The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Monthly Archives: September 2007

September 13, 2007

A Special Message from the Polar Bear Community

While Beth is taking another night off from blogging in order to get some much-needed and well-deserved sleep, we bring you A Special Message from the Polar Bear Community:

Hey Humans:

Our habitat is shrinking due to global warming. If current trends continue, TWO-THIRDS of our population will be driven out of existence.

On top of that, this past week saw the publication of a report about how the Canadians are asserting THEIR claims to the Arctic. Not to mention the Americans, the Norwegians, the Danes … (Much as we like the Canadians, being nice people who generally don’t invade anyone and have those cool Tim Horton’s restaurants, we feel that the best claim to the Arctic is OURS.)

We think the governments of these countries are actually excited that the polar ice is shrinking because that will make it easier to send ships up here to look for resources.

Oh, did we mention what these resources are?

Yup.

Oil and gas.

Of course.

And what’s… Read the rest

September 11, 2007

Going to bed now…

I know I promised stories of fun and adventure in Disneyland. But I had to work late tonight, and I have to go in early tomorrow. So the fun will have to wait a day. Until then, ponder page 43 from the August 2007 issue of the Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine, “Spirit”:

Click the image to see it larger and read the text. I’m not sure what to make of this. As I said, I saw a lot of plastic on my Southwest flight, and I saw it being collected in plastic bags. I’ve sent a letter to the company via snail mail inquiring into their environmental practices. Does this one page in their magazine reflect the company’s thinking on environmental issues or simply those of one magazine contributor? We’ll find out…… Read the rest

September 10, 2007

My Disney Adventure Part 2 – Eating and Sleeping

As I mentioned in Part 1 of My Disney Adventure, I rushed to reserve transportation and accommodations at the last minute without planning ahead. This is not recommended.

LODGING

If I had done some research, I might have found a more eco-friendly place to stay. Instead, I went for availability and price, booking a room at the Alamo Inn & Suites on Katella Ave simply because it had the best rates through Hotels.com.

On the plus side, the hotel is located just across the street from Disneyland, so no driving is required to get to the park. As far as I can tell, that is the only environmental plus. And since there are so many other hotels also within walking distance, there’s sure to be another with a better eco-philosophy.

Now, here are a few negatives:

Coffee service in the lobby with Styrofoam cups and plastic stirrers. Plastic drinking cups in the room. Plastic-lined waste cans in the rooms and no means of recycling. Plastic packets of shampoo… Read the rest
September 6, 2007

My Disney Adventure, Part 1: Getting There

That’s me with the sun in my eyes after running/walking (and by that I mean dragging my sorry, untrained butt) 13.1 miles in the blistering Socal sun. The temperature was already 80 degrees at 6am, the start of the Disneyland Half Marathon. And our group didn’t actually start running until 6:30. By mid-day, the temperature soared to 108. I don’t know what it was when I crossed the finish line at 9:30am, but it was definitely somewhere between hot and fully baked.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This isn’t the blog about running. It’s the one about plastic. And I have some things to say about avoiding plastic waste while traveling.

My one piece of advice is: Plan ahead! I give this advice after finding out what happens when you don’t do it. It never occurred to me to research the environmental policies of airlines or car rental companies or hotels or other cities. My friend David and I signed up for the race in… Read the rest