The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Category Archives: soy milk

August 1, 2007

SoyaPower to the People

My SoyaPower soy milk maker arrived today, and I made my first batch of homemade soy milk tonight. (The dried soy beans have to soak for 8-10 hours, so I put them in water this morning and made the soy milk when I came home.) This is a magical piece of kitchen equipment. You put in water and the soaked beans, press a button, and 15-20 minutes later, you have soy milk. And it tastes good. And the texture is smooth. After it cools, you can add sweetener or any other flavors you want. But actually, I tasted the unsweetened soy milk tonight, and I have to say it’s quite refreshing without anything else added.

Okay, so you want to know about the plastic and the packaging? That, after all, is what we’re here for, right? First the good news. Sanlinx, Inc ships the soy milk maker in its own box, so there is no extra packaging. Inside the box holding the machine in place are molded paper pulp forms rather than styrofoam.

Now, the plastic news. Plastic inside the … Read the rest

July 21, 2007

The soy milk situation: Write to Wildwood!

Send a short note to Wildwood! Read on to find out more!

Well, it’s looking like the only way to buy ready-to-drink refrigerated soy milk without plastic is to spring for the 1-quart carton of Wildwood soy milk. It’s more expensive that way. But the half gallon contains the same plastic spout and cap as the other brands. We’re also buying more packaging when we buy the smaller sizes.

So naturally, I wrote to Wildwood to ask why they feel the need to use a spout and cap on the half gallon cartons, and this is their response on 07/16/07:

The plastic fitment (spout) is mainly used to ensure that bacteria does not enter into the soymilk and cause spoilage. Cartons without the fitment are much more likely to spoil with the folded top once opened. Most consumers also find it more convenient.

“Hmm…” I thought to myself. “Hmm… is there some difference in the spoilage rate between cow’s milk and soy milk?… Read the rest

June 27, 2007

Soy Milk & my letter to White Wave, makers of Silk

To date, my favorite brand of soy milk has been Silk. In fact, they have a green energy program. The irony is that the symbol of that green energy program is a green plastic cap on the soy milk carton. The name of the campaign: “Green Caps for Green Energy.” As I mentioned in my review of Whole Foods, it’s hard to find soy milk packaged without some plastic. So last week, I sent a note via the contact form on Silk’s web site, and this is the response I received today:

Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 From: “Beth Terry”

Hi. I am trying very hard to eliminate plastic waste from my life. I have 2 questions regarding Silk soy milk in the carton.

First, is there any plastic coating on the carton? I have been told that today, many milk cartons contain a plastic coating rather than wax. What is the story with Silk?

Second, why is it necessary to have a plastic screw cap on a milk carton? The whole time I was growing up, we opened our milk cartons on … Read the rest