I first ran across Orta plastic-free self-watering seed pots last Spring at the Temescal Farmers Market in Oakland, CA. I wanted to review it back then, but what with buying a new home in Maryland, caring for my dad, and then the extreme heat of the Maryland summer, it never happened. So, here I am […]
Ever since Lush reverted to packaging its Toothy Tabs toothpaste tablets in plastic containers instead of compostable cardboard boxes, I’ve been brushing my teeth with plain baking soda mixed with essential oils. (I pour a bit in the palm of my hand and run my wet toothbrush through it.) This method is fine, and cheap, […]
Last month, the City of Berkeley, CA, unanimously passed the nation’s most ambitious, comprehensive ordinance on disposable plastic foodware to date. The new law requires that: Disposable items like utensils, straws, lids, and sleeves may only be provided upon request or at a self-serve station, not automatically. Food vendors must provide compost bins for customers. All […]
Using our own containers to buy foods from bulk bins is one of the primary ways to avoid plastic packaging while grocery shopping. But it’s not always easy, especially when you’re just beginning your plastic-free journey. First, you have to find shops in your area that offer foods from bulk bins, and then you need […]
The following is a guest post from Balaka B. Ghosal who contacted me last year to share her zero waste, plastic-free journey. Enjoy! Most big journeys in our lives start with a story. Mine does, too. Right after coming from India to Houston, Texas, with a six-year-old in tow, I was excited about the amazing […]
A few months ago, Sreenivasulu.M.R, a software professional in Bangalore, India, emailed me out of the blue to let me know about his project building intricate miniatures of world-renowned architecture out of used plastic pen refills. These days, a lot of my emails go unanswered and even unread because my time is consumed with caring for […]
Ever since Western Australian Rebecca Prince Ruiz started Plastic-Free July with a small group of locals back in 2011, the movement has gone global over 2 million people in 159 different countries working to reduce their use of plastic products for an entire month, and, hopefully, learning new habits they can continue during the rest […]
Last month, I received an email from Carmen Drahl, senior correspondent for Chemical & Engineering News, wanting to know if I had heard about the new solid body wash products from Lush and Bomb Cosmetics, and if so, what I thought about them. To be honest, I thought she was just talking about bars of […]
A few days ago, I received a shocking email from my dear friend Burning Man campmate, art teacher Ann Clark. You may remember Annie from the Plastic Footprint Project that she organized with her students to bring awareness to the problems of plastic pollution through art. After retiring from teaching, Annie made several trips to […]
When I left my home in California last month to care for my dad in Maryland, I struggled to figure out how to do it plastic-free.  Moving across the country can involve a lot of disposable plastic if you’re not careful: plastic bubble wrap inside your boxes, plastic tape to close the boxes, and plastic […]