plastic-free Life - Forum: Business Success Stories

Beth Terry on Sriracha in a jar...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:28:56 -0800

That sounds really great. Thank you for taking the initiative to ask that the owner bottle it in a different container for you. It's a great example for all of us to speak up and ask for what we want!

Laurie on Sriracha in a jar...

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:34:59 -0800

So, I am a big fan of sriracha hot sauce...you know the stuff in all the Asian restaurants that comes in a plastic squeeze bottle with a rooster on it. I was having trouble finding a plastic-free alternative that actually tastes good. While searching online, I found a guy who makes his own for his restaurant and sells it online. It's called Dark Star. I took a chance and emailed him to see if it came in glass or plastic. Well, he wrote back immediately and said he usually bottles it i a plastic squeeze bottle but he would be happy to send a special order using the jars he uses for some other products. While I wish he always used glass, I was so excited about his willingness to make the special effort. He even re-used paper to wrap the jars in the shipping box. I waited to post here until I tasted it...it's really yummy! So if you love the sriracha...check this guy out and take the time to email a special request.

http://20brix.com/DS/index.html

Beth Terry on Beauty products - and a great gift idea!

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:11:01 -0700

Hi. I do know about Herban Crafts! Karen Lee is a blogger friend of mine, and she is going to send me images and do a little interview with me. I'll blog about it here soon!

Eve Stavros on Beauty products - and a great gift idea!

Tue, 22 May 2012 03:45:50 -0700

Two Etsy-treneurs have started a small company with a big idea and are doing it plastic free!!! Herban Crafts is a start-up offering DIY beauty craft kits: cologne, bath salts, lip balms, body scrub, herbal soaps. The kits are attractive, and made up of "organic, pesticide-free and planet-friendly ingredients" and contain NO PLASTIC; all packaging is made of recycled, recyclable and/or biodegradable materials. One photo showed what looked like plastic bags, but when I contacted one of the ladies, she wrote back that they are vegetable cellulose, which will break down. Right now they're in start-up mode, with a campaign on IndieGoGo (http://www.indiegogo.com/herbancrafts), but you can also order direct from their website, http://www.herbancrafts.com. I think I just took care of a couple of birthday gifts! If you'd like more info, check out a really good interview on Crafting a Green World (dot com, of course). We need more folks like these ladies!

Eve Stavros on MEI Luggage

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:24:39 -0700

I just wanted to pass along some kudos to a American-based maker of high-quality (though not-plastic-free) luggage, which, if I believe my new travel guru at onebag.com (carry-on - only, ever), should last me the rest of my travellin' days. While the bag is Cordura nylon, with plastic clips, nylon webbing, etc., it is made to order, right here in the US of A, and the company was 100% responsive to my email request to ship it without any plastic packaging whatsoever!! Thank you, Mountain Equipment, Inc. for honoring my wishes, and maybe you'll continue to save yourself, and the rest of us, plastic! For now, I'm loading up my new MEI Voyageur and heading to Africa in 3 weeks!

julsie on Cuisinart's new nonstick

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:11:39 -0700

We just moved, and thanks to our utter lack of organization, we found ourselves in our new house with the contents of our old fridge and pantry, but no cookware. We went to the grocery store for a few essentials to tide us over, and my favorite find was a Green Gourmet skillet. The coating is ceramic, the packaging is cardboard, and the fine print specifies that it's petroleum-free.

http://www.cuisinart.com/produ.....gg-12.html

Diana on HP Printer packaging

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:11:49 -0800

we refill our cartridges,we buyed a 500 ml bottle of ink you need a seringe to fill them

Beth Terry on PLAN toys

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:55:07 -0700

Yes, I love Plan toys. I knew the toys were plastic-free but didn't know about the packaging until I stopped by a local toy store a few weeks ago to check it out. There were some toys with plastic wrappers inside the boxes. I didn't note exactly which ones had plastic and which ones had paper. But there was far less plastic than comes with most toys. I'll bet if you order from the company online, you can request zero plastic packaging ahead of time.

julsie on PLAN toys

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:17:33 -0700

I've purchased 3 items from PLAN toys now, not all at the same time, and every one has been plastic-free. They're wood toys and come in cardboard boxes with paper wrappers on the inside. I've been buying them from Amazon.

julsie on Hoo-Rayovac! Plastic-free batteries!

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:54:58 -0700

Woohoo! I'll have to look for those. Rechargeable batteries are great in theory, but not working well for me these days.

Eve Stavros on Hoo-Rayovac! Plastic-free batteries!

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:49:40 -0700

Finally! Today I found 4-packs of rechargeable AA batteries in all cardboard packaging! Not even a bit of plastic over the cutout window. It's about time! Got them at WalMart, so they should be available everywhere. Supposed to be super long-lasting too.

Beth Terry on Wild Dill

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:18:05 -0700

Thanks! I checked out the site, and they even mention their packaging on the web site. They didn't mention tape, so I'm glad to hear it's not plastic either. Cheers!

julsie on Wild Dill

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:19:20 -0700

I just spent a gift certificate at wilddill.com (organic children's clothing and wooden toys) and was pleasantly surprised with my package. The clothes were wrapped in brown kraft paper, and the box was sealed with paper tape. The only plastic in the whole thing was those little hangy things that hold on the manufacturer's tags. It was a very good experience, and I would shop there again if they were ever in my price range.

animalperson on Mountain Rose Herbs

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:50:10 -0700

Well things must have changed in the last 2 years because I just received an order of herbs from

Mountain Rose Herbs

and they were in plastic bags. I almost fainted when I opened the box.

julsie on HP Printer packaging

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:57:19 -0700

I had a friend who was constantly posting laser printers to freecycle for that very reason! But I told her to read the fine print: laser printers generally come with a starter toner cartridge that doesn't go as far as a regular cartridge. I'm not sure if that's true for inkjets.

Nice to know that HP gets it!