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Monthly Archives: April 2010

April 30, 2010

Plastic-Free Living: Let’s Talk

As you read this, I am away on a meditation retreat recharging my batteries. (Yeah, my batteries are rechargeable.) I’m away from computers and phones and all the electronic means of communication. I’m trying not to think about how crazy my email inbox will be when I return.

In the meantime, I’d love to know what questions you have about living plastic-free. Some of them might be questions I myself still have! And knowing what is important to you will help me figure out where to focus my attention in writing this blog. I don’t always know what I’m missing until it hits me on the head. (Please be gentle.)

Before commenting, you might want to check my list of plastic-free changes to see if your question has already been answered: plasticfreeguide.com.

Another question: What is the most important reason for reducing plastic consumption? I find that people’s interest in this issue comes from various co… Read the rest

April 28, 2010

Homemade Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding (Plastic-Free too!)

It’s a dreary day here in Oakland. So I thought I’d sweeten it up with the recipe for dairy-free chocolate pudding I made a few weeks ago. Why dairy free? Well, the choice is plastic-free or dairy-free. There’s no such thing as both because for me, and 99% of the U.S. population, there’s no such thing as plastic-free milk. (There are a few folks out there who buy milk directly from the farmer and can bring their own containers. I’m not one of them.)

Ingredients

3 T. cornstarch or arrowroot powder (I used cornstarch because we already had it in the house. Arrowroot powder can be purchased from the bulk bin at Whole Foods.) 1/3 c. honey (My local honey comes in glass jars from the farmers market. I’ll bet maple syrup would be good too.) 1/3 c. cocoa (Bulk bin at Whole Foods.) Pinch of salt (Cardboard box or bulk bin at Whole Foods.) 2 c. plain, unsweetened almond milk (Almonds + Water. My almonds come loose from the farmer… Read the rest

April 26, 2010

Plastic-Free Dental Floss? Not Quite.

Cool photo, huh? It’s a plastic DenTek floss pick. I see them all over the streets around here. Our litter bugs have good oral hygiene. Anyway, this one did not come from the gutter. It is MY plastic floss pick. The Teflon (boo hiss!) tape finally broke last week after many, many uses. No, I wouldn’t buy plastic floss picks myself, but in a moment of desperation, having forgotten my own dental floss, I begged one from a coworker. I’ve kept it in my desk drawer at work and cleaned and reused it over and over again.

Now that it’s broken, I won’t be going out to buy a package of plastic picks with their toxic Teflon floss, even if they can be washed and reused over and over again. And I’m also not going to wash and reuse regular dental floss, as some uber-greenies have suggested. Any floss that’s tough enough to stand up to repeated uses is probably made of some scary material that I don’t want in my mouth anyway… Read the rest

April 23, 2010

Fake Plastic Fish on the Radio

I’m channeling Donna Summer right now. In my head. Your ears are safe.

I’ve done several Fake Plastic Fish radio interviews in the last several months, and I thought I would share them with you, beginning with the most recent.

Your Super Natural Life with Beth Greer on Green960:

Aired: 03/23/2010

Right click this link to download mp3

Or listen now:

Good Green Witch with Rhonda DeFelice on LA Talk Radio

Aired: 03/06/2010

Right click this link to download mp3

Or listen now:

See Jane Do on KVMR

Aired: 10/07/2009

Right click this link to download mp3

Or listen now:

Enjoy.… Read the rest

April 22, 2010

It’s Earth Day. So Why Hate… Anything?

Beth Terry collected plastic on the floor

I woke up this morning and automatically reached for my cell phone to check my email. And then I remembered: It’s Earth Day! I should be taking it slow. Meditating. Stepping outside for a breath of air. Taking a walk in sunshine. Appreciating the Earth instead of being glued to technology once again. And then I remembered something else:

My cell phone IS the Earth. That’s where all its parts came from… the metal, both toxic and non, and even the plastic. Yes, all that plastic I’ve collected and stored in boxes under my dining room table? It’s part of the Earth too.

This week, I was happy to be included in Sarah Newman’s list of Ten Anti-Plastic Heroes on the Huffington Post. But really, I’m not anti-plastic. I’m pro-living beings. Plastic is not destroying the Earth. The Earth will be around long after we and all the other living creatures have ceased to exist. And the plastic will have bec… Read the rest

April 16, 2010

Take The Challenge. Show Your Plastic. Make Art.

The gals from See Jane Do did it. Erin from The Conscious Shopper did it. And you can too!

Collecting Plastic. Making Art.

As you know, since I started this project in June of 2007, I’ve been collecting my own plastic waste and posting it weekly, and now monthly, on this blog. Why do that? Because in the beginning, I had no idea how much plastic waste I was actually making. In order to see what areas needed improvement, I had to collect it and see what I was generating in the first place.

Beth Terry’s plastic trash collection, Week 2 Collecting my plastic and displaying it publicly helps me to be more mindful of what comes into my life and how I treat the materials of this world. It helps me think twice before grabbing that drink in a plastic-lined paper cup or accepting one more plastic straw automatically inserted into my drink. It encourages me to contact companies before ordering their merchandise to see if they will ship my purchase without a… Read the rest

April 13, 2010

How Fair Is Your Sugar? And How ‘Bout All That Plastic?

I want to talk about the plastic packaging in the sweeteners we choose, what trade offs we have to make to create less plastic packaging waste and still keep it organic and Fair Trade, and why reducing our intake of cane sugar is probably the best choice in the first place.

Cane Sugar

Here’s my situation. I go to Whole Foods with my own containers to buy sugar from the bulk bin. Zero packaging waste, right? But what I find is…

Organic sugar that is not Fair Trade…

Conventional sugar that is not organic OR Fair Trade…

I do find organic Fair Trade sugar packaged in plastic.

I’ve written about how ironic it is to put organic food in plastic packaging.

Why Fair Trade?

Here’s what Fair Trade USA, the organization that certifies products as Fair Trade, has to say about cane sugar production:

Dignity for sugar farmers

The US is an important sugar grower, growing over 80% of our domestic consumption. But the small amount of s… Read the rest

April 12, 2010

YouTube presents: Bags & Bottles

Friends have forwarded me a whole slew of fantastic videos recently about plastic bags and plastic bottles. Here are three that I love. Please take the time to watch.

Bring Your Canvas Bags

This one is totally addictive. It starts out slow but builds until you find yourself humming it in your sleep. The video did come out a while ago, but even if you’ve seen it already, why not watch it again?

Life of a Plastic Bag

Taking it down a notch, this 18 minute video narrated by Werner Herzog is weirdly beautiful, if not entirely accurate. A plastic bag suffers an existential crisis after betrayal by the woman who brought him home from the store. If he could find her again, he would tell her one thing. Watch to find out what that one thing is.

The Story of Bottled Water

Annie Leonard has done it again. After explaining the Story of Stuff, she takes us on a journey through the Story of Bottled Water. Check out what Annie learned when she followed the water bottle… Read the rest

April 9, 2010

Buying Less Plastic = Spending Less Money

The following is a guest post from Erin, who writes about the intersection of frugality and green living at The Conscious Shopper and The Green Phone Booth. I asked her to write a post for Fake Plastic Fish about ways she saves money while eliminating the plastic. Here’s what she had to say…

It’s shopping day for The Conscious Shopper.

I get my list ready and head to the grocery store. First stop, the bulk bins, where I fill up my cloth bags with dried organic pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas. Now I can bypass the canned foods aisle and reduce my family’s exposure to the BPA in the resin lining nearly all food cans.

SAVINGS PER YEAR: about $125

I pass the cleaning aisle: I don’t need to buy any household cleaners because I make my own concoctions with baking soda, vinegar, Dr. Bronners, and water.

SAVINGS PER YEAR: about $50

I pass the plastic baggies and plastic wrap – we reuse storage contain… Read the rest

My Plastic-Free Life

Think we can't live without plastic? Think again. In 2007 I committed to stop buying any new plastic & I've almost succeeded! Won't you join me? Let's see what plastic-free looks like today… for the health of our bodies, our oceans, our planet. ~Beth Terry

The blog formerly known as

Monthly Archives: April 2010

Plastic-Free Living: Let’s Talk

Homemade Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding (Plastic-Free too!)

Ingredients

Plastic-Free Dental Floss? Not Quite.

Fake Plastic Fish on the Radio

Your Super Natural Life with Beth Greer on Green960:

Good Green Witch with Rhonda DeFelice on LA Talk Radio

See Jane Do on KVMR

It’s Earth Day. So Why Hate… Anything?

Take The Challenge. Show Your Plastic. Make Art.

Collecting Plastic. Making Art.

How Fair Is Your Sugar? And How ‘Bout All That Plastic?

Cane Sugar

Why Fair Trade?

YouTube presents: Bags & Bottles

Bring Your Canvas Bags

Life of a Plastic Bag

The Story of Bottled Water

Buying Less Plastic = Spending Less Money

It’s shopping day for The Conscious Shopper.