Gotta pay your (water bottle) antimony??

Yet another reason to avoid plastics. The chemical antimony present in possibly “unhealthy levels” in PET water and beverage bottles.

It's that confounded “possibly” part that continues to creep me out. I remember learning about the “precautionary principle” back in grad school, fancy way of saying, “if you’re not sure that it’ll harm you, assume it will till proven otherwise.”

While we're talking fair trade.....

My most recent column in the Santa Monica Mirror, on Fair Trade issues. This will be the first of two in the series, the next will feature some local Fair Trade activism - like the Starbucks Challenge, spearheaded by Green LA Girl and City Hippy.

Parlez vous?

Ah, the wonders of the cyber world…..

Check out the campaign Maya is kick starting in Antibes, France.

Through her lovely chalk written sign, I learned the French for “Fair Trade” :
Produits de commerce equitable.

Shows yet again that the disposables issue is universal....

Take one down, stitch it around, 120 plastic bags on the wall..

Melissa’s recent post on her LA Green Living blog about the # of plastic bags in her closet (43) reminded me of the scary, mounting pile I have in my own.

I’ve been saving them since I moved to L.A. last December (’04) with the intention of knitting them into a cool tote - one of those back burner projects. Maybe its time, given I have 140 of them...Majority of them in photo above. Spring cleaning?

Tried this once in Santa Cruz, went through laborious collecting, sorting, cutting, making into yarn process, got a ways in, and...it was awful - I'm not much of a knitter, so working w/ plastic yarn was tough. The result: super awkward shape, just off. So I abandoned the project.

Time to try again, and this time get some tips, maybe from someone with knitting skills. How cute is that knit cell phone case?

(anti) disposable divas unite!

Through the blog world, I'm meeting more and more people who share my anti-disposables mania.

Just yesterday discovered Melissa, of LA Green Living, exploring green lifestyles in Los Angeles. No, this is not an oxymoron.....In addition to her blog, Melissa started a guide for how to live without plastic bags, a wealth of information on the whys and hows of avoiding this ubiquitous offender.

Mentioned on Melissa's blog is fellow anti-waste champion Stephanie Bernstein, founder of To-Go Ware - an awesome, styley line of reusable lunch kits and wooden utensils.

And then last night found another kindrid spirit in Jasmin, who expresses how pissed off she is watching rampant negligence turn our urban environs into a dumping grounds....she has a few other things to be pissed off about here. And I couldn't agree more, time for a little outrage. Time to get riled up a bit! Too many of us are sleepwalking.

A few other environmensters who share my waste woes: Maya, Siel, Lauren.......looks like I need to meet some more (anti) disposable dudes to join the diva posse. Hombres, come forward!

Plastic in your coffee?

Just in from Treehugger, a new company MicroGreen working on plastic coffee cups made entirely from recycled beverage containers. Interesting, as there’s a need for more recycled plastic uses. I wonder though, are these still meant to be disposable? Fully recyclable? And how do they rate on the whole safety factor?

Not sure I'd want to drink hot liquid out of plastic. Theres been a slew of reports out in the last year about plastic possibly leaching toxic chemicals into our food and water. While some question this research, I personally would rather play it safe till someone proves otherwise.

I'll take stainless steel with my coffee for now.....

Sunshines gettin' wasted

As an alternative to the Sunshine Landfill just above Granada Hills, LA is looking into hauling trash elsewhere, to a near by city. Riverside? Avenal? Anyone want our Nimby nasties? We certainly don’t.

Worlds largest landfill...in the ocean?

Think Hawaii is far enough “away” to find pristine shores? Not so fast.....read this account of a massive aquatic trash heap washing up on the Islands, leaving a trail of plastic crap and fishing gear in its wicked wake.

Further supports the idea that “pristine” wilderness is a thing of the past, as shown here in this excellent slideshow by one of my favorite projects shifting baselines.

In the last few weeks, anecdotes from friends and supporters have encouraged me to revive this blog. Which, despite xtra time in front of computer, is a good venue for communication.

Like Maya for example, a blogger in France who happened upon BYO through Green LA Girl's wehsite. And several messages from well intentioned BYOers whove tried to bring personal cups to Coffee Bean, Starbucks, and others, to have valient efforts thwarted by baristas measuring java quantities in paper cups, pouring into their reusable mugs, and then tossing paper cup. Thus defeating the entire purpose.

More to say on this topic later. For now, just keep trying, and let me know how it works out for you.....

Think B4 You Drink

Not directly on the reusables topic, but as it relates to coffee:

Listened to a great group of impassioned teens from New Roads present some awesome posters they crafted on Fair Trade issues. Two addressed the Starbucks Challenge, urging responsible java sipping with their slogan, “think before you drink”.

Whats your contribution?

Came across this very cool tool for calculating your annual coffee cup waste in pounds, thanks to Kieran Lynn, creator of dzignism. For example, buying 4 throwaway cups a week generates 13 pounds of waste a year......

Joining the blogolution

Inspired by some fellow green bloggers out there, especially the prolific green la girl, I finally decided to start spreading the Bring Your Own message via cyber space.

The idea for this BYO campaign arose as much from my coffee habit as my growing disgust with the buildup of unnecessary plastic crap in the world. I love a good latte, but the java experience was becoming more unpleasant as I'd watch troops of coffee drinkers getting their daily fix in throwaway cups (with plastic lids mind you) yet drinking them right there!

This, and the copious amounts of plastic bags carted off by "eco conscious" consumers at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, etc. set me off on a personal crusade to spread the word.

So grab your commuter cup, tote bag, cloth napkin, and stand by......