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 […]
Of course, I don’t really believe that the world is going to end this Friday. Â That would be too easy. Â The damage we are doing to life on planet Earth is a slower process and one that has the potential to cause much more prolonged suffering. Â And as I sit here typing sentences and […]
I just got back from a week on the East Coast doing book promos and visiting family, and all I got was this stupid Facebook photo… Two days ago, my sister Ellen posted that photo and caption and tagged me. Â It would have been funny, if it weren’t my Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup can. […]
Last week, I received an email from a new Starbucks employee who was shocked by the amount of waste she sees at the store everyday. Many of us do our individual part by bringing our reusable mugs for coffee, but it turns out that, according to this employee (who wants to remain anonymous to keep […]
I’m back from my meditation retreat, where one of the common admonishments is “Don’t push the river.” Â What does that mean? Â To me, it’s about being in the flow and not exerting more effort than necessary to live peacefully and mindfully in the present moment. Â After all, the river’s gonna flow whether you push it […]
Would you believe there is a company not only producing plastic products for the beach, but actually promoting them using a photo of an ocean wave sweeping one of their plastic gizmos, filled with a disposable plastic cup, towards the sea? I wasn’t planning on posting a rant today, as I’m leaving in a few […]
What does the Trayvon Martin murder have to do with sea turtles choking on plastic bags or the toxicity of bisphenol-A?  At first glance, not a whole lot.  And it’s not the kind of  news I would normally write about on My Plastic-Free Life.  But listening to the April 17 episode of the American Public […]
Hey kids. Â Don’t be like the Lorax. Â He’s a bad example. Â I should know. Â I used to be like him, and I still am sometimes. Â I’ll explain what I mean, but first, let me back up a bit. A couple of weeks ago, a representative from Universal Pictures invited me to write a compensated* post […]
Two weeks ago, food columnist Mark Bittman published ten Recipes for the Semi-Vegan in The New York Times Magazine along with photos that left many of us salivating. What a great source of inspiration, I thought, for those of us who aspire to eat more plants and fewer animal products. Â I, in particular, need […]
I sleep with my smartphone. There, I said it. My virtual life is out of control. I am powerless over my addiction to checking email, Twitter, and Facebook. Listening to podcasts while playing endless rounds of Yukon solitaire. Googling the answer to any question that happens to pop into my head at 3am. I know […]