Monday, May 07, 2007

The " Dark Underbelly" of the Farmers Market


Farmers markets, mecca of clean, green living, shiny happy people buying organic fruits and veggies from their local farmers.....

...and promptly encasing them in petroleum based plastic bags. Each one a potential turtle choker, sea bird poisoner, and PCB attractor throughout its gazillion-year lifespan.

Many others share my puzzlement at this seemingly obvious contradiction. Today's Treehugger post mentions the issue:

And this excellent little video short by Sara from It's So Easy Being Green enlightens at the scene of the crime.

I saw this months ago and was thrilled to find another plastic-eschewer. Then met Sara herself at last weeks Green Drinks. High time to put our heads together.....

In the video, Sara brings her own set of reusable produce bags along with the requisite tote bag. You can find nice lightweight produce bags here, (also sold at the Santa Monica Co-op) or get creative and make your own.

Hmmm.....maybe a "make your own" booth at the farmers market?

2 comments:

aaron said...

The bring your own movement is really great because it's several small actions we can all take to move away from a disposable consumer culture. I started www.bringyourowncup.com to encourage coffee drinkers to realize that their luxury experience does not have to also harm the environment.

www.bringyourowncup.com

Anonymous said...

Oh my god! I feel like we're living the same life, except you are soooo far ahead of me. I just posted about this issue of plastic at the farmer's market on my blog yesterday.

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/07/plastic-farmers-market.html