Tuesday morning, I met up with Daniella Russo, executive director of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, for breakfast at her hotel, the Hyatt Place near the Austin Convention Center. Here’s a photo of Daniella’s breakfast:
From a distance, the dishes look like ceramic and glass, right? Nope. All plastic. Even the mug meant to hold hot coffee… plastic.… Read the rest
Dear Lotus Foods:
My husband and I used our old rice cooker a lot. Â We used it so much, that we burned out the fuse and had to replace it. Â I was pretty stoked about being able to fix our appliance and make it last longer instead of tossing it out. Â So recently, when the connection between the machine and the power cord started to get loose (and we had to lay something heavy on the power cord to keep the machine from cutting off each time we used it), I told Michael that I was going to see if I could fix it again. Â But Michael’s reply surprised me. Â This time he said, “Why don’t we just recycle it and get a new stainless steel one?”
See, there is a trade off sometimes. Â It may be gentler on the planet to fix things and make them last as long as possible rather than replacing them when they break. Â But if the old things are made of materials that might possibly be toxic to our health (plastic containers, for example, or aluminum… Read the rest
You’ve probably already heard about the Japanese tsunami debris making its way across the ocean and the 66-foot long dock that washed ashore on the Oregon coast last week.  (According to NOAA, the debris is unlikely to be radioactive, by the way.)
The dock is a story in and of itself, but what made me realize it was also a story about plastic was the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s June 8 press release requesting bids for removal of the dock:
Salem, OR — The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has reviewed options for removing the tsunami debris dock at Agate Beach. The department originally intended to pursue either of two options — demolition in place, or towing it off the beach to the nearby Port of Newport — but has since discovered the range of costs for these options overlaps. The reinforced concrete dock contains a large amount of styrofoam, making clean demolition a challenge and increasing… Read the rest
