The following is a guest post by two German students, Laura and Sophie, who tried an experiment to live one week without plastic trash. Â Please enjoy, and if you know of good resources in Germany, please be sure and leave a comment for them. Sophie: The first plastic-free shopping The first plastic-free shopping was not […]
Are you still rubbing plastic all over your face? Since I first reported on microbeads–those tiny bits of plastic added to facial scrubs, toothpaste, and other personal care products–in 2007 and then again in 2013, the NY Times has reported on them, several U.S. states have passed legislation to ban them,  Canada is on the verge of […]
Last year, I received the following email from blog reader Melliny: Hi…I recently began converting plastic to glass in my kitchen. It has been such an exciting experience to me that I took photos along the way to inspire my family to hopefully do the same…. The fact is that storing good food in glass is very beautiful, which is […]
My new favorite thing this summer is making tomato sauce from scratch using fresh tomatoes and my toaster oven.  Why would I need to do that when it’s easy to buy tomato sauce in glass jars?  Well, several reasons.  First, even plastic-free packaging like glass has an environmental footprint.  (I’ll write more about that in my […]
2016 Update: Â Sadly, it looks like Green Tree Gum has gone out of business. This post remains active for archive purposes only. Â I have removed links to the company’s website, as they no longer work. I don’t chew gum, but Michael does, as did legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager (maybe he still does.) Â But if […]
Since writing my book Plastic-Free, I’ve had multiple requests for a condensed version with just the basics for getting started. My answer is usually, “Great idea. How about you write it?” Because seriously, we need as many plastic-free voices in the media as possible. And to be honest, I get tired of hearing my own voice.  Well, […]
Do you have a hard time letting go of things because they might be useful one day? Are you reluctant to give away your old plastic kitchenware for fear that someone else will be harmed by it? Or that they won’t dispose of it properly when they’re done with it? Do you resist tossing things […]
This post might be controversial, but sometimes you have to admit when you might have been a little bit… wrong?  Anyway, five years ago, I wrote a pretty depressing blog post about why we cannot solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution by focusing on cleanup schemes. 2010- 2013: My Doubts My point was that as […]
It’s not easy to do the dishes when there are a bunch of reusable bottles in the way.  And early in the morning, when I’m more than a little stressed out trying to get out the door on time, confronting this situation was making me nuts. I know, I know.  How hard is it to just […]
Photo Restaurante Praia Arrifana © Michelle Cassar is a long-time reader of this blog and committed anti-plastic activist, although I’m not sure she would actually call herself an activist, nor anti plastic.  She’s also a surfer, photographer, and world traveller who has been living in Portugal for quite a while.  Back in 2011, she sent […]