We have a number of new products in our line-up just in time for the holiday season, and this is one of our favorites: the sleek and elegant “On A Roll” Tape Dispenser created by London-based design duo black+blum. These cutting edge design gurus describe their product development ethic as “ruthless practicality with a mischievous and intellectually satisfying design aesthetic.”
We’ve not yet come across the right non-plastic salad spinner for our product line. There are sneaky ones out there touted as “stainless steel,” but that’s just on the exterior. The interior coming into contact with the greens is still plastic.
Our intrepid blogger friend, Beth Terry of My Plastic-Free Life, recently wrote a lovely blog about just this issue. She considers the traditional plastic ones we’ve likely all seen, and perhaps grown up with – but which are, yes, plastic. With some help from the indomitable Julia Child she discovers the traditional French and Swiss ones – some great options there!
18 April 2008 — Canadian Government Risk Assessment of Bisphenol A Leads to Proposal to Ban Polycarbonate Baby Bottles!
A wonderful step forward for health and the environment! The Government of Canada announced today in Ottawa that a risk assessment of bisphenol A has been completed and has led the government to consider legally designating bisphenol A a ‘toxic’ substance hazardous to human health and the environment. This makes Canada the first jurisdiction in the world to begin taking tangible regulatory action against bisphenol A, which is the key chemical component in the plastic polycarbonate. Bisphenol A is used to make numerous common household items including many plastic baby bottles, reusable water bottles, large blue-coloured water storage bottles for water dispensers, and the lining of some food cans.
5 September 2008 — A new study links chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) to inability to form brain synapses. A new Canadian-US study found that BPA, the controversial chemical found in plastic bottles made of polycarbonate, may prevent the brain from building vital connections between neurons. This effect is in addition to imbalances to the reproductive system that this chemical is suspected of causing
18 October 2008 — Canadian Government Declares Bisphenol A Toxic! – Canada has become the first country in the world to designate bisphenol A (BPA) toxic to human health and the environment. By adding BPA to the Toxic Substances List (Schedule 1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Government can now take concrete action against BPA, and has announced that it ”will immediately proceed with drafting regulations to prohibit the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA).
8 January 2009 — Plastic Additives Leach into and Skew Medical Experiments — Medical researchers from the University of Alberta have found that disposable plasticware commonly used in scientific experiments leach two types of chemicals that affect and can even ruin the results of experiments. Oleamide (a lubricating agent added to the plasticware) and quaternary ammonium biocides (anti-bacterial agents also added to the plastic) were found to leach from the plastic. Certain of the compounds were also found to biologically interact with, and change the behaviour of, human enzymes and brain receptors in different experiments.
21 August 2013 — To keep a lunch you prepared for your child – or for yourself – cool until it is time to eat it, many people use an ice pack made of plastic with a gel-like substance inside that contains additives (hopefully non-toxic ones, but you never know – that blue gel stuff doesn’t exactly look healthy and natural). An ice pack can add a lot of weight to a lunch bag and uses space that could otherwise be occupied by an extra lunch item. The best way to avoid adding unnecessary plastic and weight to your lunch bag is to freeze a lunch item that is intended to be eaten.
17 March 2013 — Last weekend, our son Jyoti and I made play dough. Jyoti is 9 years old so play dough is not as exciting as it was when he was little, but he had the idea of creating a time lapse video with it. So, he invented a story and took pictures of a little monster escaping the stainless steel airtight container in which we had stored the play dough. I put together the movie, and here is the result. Feel free to pass it around.
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and the Canadian Federal Conservative Party are leading a horrific and devastating charge against nature and democracy. Although 60% of Canadians voted against them at the last election, they still managed to obtain a majority of seats and have now started a war on nature with bill C-38 (the name of the bill is a joke:Jobs, Growth and Long Term Prosperity Act). This is a budget bill that contains numerous measures that attack long standing legislative protection of the environment. From killing theKyoto protocol to repealing the National Round Table on Environment and Economy to reversing the protection of the Fisheries Act and closing the Polar and Atmospheric Research Laboratory. It also greatly reduces the length and scope of the environmental assesment process of any project with a potential impact on nature. The list goes on and on.
19 June 2012 — Beth Terry writes the pre-eminent blog in this world on living without plastic: My Plastic-free Life. She meticulously tracks her monthly plastic consumption down to the last plastic envelope window, and blogs passionately about it. That alone is reason enough for us to love her and consider her one of our heros, but there is more. Why do we love Beth? She’s funny, straightforward, unafraid to tell it like it is, a superb researcher and writer, an idea factory, super well-organized and systematic, action-oriented, great at making fun of herself to make a point, and, as you can tell by now…she walks her talk. I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her in person a few years ago, and at the time I blogged about the blast we had together at the Green Festival in San Francisco.
Now, everyone can walk Beth’s talk and change their lives and the world at the same time by living with less plastic. Her book, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, was just launched worldwide a few days ago, and it is well worth checking out. You can purchase ithere.
