The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Category Archives: Letter Writing

October 14, 2009

Just Say “No” to 7-Eleven’s Plastic-Wrapped Bananas.

Plastic-wrapped bananas are redundant and stupid, aren’t they? I mean, really. Bananas already have a natural wrapper. But 7-Eleven wants to make sure they stay fresher even longer. So 27 stores in Dallas, Texas are testing out the new plastic-wrapped bananas. If successful, the chain plans to sell them in all of its stores.

According to an article in USA Today (forwarded to me by Fake Plastic Fish reader James Langford), “7-Eleven recognizes that the wrapper could be an environmental issue and has asked supplier Fresh Del Monte to come up with a wrapper that’s biodegradable.” Um… it already has a biodegradable wrapper. It’s thick and yellow and decomposes in about a week, as evidenced by the contents of my compost bin.

Since 7-Eleven does appear to be somewhat concerned about its environmental footprint, let’s help them realize the error of this packaging choice. Please make a quick phone call … 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 Farm… Read the rest

April 23, 2009

Dear BART EZ Rider Program,

BART’s EZRider program is a great way to take public transit in the San Francisco Bay Area while reducing our plastic waste. Yes, regular BART tickets are made from plastic. Disposable plastic. And they are not recycled. The EZ Rider program replaces hundreds of disposable BART tickets with one refillable card, which is linked to a credit card and reloaded automatically as you use it.

Included with my new card was one piece of plastic I didn’t need. So I’m sending it back to BART with the following note.

April 19, 2009

SF BART EZ Rider Administration Center 300 Lakeside Dr, 22nd Floor Oakland, CA 94612

Dear BART:

Thanks so much for the new EZ Rider card. I love the EZ Rider system, specifically because it eliminates the waste of disposable plastic BART tickets.

I am returning this plastic carrying case to you because I really don’t need it. I prefer carrying my EZ Rider card in my wallet with the rest of my credit cards.

Perhaps … Read the rest

December 23, 2008

Hey Klean Kanteen! What’s with the plastic cap?

January 2011 Update: Good news. Klean Kanteen has developed a plastic-free cap! The new Reflect Klean Kanteen water bottle comes with a bamboo/metal cap with a silicone ring. The bamboo caps are also sold separately to fit other styles of Klean Kanteen bottles, but unfortunately, those bottles still come automatically with plastic caps.)

Friday I had the great privilege of hanging out with Ruchi, she of the Arduous Blog, who came to town for the holidays. We ate apple pie with caramel sauce and ice cream. We walked around the Castro. We chatted with the new owner of the Eco Boutique on 18th Street. We should have gone karaoke singing, as according to her current blog post it’s something Ruchi loves to do. Instead, we visited the one and only Rainbow Grocery.

Ruchi needed a new Klean Kanteen. Her old one was rudely stolen, as regular readers of her blog know, shortly before she left London to come home. And Rainbow Grocery sells them, along with b… Read the rest

November 25, 2008

Saying Good-bye to Plastic-Free Cat Litter… Again!

Arya loves SwheatScoop cat litter. She loves to rip open the bag, spread the litter across the kitchen floor, and then lie in it and take a nap. Why confine such an awesome substance to her litter box?

Soots on the other hand, will have almost nothing to do with it. To avoid grossing you out, I provide the following black and white representation of what Soots thinks of SwheatScoop:

I wanted to love Swheatscoop natural clumping, flushable cat litter. I really did. Especially because it’s the only flushable* litter that comes in a paper bag rather than plastic. [2016 update:  Swheatscoop has switched to a plastic bag.  We now use Integrity cat litter instead.] Even the boxed litters have plastic bags inside.

*For those who weren’t here for the beginning of the cat litter story, we feel comfortable flushing their poop because they are indoor cats that have tested negative for toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that kills sea otters.

We tr… Read the rest

November 6, 2008

Obama’s f—ing lightbulbs

The highlights of Newsweek’s Special Election Project, released yesterday, include this unsettling tidbit:

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’… Read the rest

November 6, 2008

Thank you, Santa Sabina!

Back in May, I sent a letter to the Santa Sabina retreat center, where I have spent many beautiful silent weekends resting in stillness. My letter asked them to please find alternatives to the antibacterial soaps and synthetic air fresheners they had recently begun providing for the use of their guests.

A few weeks later, I received a beautiful card and note assuring me that the center had switched to more environmentally-friendly products. This past weekend, during another retreat, I was able to confirm first-hand that not only had they indeed made those specific changes, but were also working on ways to encourage their guests to be more aware of their environmental impact.

Entering the main doors, I encountered this cute little setup next to the water fountain. It’s actually not so hard to fill the bottle right from the fountain, but I guess they felt they’d make it as easy and obvious as possible.

Upstairs in the large linen closet… Read the rest

November 5, 2008

Dear President-Elect Obama,

As I write to you this day after the most exciting election in my 43 years, I want to thank you. You have inspired not only the people of the United States but of the entire world. You weave a beautiful story of hope for people who have become tired and cynical and jaded by political rhetoric.

Here are some of my hopes.

I hope that while we’re talking of “restoring prosperity” and “putting our people back to work” we’re also working to change the fundamental basis on which prosperity is measured. Is the American Dream the pursuit of newer and bigger houses and cars and the latest gadgets? Higher consumption of the earth’s resources? Is that what healing the economy means?

Or can we change our language to encourage deeper American values? Voluntary simplicity? Sustainable living? Connections among people over material wealth? The world cannot afford for us to continue trashing the planet as we have been… Read the rest

October 24, 2008

I voted today!

Didn’t want to leave it to chance. What if I get hit by a Prius between now and election day and can’t vote? So I turned in my absentee ballot at the Oakland courthouse on Fallon Street today.

Do you know who you’re voting for? If you’re an absentee voter, why not turn in your ballot now? And if not, you can still vote early in most states and avoid the lines on election day.

Fake Plastic Fish is not a partisan blog. And taking care of the environment is not a partisan issue. Still, I want to tell you that I voted for Barack Obama and got a real lump in my throat as I marked my ballot. This election year has been like no other since I’ve been alive, and I feel privileged to be part of it.

Agree with me or disagree. We all have our opinions. Regardless of who you’re voting for, why not join Ruchi’s Armchair Activists and send letters to both candidates asking them to make environmental protection one of their highest priori… Read the rest

August 22, 2008

Dear Financial West Group,

August 22, 2008

Financial West Group 4510 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Westlake Village, CA 91362

Re: Account #[omitted]

Dear FWG:

In January of this year, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to move my retirement savings into socially and environmentally responsible investments. To that end, I signed up with The Social Equity Group in Berkeley, CA to ensure that my investment funds are used to help protect the environment. In order for that to happen, my investments held by Schwab and by ING were moved into an account with Financial West Group.

The irony is that I have moved my money from two companies that save paper by offering a paper-free online statement option to one that is still sending out paper statements. But a rep at FWG explained to me that there are legal regulations and hurdles to jump through before investment companies are allowed to offer paper-free options, and FWG is in the process of making that happen.

That is good news. Howeve… Read the rest