The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Monthly Archives: September 2009

September 3, 2009

No Impact Man teaches me to suck eggs.

In May of 2007, I listened to a radio program that changed my life. The show was To The Best Of Our Knowledge’s Going Green episode, and the interviewee was Colin Beavan, self-described No Impact Man. His efforts to live sustainably caught my imagination. He and his family were attempting to live for one year generating zero environmental impact, while living in their ninth floor New York City apartment. I think maybe I related to him as a fellow urbanite. I realized I didn’t have to move to the country and live off the grid in order to lower my ecological footprint. But there was something else, too. Something in his voice that let me know here was someone who wasn’t blaming everyone else for the state of the earth but had decided to see what he himself and his family could do about their share of the mess we’re in.

Several weeks later, I managed to look up his web site, and it was through following links from the No Impact Man blog that… Read the rest

September 2, 2009

Fantastic News from Temescal Farmers Market! (Also a Note About Plastic Stickers)

I’m so happy I could cry! This morning, I was all set to write about my meeting yesterday with one of my personal heroes, Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man. But checking my email, I found the following message from Bianca Pardini of my local Temescal Farmer’s Market:

from: Bianca Pardini <urbanvillageinfo@gmail.com> to: Beth Terry date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 8:50 AM subject: Plastic Bag Ban

Hi Beth,

I thought you’d be interested in knowing that starting October 1st, 2009 plastic bags will be banned from all Urban Village Farmers’ Markets (Temescal included). With the encouragement from customers like you and the advice and support from the people at The Ecology Center, we are hoping this will be a smooth transition. Please see the attached letter. Hope all is well.

[09/18/09 Note: The bag ban has been pushed back to January 1, 2010 to allow the market and vendors more time to prepare.]

Bianca Pardini Urban Village Farmers’… Read the rest

September 1, 2009

Cheese Crazy (Plastic-free!)

I can has a 12-pound block of cheese?

Um… yeah. I was dying for cheese and went just a little nutty. I discovered that Perenzin San Pietro is coated with natural beeswax instead of paraffin (a petroleum product) and that The Pasta Shop near my house carries it. Of course, The Pasta Shop cuts it up into smaller pieces and seals them in plastic wrap. And if I were to ask to have some cut separately for me and put into my container, they would still have to cut and wrap the rest of the wheel in plastic.

So I ordered and bought the whole thing plastic-free.

What I didn’t realize was that Perenzin San Pietro is a hard cheese. Very hard. Like parmesan. It’s hard to cut. It must be grated. A little goes a very long way.

So, how does one keep a 12-pound block of cheese fresh once cut? With olive oil!

1) Rub the cut face of the cheese with olive, canola, or other vegetable oil. 2) Store cheese in the refrigerator.  Since this cheese is covered with wax, I just have… Read the rest