Are you still relying on plastic baggies, bags, or containers to pack lunches for school or work? Are you concerned about the chemicals that can leach out of plastics into the foods you or your kids eat? A lot of plastic food containers are touted as BPA-free. But BPA-free does not necessarily mean safe because […]
We’ve all heard of the Bag Monster — that scary mountain of disposable plastic bags that accumulate in cupboards and closets–or worse, blow down the streets and into waterways and threaten wildlife. But have you encountered the Reusable Bag Monster? Â Witness the one in my kitchen: Good lord! Â How many reusable bags do two people […]
I spent Thanksgiving week in Maryland with my family. Here’s a picture of my dad. He has questions. (Okay, that photo was taken in Hawaii in 2006 — not Maryland in 2011. But it’s nice, isn’t it?) So we were at the local Giant Foods grocery store last week, and after I whipped out my […]
Chriss from Art of Zen Crochet makes gorgeous produce sacks out of hemp yarn. Check out her site. Her scarves and other crocheted items are fantastic. The produce sacks are extremely light weight and great for getting your produce weighed without a plastic bag. Just keep them away from kitties who like to play […]
Molly de Vries lives just across the bay from me in Marin County and is the owner of Ambatalia, a company producing beautiful cloth to-go bags, napkins, and other reusables. Her story is inspiring. Please enjoy her story in her own words. My name is Molly de Vries, owner of Ambatalia, textiles for a non-disposable life, and […]
Yesterday, I hinted at how I carried home my ice cream from Tara’s in an insulated nearly plastic-free bag. Now, perhaps you have already figured out a plastic-free way to carry hot or cold foods without losing/letting in heat. But more often than not, the choice is a nylon or neoprene bag insulated with plastic foam, […]
Way back in October, my friend Doug sent me a Clothesnik canvas garment bag to try out. I finally had a chance to use it last week. We haven’t taken clothes to the cleaners since July of last year! Unfortunately, it took a while to find a green cleaner that would actually use the bag. […]
Here are some snippets from the market research video I referred to in yesterday’s post. A quick, rough, and unscripted tour through some of the green aspects of our kitchen. Future videos, should we choose to make them, will be much more polished. But this one is fun, if only for the appearance of a […]
With the recent surge in anti-plastic bag sentiments, a lot of folks are jumping on the reusable bags bandwagon. I think it’s great that people are starting to give a thought to the bags that they use to carry their purchases home. But not all bags are created equal, and I wish more people would […]