By Alexa Napoleon, plastic-free crusader
Having a baby is an exciting time. However, for a first-time mom, the products available and the confusion about what they’re made of can be a bit overwhelming. Starting a baby registry can help organize your thoughts and outline what you need to be prepared, and, for a plastic-free wannabe, it gives you a chance to start anew, avoiding the plastic rut right from the start. Continue reading
by Alexa Napoleon, Rodale.com plastic-free crusader
In the small-wins progression to a plastic-free household, I began by tackling storage containers and liquids in the first year, and this month have focused on reduced plastic use around fruits and freezer storage. But, as with any large change, there are many steps to sustaining a new ideal.
If you are an avid cook like me and enjoy your nightly adventures in the kitchen (albeit, a nightly fight with my kitchen for more counter space), your stock of cooking utensils is extremely important. In fact, you almost form a tight bond with your favorite utensils and know just when to pull for your trusty tools based on the dish that’s brewing or the small mess that’s stewing. So, when looking at having to replace these inanimate friends, it can be disheartening and leaving you feeling a bit void. My collection also brings back memories of the funny day on free broken bicycles, collecting needed utensils at yard sales, to the beautiful wedding shower where I got a full set of anything I could possibly need, all matching perfectly in black. Replacing this set seems a bit hard to swallow. What will I do without the round slotted, slightly cupped, grey spatula boy? Continue reading
by Alexa Napoleon, Rodale.com plastic-free crusader
After noticing the pile in our recycling bin versus that in our garbage, I decided in February 2011 to take Rodale’s plastic free challenge. If I could do one more thing to reduce my footprint and control chemical consumption, it has to be good…and can’t be that hard, right?!? WRONG. The first trip to the grocery store took nearly two hours, as each item on my small list presented a challenge. Why is every small fresh herb sold in a little plastic box? Why are regular-sized carrots now wrapped in plastic and sitting in a Styrofoam tray (as I’m trying to avoid the plastic bag in which the organic baby carrots are packaged)? Why can’t I just buy a pile of cheese in butcher paper and not covered in a plastic sheet, in a plastic bag? My husband was at wits end, and, I believe, I frequented the grocery store alone for the remainder of the month. Continue reading
by Peter Hanlon, Research and Policy Analyst, GRACE Communications Foundation
One of the advantages of living in New York City is that you can get nearly anything you need at almost any hour. Greasing the gears of that spur-of-the-moment consumption is the plastic bag. No need to think ahead about how to get groceries, the latest iPhone or a 22-ounce Sapporo safely home…here, just put it in this bag. Continue reading
by Kai Olson-Sawyer, research and policy analyst, GRACE Communications
So far, 2011 has been a tough year for scandal-prone California agribusiness giant and holding company, Roll International, which might be part of the reason for the company’s recent yet minor name change to Roll Global. (Of course, I’m kidding. It’s for tax purposes, right?) After all the bad press last year about how Roll Global – the parent company of luxury bottled water brand FIJI Water, among other well-known businesses – established itself as a community-draining water-taker extraordinaire, it’s not unexpected that the corporation might want to distance itself from…itself. Belief in corporate personhood aside , it’s actually the Beverly Hills-based, billionaire socialite couple, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who are probably dismayed.
By Philippe Cousteau & Cathryn Berger Kaye, authors of Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers & Wetlands.
Heading back to school? You may have a checklist for supplies, from calculators to notebooks and lined paper. Heading back to school is also ideal for another checklist, one for going green and blue at school, at home, and in your community. Continue reading
Posted in Children's Health, Climate Destabilization, Healthy Home & Garden
Tagged climate change, plastics
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