Bottled water costs more, isn't any safer than our tap water, generates pollution in manufacture and transport, and wastes enormous amounts of scarce resources, including oil and water itself.

Support campaigns against bottled water, stand up for the safety of our fresh water resources and public drinking water systems, and tell others why you won't buy bottled water!

Here are a few links to resources and sites where you can find bottled water facts, as well as information about campaigns to support and actions to take on this issue:

• Back the Tap, the coalition that organizes Bottled Water Free Day.
• Inside the Bottle, a campaign organized by the Polaris Institute.
• The Toxic Footprint of PET-bottled Water in British Columbia, a 2009 report by Toxic Free Canada.
• Ban the Bottle, a US-based organization, whose website has lots of information and links to up-to-date articles and campaign information.
• The Story of Bottled Water, a great documentary by the Story of Stuff's Annie Leonard.
• Blue Gold: World Water Wars, a book and a film.
• Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Rethink What You Drink, a health article from Reader's Digest.

Polystyrene coffee cup lid, or hazardous waste?

The authors point out that currently most nations inappropriately treat plastics as inert solid waste. A starting point, they suggest, would be to regulate the four most worrying types of plastic -- PVC, polystyrene, polyurethane, and polycarbonate. All of these are commonly used in objects ranging from baby bottles, to take-out food containers, to plastic furniture and electronics. These scientists predict that defining these as hazardous would trigger changes in disposal practices as well as research on safer plastics.

There are varied reactions to this suggestion, of course. The American Chemistry Council has issued a statement sympathizing with the problem of what they euphemisically describe as "marine litter" but calling the suggestions "neither justified nor helpful." And, not surprisingly, staff writer Don Loepp of Plastics News writes that the suggestion is "extreme and unreasonable."

You can buy the article online from Nature, or read about it here (LA Times) and here (BBC), to form your own opinion. Could this proposal offer an international rallying point for no-plastic crusaders?

The answers were disheartening. An overwhelming number of people said they often littered. Others said they wouldn’t bother looking for a public garbage can if one wasn’t immediately available. Many said that picking up litter wasn’t their responsibility because the city paid people to clean up the streets. Some said, sure, they drop their garbage on occasion, but they just didn’t worry about it. 

The first thing that struck me was the disconnect between actions and consequences. The second thing was the silence on the real issue of littering. The CBC programmers were focused entirely on the aesthetic effects of littering – how the garbage in our streets made the city unpleasant to look at and to live in. No one mentioned the global repercussions of local littering – the plastic demise of our lakes and oceans.

The fact is that the litter in our streets washes into the gutters, into our sewer systems, our rivers, and eventually into the ocean. The plastic pollution swirling around in the oceans’ great garbage patches doesn’t just come from third-world garbage scows. It is mostly coming from us — all of our little pieces of plastic crap, a bottle cap here, a plastic straw there, a bit on every corner, adding up to the tons of plastic litter washed into our oceans every day.

The first time I really looked at one of Chris Jordan’s famous photos of an albatross carcass, I was struck by the banal familiarity of the many pieces of plastic garbage that had killed the bird: disposable forks, toothbrushes, plastic bag clasps, and especially the endless mounds of plastic bottle caps of every colour and size. 

These small things surround us everyday. We look at them in the gutter and don’t see them at all. But when we look at them in the gullet of a dead bird – of tens of thousands of dead birds —  we suddenly realize their weight on the earth. That bottle cap could be mine, I think, from back when I chugged down plastic bottled drinks without thinking about it.

So here is what I wanted to tell all the people being interviewed that day on CBC: 

Albatross photo by Chris Jordan, Midway: A Message from the Gyre, www.chrisjordan.com

The university-based researchers who conducted the study describe it as "exploratory" -- and, not surprisingly -- chemical industry spokespeople have questioned the findings. However, the evidence reported by the researchers is consistent with previous research carried out in France, Mexico, and the USA.

You can read the study itself on-line in the journal Environmental Health. It has been widely reported internationally and here in Canada. Check here for stories from The Toronto Star and CBC. Some of the implications for women workers' rights in the automotive plastics industry are explored here.

Cotton string, old curtains, and painted patio stones -- No disposable plastic in sight!

 Hallowe’en is one of my favourite celebrations, with the parade of excited, costume-clad kids traipsing through the neighbourhood in search of treats, and the festive, community feeling that comes of people being out on the streets at night in the spooky jack o’ lantern glow.

But when the party's over, that mountain of loot the kids bring home just looks like a lot of plastic garbage. At best, it's headed to the landfill. At worst, it will enter our soil, wildlife, and waterways via the carpet of plastic candy wrappers littering our streets every year in the few weeks after Hallowe’en.

Here at the No Plastic Project, we follow the suggestions offered by the Plastic Pollution Coalition for reducing our Hallowe’en plastic pollution impact. We’ve added a few of our own ideas, too.

• Hand out mini boxed or paper-wrapped candy, available in bulk stores and elsewhere, instead of plastic- wrapped candies. Remember that chocolate bar wrappers, mini chip bags, and other treat wrappers that look like foil are actually plastic.

• Avoid treats that are or contain plastic, like ring pops or plastic novelty items.
• Give out handfuls of individual treats instead of double-packaging in plastic treat bags—that’s just adding insult to injury!
• Consider giving out fewer treats. One or two per house is probably enough, especially if they’re nice ones!
• Avoid plastic masks and costumes and go for DIY, hand-me-downs, trades with friends, and cloth costumes.
• Avoid plastic decorations. Nothing beats the traditional, fully biodegradable jack o’ lantern. Or try string (not plastic fibre!) spider webs, scarecrows, sheet ghosts, paper silhouettes, and more.

It’s tempting to say: “Give it a rest folks,
 it’s Hallowe’en! Let the kids have some fun.” But the kids are going to be living with today’s plastic pollution long after we’re gone. Why not show them that having fun doesn’t have to involve harm to our environment?

As the PPC reminds us, “Plastic is forever,” creating toxic pollution 
in its manufacture, use, 
and disposal. And the main source of plastic pollution is disposable, single-use plastic—including seemingly innocent things like candy wrappers, plastic decorations, treat bags, straws, and plastic costume parts.

That’s truly scary! So let’s aim for a happy, plastic-free Hallowe’en.

(Being good environmentalists, we've reused portions of our previous posts and a community newspaper article we recently wrote to produce this largely recycled post with a reduced expenditure of time and effort. So if you thought it sounded eerily familiar, you were right.)

Here at the No Plastic Project, "litterless lunch" doesn't just mean no litter at school; it means lunches that involve little or no plastic waste at all, because plastic creates permanent toxic pollution. And it's not that hard to avoid it in school lunches, despite the ever more ridiculous variety of single-serve items marketed to harried parents. (If you don't believe me, look at this crazy idea! Who would have thought they could sell anyone that?)

Going no-plastic is generally cheaper and healthier, too. (See wastefreelunches.org for some ideas and a cost breakdown.)

First, you need a reusable lunchbag or box. Our kids have bags made out of recycled plastic water bottles, purchased two years ago at Ready, Set, Go in the Glebe. But there are plenty of other sturdy options. I emphasize "sturdy" because our old lunchbags never lasted much more than a year, and that's obviously not environmentally friendly.

Next, you need resusable containers, preferably not plastic. Most of our old plastic food containers now hold craft materials, game pieces, pencils, etc., and for lunches, we mainly use stainless steel.

We have three favourites: one is a double-decker that fits a sandwich, crackers, savoury pie, or other main dish on the bottom, and fresh veggies or a dessert on top. We also use a lot of small, round stainless steel containers with clip-on, sealed tops, perfect for applesauce, pudding, fruit slices, veggies, cookies, muffins, pretzels, sunflower seeds, and other small snacks. We use larger ones for other items. Finally, we use insulated containers for things like soup, chili, or yoghurt. I have yet to find any that use no plastic at all, but the Lunchbots containers I bought this year at Ready, Set, Go have no plastic touching the food because the inside of the lids are made of stainless steel (unlike the Thermos and other brands which have plastic inside the lid).

These containers are readily available now in many stores. You can get them, for instance, at Ready, Set, Go or Arbor in the Glebe or on-line from vendors such as lifewithoutplastic.com or noplastic.ca (no connection to us).

I also pack a cloth napkin and a stainless steel spoon or fork when needed, and sometimes a water bottle.

What goes into the lunches themselves? The real issue is what doesn't go in: no single-serve, individually-packaged products! (See our tips for grocery shopping for more ideas.) Most of that packaging can't be recycled, and recycling is not the answer to the plastic pollution problem anyway. I'll say it again: recycling is not a sustainable solution! (Here's a link we've posted before that helps explain why.)

Instead of single-serve mini yoghurts, or mini applesauce, fruit, or pudding cups, buy these items in glass jars or large containers with as little plastic packaging as possible and put them into individual containers yourself. Or put sliced fruit straight into a container. My kids love chopped apple with yoghurt and granola in their lunches.

Instead of single-serve cheese and cracker packages, granola bars, individually-wrapped cookies, etc., make your own or buy in bulk (trying to avoid disposable packaging), and send servings in your own reusable cloth wrappers (available in many stores and on-line) or containers. My kids love homemade pita, bread, or crackers with hummus, which I make or buy in bulk in my own container at Cedars on Bank Street.

Instead of juice boxes or single-serve plastic drink bottles, serve from a large container of juice  into a reusable bottle, or send water in a stainless steel water bottle. My kids mainly just drink from the school water fountains. (See this resource if you have ever been tempted by plastic-bottled water.)

Instead of candy bars, mini bags of chips, trail mix, raisins, etc., make treats, or buy snacks in bulk, or chocolate bars in paper wrap to be divided into your own individual serving containers. Pretzels, purchased in bulk in my own bags in bulk from Kardish or The Natural Food Pantry are a lunch mainstay in our family, and I've even been known to send a handful of chocolate chips (also a bulk buy) as a surprise.

Instead of instant noodles, soups or other ready-serve items, heat and send dinner leftovers in a thermos. Two of my kids much prefer soups, chili, pasta, stir fry, and other entrées over sandwiches for lunch.

There are lots of ways to help make no-plastic lunches easier on busy mornings. We bake cookies, squares, loaves, and other treats on weekends, and divvy them up into individual containers for lunches. I usually make a lot at a time and put some in the freezer to keep them fresh longer. I also often make double recipes of dinner to have extra on hand for lunches the next day. Having clementines or apples on hand during the winter is a great time-saver, since you don't have to do anything with them except throw them in the lunchbox.

Making no-plastic lunches may take a little longer than using pre-packaged single-serve items. But not much longer. And considering the financial and environmental savings, and the fact that it usually means a healthier lunch, I think it's well worth it.

Bridgehead is now selling their coffee beans pre-packaged in disposable plastic bags, with no option to buy beans in bulk by re-using their (previous) compostable paper bags.

The feeling of disappointment and betrayal that swept over me at this news was reminiscent of my response in the early 2000s when we learned that SIGG had been lying to customers about the BPA in their water bottle lining. If we can't trust a company like Bridgehead — which is rooted in a promise to base its business on sustainable practices — to make good environmental decisions, then, quite frankly, we are screwed. 

But when I wrote to Bridgehead to voice my concern, they responded very quickly, and it became clear that they had put some thought into the decision: 

"...the fact is we have actually cut the number of bags we’re using in half by packaging at our Roastery. Coffee used to come from our Roaster in Montreal in 5lb sealed plastic bags and as you’ve probably seen in shops, we then would open the bags and put them in the Tupperware bins behind the counter. Now it’s going straight from the Roaster to the bags. We’ve gone from using 1 plastic bag and also one of the kraft brown bags for every order that a customer makes, to just one of the small plastic bags so it may not seem like it, but we’ve actually reduced our waste per package."

The problem here is that we don't agree on the environmental weight of the factors in the equation (i.e., they calculate that plastic bags are equal to compostable paper bags in terms of negative environmental impact, whereas I clearly see the long term environmental and health effects of plastic as worse).

Furthermore, the brown bags were in fact re-usable: ideally, everyone could refill their paper bags with coffee beans over and over and over. What Bridgehead has done is simply replace one 5 lb plastic bulk bag with seven 12 oz individual non-recyclable plastic bags — clearly way more plastic garbage. 

The only way to reduce packaging — ALL packaging, paper or plastic — is to allow the customer to buy in bulk, re-using containers. I would love to see Bridgehead find a way to continue to offer its customers this option.

Unfortunately, on a personal level, it all still boils down to the fact that I have taken a pledge to avoid buying plastic packaging whenever possible. And since I can still find places that will sell me fair trade coffee in bulk in a paper bag, then I can no longer buy my coffee from Bridgehead — as sad as this makes me.

The hot weather has hit, and it is time for icy cold treats to cool you down. But along with the treats comes all of that plastic packaging! Already, the neighbourhood gutters are strewn with freezie and popsicle wraps, cold drink cups and lids, etc., etc.

We've discovered a homemade solution: Delicious juice popsicles made in a stainless steel popsicle mold with reusable bamboo sticks.

Made by Onyx, this mold means you can happily say no to individually wrapped treats without sacrifice.

Of course, any freezer popsicle tray will do this, and these are all almost always made of plastic. But the stainless steel option solves the problem of using plastic molds in the freezer and risking the migration of chemical additives into your icy treats (see the article in a journal published by the National Insitute of Environmental Health Sciences: "Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals"). It sits very nicely next to my stainless steel ice cube tray.

So sit back and enjoy the heat.

Plastic bags aren't the only plastic pollution problem, but they're a good place to start because they're so darn easy to do without! And let's add "plastic bag bans" to the list of solutions.

(You can find the original of this graphic at the ArteIdeas blog. Despite their instructions, I could not figure out how to "embed" the image here so that you'd get the original quality.)