My shampoo solution

I have basically two kinds of readers here: serious plastic reduction folk, and co-workers. (Hi gang!) The later group might not understand how seriously some of the former take the issue of not using commercial shampoos, which includes the plastic bottle and for some the chemicals included. The baking-soda-and-vinegar alternative didn’t appeal, and it’s not… Continue reading My shampoo solution

Easy steps to help your friends use less plastic

I’m here in Washington, D.C. and quite close to the action of tomorrow’s inauguration of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States. I can only imagine how much plastic will be used in the collective festivities. But that’s not why I’m writing. With the new Administration comes a measure of optimism, if… Continue reading Easy steps to help your friends use less plastic

Plastic-free tea: accomplished

[Later. Head thwack! I forgot to add the pictures!] Hubby and I were out in the ‘burbs last weekend, near one of my favorite Metro-accessible Persian groceries — Yekta; 1488 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 near Twinbrook station — for canned goods, perhaps some sweet-treat and (fingers crossed) tea not packed with any plastic. And… Continue reading Plastic-free tea: accomplished

Plastic-free sugar

I understand the appeal of organic sugar: sugarcane and sugar beets take chemical fertilizers and pesticides and that’s both harmful and unsustainable. But I don’t understand the moral superiority of the same organic sugar once it’s been packed in plastic and shipped halfway around the globe. And no, sometimes I don’t want to taste the… Continue reading Plastic-free sugar

Stocking stuffer: shoe brushes

Back in September, Hubby and I vacationed in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Seeing a Fuller Brush shop at an outlet mall in Reading, I stopped to see what was offered. There, in addition to two brushes made mostly of plastic, I found these US-made and evidently plastic-free shoe brushes. The small one is for daubing… Continue reading Stocking stuffer: shoe brushes

SD cards with less plastic

Rise Above Plastics already wrote about an SD flash memory card purchase at Costco, but that’s not what I was thinking about yesterday when I walked to Radio Shack to buy a 8gig SD card on sale. But it turns out that SanDisk product also was in less plastic packaging, though without the handy carrying… Continue reading SD cards with less plastic

Reduced-plastic toothbrush

Was at Greater Goods tonight to get a 1.2kg bag of Charlie’s Soap Powder — for laundry, packed in paper; more about that later — when I saw the German-made Fuchs Ekotec toothbrush (online retailer), which claims to be “economical, ecologically correct”. Which is good, since my toothbrush is looking ragged. Is the claim vaild?… Continue reading Reduced-plastic toothbrush