What Do We Have Against Aluminum?

"Aluminum has finally been foiled." Why, exactly? Oh - that's right, because we came up with something even more convenient.

I realize the process of getting aluminum from the planet isn't like being licked by puppies, but the stuff is endlessly recyclable, back into the same stuff it started out as. Aluminum. Or, if you are British, aluminium. Which I find a pretty cool way to say it. But anyway. Up til now, if you needed a quick baking pan or something to bring to someone else's place, you bought an inexpensive aluminum pan that pretty much had just a few uses in it, if you were careful. No worries when it was no longer able to go on... or you put the knife through it... it went in the recycling bin, no questions, no second thought. I personally take my food to other places in my Pyrex. I'm not terribly worried about not getting it back, you know? But anyway.

Chinet doesn't think that is good enough. Nope, they saw a market and went for it. They have new disposable non-stick attractive bakeware. Freezer to microwave. Resealable lid. OK to leave behind. $4.95 is not a bad price point, I suppose, for something you are only going to use once, right? And it's made from 90% recycled materials.

I.... have questions.

There is an instructional .pdf. Cool. This will tell me more. Uh... no, now I just have more questions.

90% recycled material. Recycled WHAT? I'm getting that it's a paper sort of product. I guess. I think. Recycled from where? It never actually says WHAT it is. And it's non-stick? How? With what? What makes it non-stick? Is it plastic? Dupont? What? It doesn't say anywhere. It has a lid. Made from what? Oh - plastic. Is it recyclable? Doesn't say. All it says is you'd better not put the lid on when food is hot or warm, it can deform. Hm... not a very effective lid. Chinet Bakeware is great to go to the freezer, but not with its own lid. You need something else. (Like, aluminum foil, maybe?) And don't reheat anything in it with the lid on it. Lid can deform. (I'm getting a little dizzy at this point.) You cannot reuse the pan at all. You cannot wash the pan. (It will deform. I'm seeing a trend here. oh - SORRY - "distort and weaken.") You can't broil in it or go above 400 degrees. You can't use it in anything but a regular or microwave oven... not a toaster oven, not around a grill, not around portable cooking devices.

(Who besides me is reading all this handy information before using???)

"Sturdy and dependable." Yeah - once. Even a one-night stand is sturdy and dependable ONCE. Usually.

I guess I'm just failing to see the point here, except that we have a product that is destined for the landfill. It cannot be recycled again, the plastic lid is apparently completely useless except for a tiny portion of its life, which you may as well use FOIL at that point... That's it. If I go anywhere pot-luckish or picnicky, and someone has brought one of these, I really will not be able to NOT slap them. There. Everyone has been warned. Thanks, Chinet! You found yet one more way to bring even more garbage to picnics and life in general! Impressive!

And Another Thing...

...that we can easily do without, that is, replace with something reusable that we all used to use.... Another great gift, that'll make them think of you every time they use it! I wasn't planning on a gift guide this year. It just so happens that a lot of these thing I am mentioning right now happen to make awesome presents!

PENS! How many pens do you go through in a year? How many do you lose in a year? Can't even think of the number? I save pens forever, but then when I go to use them after some time, they are dead. I LOVE pens, I love calligraphy, I like writing by hand. What's as cool as a beautiful fountain pen? It's a lost art. Why? Because we can't be bothered with ink anymore? Because... why because? Ink is too messy? Not really. Why is this worth the millions of pens that wash up from the ocean?

Washed ashore in Australia

I'm trying to make sense of all this "progress." Help me out here. How are we better off using plastic cheap throw-away-but-never-really-away pens? It's the little things. Because little things add up to and contribute to big things. Attitudes, even. When the littlest things are insignificantly disposable, it just goes right up the chain. If we have to care for and maintain the littler things, maybe bigger things mean more too. Does that make sense? When we have to stop and THINK... when convenience doesn't rule our lives... maybe.


I've said it before, I'll say it again. We need to value things more. So maybe the gift of a really decent pen that has a refillable life, rather than a throw-away destiny, is a really cool thing. I'm looking around at my "stuff"... especially as we prepare to move, and I thinking about what I can replace with something other than plastic. It's really not hard at all. I went somewhere the other day where I knew I would need a pen. I brought 3. ALL of them failed. Next time I am in the market for a pen, I will get one I can refill instead of replace. Same with my razor. My hangers. My kitchen stuff. All of it. If you are already doing that in your world, yay! Now start with these great things for this holiday season. Buy local and replace some things for your friends and family.

Hey, they don't even have to realize what you are doing. You can be all slick and sly about it. It's OK. We'll know.

Seemed Like a Good Idea...

First, we'll tell the good story and give praise. Then, we shall discuss why it's still a bunch of horse-pucky.

"The story of the handle: 1. From plastic hangers. 2. To 100% recycled plastic. 3. To Xtreme3 Eco Handle.

"Schick Xtreme 3 Eco helps keep plastic waste out of the landfill by using 100% recycled plastic in the production of the razor handles. In addition, the package is made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper. It is still the same great shave for your skin, but now better for the environment. Aloe & Vitamin E; Flexible 3 Blades. Great for Your Skin; Better for the Environment; 100% Recycled Handle."

Great, right? Stop for a moment, and think about it. Plastic can only be recycled - actually downcycled - maybe once before nothing more can be done with it. Compare that to metals and glass which can endlessly be recycled into something equal. So, this "recycled" handle is now no longer able to be anything else after this, and so shall end up right where those plastic hangers would be anyway. Is that an improvement, or just a delaying tactic of the same result? Of course it's good if you buy these instead of their other lines with brand new plastic handles... oh... wait... so they are still making their other razor products with "virgin" plastic handles? Why, yes, yes they are. So all that plastic is still getting put out there in the world? Why, yes, yes it is. If they care so much, shouldn't they try to make ALL handles of all their products from plastic hangers? Hmm. Well, THAT would seem like progress. This? This is just a shallow effort to get some greenwashing money to try to make people think they are doing something green and great. 

There's no reason to continually use disposable razors. None. Even if you are using one with the little changeable heads, sure that's plastic, but it's a lot LESS. I have been using the same handle for the better part of a decade, and I use the heads way longer than a few weeks, because they are still good for a lot longer than the manufacturers say they are. Of course they are. Of course they just want you to buy more, more quickly. Not necessary. Someday, I will graduate back to a metal handle and real blades. Someday. 

What's even funnier is that when I was researching Schick and these greenwashed garbages, I came across another wonderful product they have: Xtreme3 with "SCENTED HANDLES." Yes, Hawaiian Tropic scented handles.

Um.... WHY???? Sigh. There is no hope.

Who the @#*&*$^ Serves Pasta on Paper????

Do YOU serve spaghetti on paper plates? I know I don't. Because THAT would be STUPID. 


Dixie Ultra... "No Soak Through." "Look, mom, no mess, Even with extra sauce." You know what else has no soak-through? Real plates. Who sets their mother-flippin' SUPPER table with all paper/disposable products? Here's the thing: I KNOW there are people that do. I will just never ever ever ever ever understand why. Look: there is NO reason for that. At all. Throw any "reason" at me; I will refute it. 


"Set an attractive table with a full line of coordinating products including plates strong enough for even your heaviest, messiest meals, soft and absorbent napkins and fun, festive cups. All available in a variety of counts." They forgot to mention the plastic forks and spoons and knives. How is a table full of land-fill-fodder an attractive table? Because it has pretty colors on the plates and napkins? 

Can we just get back to Sense? I know it's asking a lot, but really, it is time. Can we get out of this mentality that disposable is OK, because it is not. It is not necessary, it is not OK, it is merely a little convenient, and where has that gotten us? Can we wake up? Will we? Ever? Before it's too late?

This is about more than the stupid enduring paper plates. This is about attitudes toward the world and toward life in general. It's about what we teach our kids. Values. Respect. Respect for the Earth, respect for each other. THAT is sorely lacking in today's society. Is it because we have becomes more concerned about ease and convenience than with actual concern for our surroundings? 

With this pervading attitude, PEOPLE have become disposable. We should all be very, very concerned about that. And we should look around. And we should SEE for a change.  

Eh, Not Convinced

I must really be a tough sell. I'm just not convinced.

A great wonderful cool Green Festival was last weekend at the LA Convention Center. Similar festivals and expos have failed, but this one was VERY good. I chose to focus on the good booths and try to ignore the greenwashing, which, thankfully, was not in abundance. A little product did catch my eye, though. Biodegradable wet wipes. Um, OK. I'll look.

Well, let's get past the plastic packaging and the little plastic container that is somehow necessary to use this product. Let me give it a try. It's a little pellet of dried "natural fiber"... a little dried thing of what she said was rayon. Yeah, I'll get back to that. she puts a few drops of water on it and POOF it's a wet wipe. Normally I am charmed by these things. I find them slightly magical. (What can I say, I am easily amused) OK. Great... I have a wipe. Great... it's biodegradable. Now what? I'm sure this is a great thing, they say it's superior because regular wipes dry out and go to waste and these start out dry.... so... Um... Yay?  Am I excited now? Do Harold Angels sing when we make these wet? No?

Yeah, not convinced. Let's re-visit that rayon thing. Rayon is "natural", sure, but are you aware of the chemicals that are involved in getting rayon fiber but it's a lot. Rayon is from cellulose, and it is a buttload of nasty stuff that it takes to make that cellulose into nice fabric. I used to love it til I knew. So unless they are making these from leftover rayon scraps and threads... yeah, no, I can't even sell myself on that one. Rayon = Not So Eco. Make them out of something else and ditch all that horrible packaging, and I MIGHT be halfway convinced that this is a valid product.

In the meantime, I surely can do without. I know, no kids, when you have kids, you NEED wet wipes. Uh huh. Go ahead with that. It's all fine. Nothing to see here. I just fail to see what is so "green" about this product. To me, it's just another piece of plastic noise that we don't need.

Nothing's Fine, I'm Torn

Here's one of those times when I get all mixed up. A seemingly good thing that is really actually bad? Or what I think is a bad thing that really is good? I'm really confused. Perhaps it is that I have lost perspective. Maybe I never had any. Maybe my brain just isn't wired right.

Flipping through a magazine (I KNOW, there I go again. I was on a plane. Gimme a break. I couldn't focus on my book.), I came across a fantastic product: disposable cloth napkins! ??? Good! Wait, what? These are rolls of tear-off cotton napkins. You know, for when you want to be elegant. Sophisticated. "Less pricey than linens" they say. They last for at least 6 wash cycles, they say. You can use them once, or wash them to use them again. They say they are natural, biodegradable and recyclable for other uses. Maybe, like, cleaning cloths, I suppose? That's good, right? Cotton good... so long as it is organic cotton... But I can't tell if it is... I don't think so, or they would say so... So... um... Let's look at them: they come 15-20 to a roll, and they run $25-36/roll. How much are linen napkins? See, I don't even know because making them ourselves is so very easy.

I GUESS these are an OK alternative to paper napkins? You know, no, I can't even get that to ring true as I type it. I think, in the end, I find these unnecessary. Yes. That's it. It could be argued that they are better than paper and on the right track, but I just can't buy into the idea. They are pricey to me. They might seem too easy to throw away... cloth napkins are so easy to have and use and wash and keep that I just can't wrap my head around buying them to use them 1-6 times.

Torn, but definitely learning towards NOPE.

Bed, Bath, & Beyond Wastefulness

My first in a series of naming names and calling these peeps out.

The New Ad came in the mail today, and I, like many, eagerly grab it to flip through it. I love ads and circulars. They're pretty. They're full of Stuff I Must Have. I actually grabbed this flyer out of the recycling bin, exclaiming, "Oooo - Bed Bath & Beyond!"

That's actually kinda funny, because the last time I was IN one of those stores, I was mostly disgusted. It used to smell good in there to me; now it just reeks of overwhelming chemicals. Do I LOVE some of the stuff in there? Hell yeah. But, lately, it seems I cannot leave that store quickly enough. Still... here's the flyer in my hot little hands. Page 4-5: a veritable porn-worthy display of single-serve coffeemakers with single-serve little plastic cups of uselessness. That was a past post. But there they are. Disgusted, but undaunted, I go on. Page 6 forces me into the realization that we really have jumped the shark. Our world is filled useless stupid crap being shoved down our throats. Yeah yeah yeah. I know, I knew that already. But aren't we supposed to be moving the OTHER direction by now? Do we really have to sell plastic cupcake plungers?? Do we NEED to core out cupcakes and fill them with frosting, and do we really really need a plastic piece of crap to do this? I gotta say no. But there they are. Page 8: Touchless hand soap dispenser. You know, because you don't want your hands to get germy BEFORE you wash them by touching the soap dispenser. Oh - wait - hey, there's a nice product... monogrammed napkins. Yes! Now that's more like it! Ohhh... but then, boo. 30 Piece Value Pack of Monogram Paper Guest Towels. They aren't even calling them napkins. They are towels. You know, disposable. Because, by all means, let us make having guests over as CONVENIENT as possible, instead of a nice event to be celebrated.

Am I saying BB&B is an evil empire? Of course not. Is it their fault for offering this stuff? A little, but the onus is really on US to STOP BUYING IT.

I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday season than to vow to stop buying senseless throw-away crap. Pass it on.

Next time: why I avoid Trader Joe's like the plague. Yes, Trader Joe's.

Why Don't We?

In thinking about the things we use that are disposable, and the things we use that have perfectly good non-throw-away alternatives, I am forced to ask, "Why don't we use those alternatives?"

Are we just used to the disposable lifestyle? If that's the case, can't we re-accustom ourselves to the alternative? Being the Good Green Witch, I am naturally exposed to many other people who embrace a green, sustainable lifestyle. Are they "better" people? Are they more crafty, more organized, have more time than anyone else? No, I don't think so. Do they care or think a little more? Maybe... but I like to think more people care than do not.

I don't have the answers. I'm just feeling my own way around out here. If I had all the answers, I'm sure I would disappear from the face of the Earth. So when I ask, "Why don't we?", I got nuthin'. I know, I know for sure in my heart I just know that we CAN. But we don't. We need to.

We CAN stop using plastic utensils. That's easy. Even if one finds one cannot avoid them altogether, cutting back is REALLY easy. One just has to put one's mind to it. (Aye, there's the rub?) And paper napkins. Surely, this one is just a matter of convenience. Cloth napkins are so much better. I can't even stand the bleach-chemical smell of some paper napkins anymore. Cloth napkins don't have to be fancy and don't have to be for special use and are very easy to have around. Same thing with hankies. We adjusted VERY quickly to hankies in our home. Now we don't even dream of using a Kleenex. I carry a hankie in my purse, which will nicely double as a napkin if I am caught in a napkin-pinch situation. (Use your imagination on that one if you wish. I'll wait.)

I truly believe that is is just a simple matter of setting our minds to it and doing it. We're a smart group. We can do this. We can form new habits and end bad ones. I know we can.

We have to.

Good Rule of Thumb: if "disposable" is in the name....

DON'T use it!!!

There are obvious exceptions that we can't avoid. But we're intelligent people, and I'll not dwell on those things. I'm talking more things that we use for the supposed convenience, when really, the non-throw-away alternative is not so terribly un-convenient. There are things that are made to be disposable, but when you have a non-disposable alternative, why not use that instead?

The main things that come to mind are disposable razors. Why use these? Because they are cheap? I know razor refills are pricey, but if you break it down, they last a lot longer than the cheap-o plastic things. I'm Italian, therefore I am hairy, and Italian hair ain't no fuzzy soft downy stuff. It's resistant. But I can make that razor head last a LONG time with no major blood-lets. And I use coupons and I stock up when they are on sale. Heck, you can buy them on eBay at a reduced price. Disposable razors are a very big waste of plastic, and they are not needed. Stick to the much much smaller bit of waste in the razors with replaceable heads. 

Forks, knives, spoons? Easy to avoid. ESPECIALLY in the home. For outdoor activities, get bamboo utensils or hit the thrift store and get a set you won't care about if any gets lost. I can't quite recommend the compostable ones, unless you are a really good composter. They resemble plastic too much and they get in the recycling, and we're not good at dealing with that yet. Better to reuse a set from the thrift store, for sure. Those were already made!

Paper napkins? Cloth instead. Kleenex? Hankies instead. Paper towels? Real towels and rags instead. Paper plates? Covered that last time. Dixie cups in the bathroom? Unnecessary. Wash a reusable one. Plastic wrap? Foil instead. Or containers. 

There are SO many ways we can save resources. Easing away (or going cold turkey) on disposable stuff would be such a giant help... let's try it. Let's all work on consuming less of everything. We'll be healthier, and the planet will be healthier, and that will make us healthier... it's a perfect circle.

"Disposable" just means YOU don't see it anymore.

"Disposable: Made to be thrown out ofter use." Let's think about all the things we throw out. We have disposable razors. We used to have disposable cameras before digital came around. There are disposable forks spoons knives plates, napkins, etc. Some people think cell phones are disposable. And there's the big one that I hate: disposable diapers.

When something is "disposable", that doesn't mean that once you are done with it, it goes into magic garbage land far far away on another planet in another universe. It goes into the landfill over in the next county, or the next state, or the next country; and it especially goes into the ocean. ( http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/) This is not OK. It's not OK for the planet and it's really not OK for your kids and their kids. Sure, when you throw that diaper out, it's gone from your mind, your home, your life. Right? Wrong. That little plastic poopie-bomb will be around for the next 3 or so generations of your family. At least. Nice legacy to leave for them.

Do we really NEED disposable things? Razors: nope. The replaceable heads on a non-disposable razor not only work better, they last longer and mean much less waste. Remember, waste doesn't just happen when you throw it away; there is the waste of producing the products in the first place. There's a whole lot goin' on there. Plates and utensils? Nope. These are next-to-never necessary. (Ever?) Some would argue that the water needed to clean regular plates etc. makes up for the waste caused by throwing the paper or Styrofoam plates and plastic sporks away. Nope. There is much more water used in the production of these products that we use washing the real stuff. Do you want to argue convenience at a picnic or time saved because you are too busy to wash? Nope. Not worth the price to the planet. Single-use plastic bottles? Covered that one in a previous blog! And as for the big one: diapers. NOPE. Disposable diapers should be the extreme exception, NOT the rule. Again, the water needed to wash cloth diapers makes up for itself in the water saved by not producing plastic diapers. Cloth diapers are made so well these days that there is no excuse. The smell, the gross-factor? Guess what: you had a baby. Babies poop. Babies smell bad sometimes. Babies need changing. You knew this when you signed on to have one. If you don't want to deal with the mess, you shouldn't have HAD a baby. Babies are messy. Deal with it. Remember the legacy I mentioned above? Is that really why you had a child -- so they would have to deal with the after-effects of YOUR wasteful ways? I hope we can say, "Of course not!" Do we want to leave them a nice clean healthy planet, or one where the Oceans are full of plastic and the landfills are taking over and cancer is everywhere because of what we've done to the planet?

Guess what: that's what's happening now. We have to change. We have to quit being so disposable. Because "disposable" doesn't mean it goes away forever. It just means it goes away from YOU.