The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Category Archives: Businesses & Organizations

February 16, 2019

Jules Thin Crust – Setting an Example for Zero Waste Restaurants

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 disposable takeout foodware must be 100% BPI certified compostable by January 1, 2020. All vendors must charge $0.25 cents for hot and cold takeout cups by January 1, 2020. All eat-in customers must be served foods in reusable foodware by July 1, 2020.

This ordinance is a big win for the plastic-free, zero-waste movement, and it will require big changes for some Berkeley restaurants.  But there are restaurants, whether in or outside Berkeley, that are already ahead of the game.  Last year, I hung out with Heather Clapp of Jules Thin Crust pizza restaurant… Read the rest

July 23, 2017

Three Stone Hearth – Much More Than Delicious Food in Returnable Mason Jars

Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley, CA

Local readers may be surprised when I confess that I’ve walked past Three Stone Hearth on University Ave in Berkeley a bunch of times over the years and never gone in.  I didn’t go in because I didn’t know what it was.

If I had gone in, I would have discovered a nearly plastic-free, zero waste mecca full of gloriously delicious food and friendly people.  Thank goodness the shop owners reached out to me this year to come and talk to their customers about my plastic-free journey.  I wish I had known about Three Stone Hearth when I was writing my book because they would have definitely been included!

It’s All About Those Mason Jars

Three Stone Hearth is a Community Supported kitchen (like a CSA for prepared foods) serving up delicious, organic, nutrient-dense foods based on traditional diets.  (Weekly offerings include choices for vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters.) Customers can come to the store to purchase foods … Read the rest

February 5, 2017

New Service Delivers Refillable Products in Glass Containers to Your Door

Fillgood.co refillable liquid products

So, you’ve been reading about ways to reduce your plastic use, including bringing back empty bottles and containers of personal care and cleaning products to refill, and you think, “I’ve got to try that sometime.”  (The BULK mobile site can help you find refill locations.) But that means planning ahead and remembering to bring your empty containers back to the store.  Once you get in the habit of doing it, remembering is no big deal.  But getting started can be difficult for folks just beginning the plastic-free, zero waste journey.  If only there were a service that would pick up those empties and deliver freshly filled ones right to your door.

If you live in the Bay Area, Stéphanie Regni can help!  Her company, Fillgood.co, delivers refilled glass containers of natural personal care and cleaning products to local customers.  I paid a visit to Stéphanie at her home in Albany, CA, last month, and chatted with… Read the rest

November 30, 2016

MOM’s Organic Market Wants You to Bring Your Own Containers

This story starts with a car wreck.  A few weeks ago–the week before the U.S. election, to be exact–I was in Maryland visiting my dad. Riding shotgun on the way home from my brother’s birthday dinner, I caught a glimpse of the sign for MOM’s Organic Market and shrieked, “HEY, THERE IT IS!” Unfortunately, my scream startled dad enough for him to swerve into a curb that had suddenly jutted out into the middle of the road. (Who put that there?)  We ended up with a flat tire and had to wait in the MOM’s parking lot for my brother in law to come help us change the tire.

 

You’re probably wondering why I screamed when we passed MOM’s Organic Market.  Well, growing up in Beltsville, MD in the 80’s, we shopped at conventional grocery stores like Giant and Safeway and A&P.  We didn’t have markets like Whole Foods, and we certainly didn’t have our own local… Read the rest

February 23, 2015

Arrifana Resturant in Portugal is saving 5000-6000 single use plastic cups a year!

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 me a list of the over 10,000 plastic items she had refused since beginning her plastic-free life.  And now, she’s helping others to refuse plastic by working with a local restaurant to eliminate plastic cups.  Here is the story in her own words.  Read, enjoy the beautiful photography, and be inspired!

(Por favor, vá para baixo para a versão Português.)… Read the rest

October 16, 2013

It’s #BlogActionDay and My Smartphone May Be Violating Your #HumanRights

On Blog Action Day, bloggers around the world all post articles on a single topic.  This year, the topic is human rights, and as I sit here typing (or Swyping) this post into my Android mobile phone, I’m acutely aware that having a smartphone is very definitely NOT a human right. (Okay, this is going to be one of those weird, winding, philosophical posts that may not end up where we think it will. Let’s just see where it goes, okay?) So yes, human rights. But first, let me explain why I bought this phone.… Read the rest

October 7, 2013

In.gredients — Possibly the Coolest Grocery Store Ever

04/27/2018 Update: Sadly, in.gredients closed it’s doors today.  But please read on, as this company was a great example of the first zero waste grocery store in the United States.

I’ve been dying to visit In.gredients since before the store even opened for business, and I profiled the company in my book Plastic-Free based on a telephone interview and articles I had read about a new packaging-free grocery store opening up in Austin, TX. So almost immediately after arriving in Austin yesterday afternoon, I headed over to this mythical zero waste grocery store to see if it was as awesome in real life as it had been described to me back when it was still in the planning stages. And you know what? It’s better.… Read the rest

September 22, 2013

Shocking Pictures from Coastal Cleanup Day

I’ve seen this picture of Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii a million times in the past six years. It’s shocking. But not as shocking as seeing a plastic-covered beach up close live and in person like I did yesterday during Kokua Hawai’i Foundation’s Coastal Cleanup Day event at James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Oahu.

When I first entered the area, I didn’t see much…

Then I looked down and started noticing microplastic particles in the sand…… Read the rest

September 19, 2013

Plastic-Free on Kauai

We’re having a great time on Kaua’i (mosquito bites notwithstanding), and despite the ubiquitous polystyrene foam foodware, we’re discovering some great plastic-free resources.  Upon arrival at our hotel, the concierge handed us a list of farmers markets on the island.

There’s at least one for every day of the week, which means we never have to worry about plastic produce packaging because we brought our own bags.… Read the rest

September 7, 2013

When is Plastic NOT Moop?

This will be my penultimate Burning Man post for the year. I think. (I have one more in mind, but who knows if I’ll get a burning desire to say even more after that? Or less?)

I have a discussion question for you, but first, a little background and lots of pictures. (I don’t think there is any nudity in these photos, but let me know if you see some and I’ll remove it. This blog is rated PG even if my life isn’t always.)

Reducing our plastic footprint was the theme of the Earth Guardians camp this year. Toward that end, we had Annie’s plastic footprint sculpture…

I gave two talks on plastic-free living on and off the playa…

Karima from the Plastic Pollution Coalition was there, taking pictures and working on quantifying Burning Man’s plastic footprint.

So was my friend Tracey whom I camped with last year and who had worked very hard to deplastify her business.

Several people came up to me during the week who … Read the rest