The blog formerly known as   Fake Plastic Fish

Category Archives: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

February 21, 2014

Opting Out of Toxic Checkbook Covers

Have you ever considered your checkbook cover? If you’re like me, you might be so accustomed to paying bills online that you don’t even remember where your checkbook is.  But I’m thinking about mine today because of an article I just read in Environmental Health News. Apparently, Deluxe, the main provider of personal checks for […]

October 15, 2012

Our Petitions Make a Difference: Say No to Disney’s Toxic Lunchboxes & Yes to Safer Chemicals

Stop what you’re doing for a second.  I want you to start a petition.  Or at least sign one. Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event when bloggers all over the world band together to write posts on the same theme.  And this year’s theme is “The Power of We.”  It’s one thing for […]

July 31, 2012

What’s Plastic Got to Do with Clean Air?

If I asked you to list the problems with plastic, you might mention toxic chemicals like BPA or phthalates; or the fact that it doesn’t biodegrade; or that animals ingest it; or that there is a toxic soup of plastic swirling around in the world’s oceans.  Those are the issues I’ve focused on for the past […]

August 30, 2010

Back to School Vinyl and Styrofoam. Sometimes Retro Isn’t Cool.

How often do we hear ourselves bemoaning the plastic world we’ve created and wishing we could go back to the good old days before our disposable culture got the better of us? I was having a few of those thoughts last night when I realized that as far as school lunches are concerned, some things may have […]

January 29, 2010

Ice Pack, Heating Pad, Rice Sock

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC, commonly known as vinyl), Polyurethane foam (foam rubber), Polyster. All these poly’s. All non-biodegradable plastics. Not so good for our health or that of the planet, right? And yet so many health products are made from these materials. Take electric heating pads and gel ice packs, for example. My cold packs are […]

August 4, 2009

The Dangers of PVC Plastic

The Center for Health, Environment, & Justice has released its Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies. It’s a free downloadable guide to all the products kids might need for school, from binders and notebooks to clothes, electronics, lunch boxes, and a host of other products. It includes a comprehensive guide to suppliers as […]

March 6, 2009

Plastic Gift Cards: Re-use, Recycle, Speak Out!

I’ve been carrying around two plastic movie theater gift cards for over a year. Gifts from co-workers, they are much-appreciated because they represent gifts of experiences (movies) rather than more stuff. The fact that I still have them simply means I need to get out more. But the cards themselves, of course, are made from […]

May 22, 2008

When giving literally hurts

A few weeks ago, I decided to give a pint. Of blood, that is. What were you thinking? Guinness? I’m almost embarassed to admit that it was my very first time ever donating blood, and the only reason I even thought of it was because someone from the Red Cross cold called me and said, […]