REBLOG- Penn and Teller BULLSHIT!

From October 28, 2009- I uploaded a you tube video from Penn & Teller's BULLSHIT Series on bottled water and hoe the major bottling companies are fleecing us...Caution- The word Bullshit as well as the F-bomb appear throughout this video, so if you are offended by those, you have been warned!
 

Think bottled water is bottled at the sources like Alaska or Yosemite? Well Penn & Teller take their show "Bullshit" to the level of the Bottled water- showing how bottled water is just a Madison Avenue gimmick.
I understand that there is a need for bottled water, people traveling through the desert- maybe. Of course If I am going through a desert on a horse with no name I choose to take a water jug, but that's just me and how I roll.
Bottled Water?- pretty much it's all BULLSHIT!

Fake Plastic Fish has a great interview with Jackson Browne and some great links to you tube on Bottled water

Living Plastic Free

My "Fake plastic fish" friend, AKA Beth Terry wrote a book. About Plastic Free living. (three guesses on the topic, and the first two are wrong). And while I am big believer in Re-Using and Reduction, I would gladly give it up for a plastic free world. Besides it is too hard to find re-uses for all that plastic junk! Look for it here or at Amazon (yes it is available for Kindle)

The Majestic Plastic Bag

A tongue in cheek "Mockumentary", this one is for my friend Beth Terry AKA Fake plastic Fish AKA
My Plastic Free Life, Narrated by Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons, this "mockumentary" video, hammers home the stark reality of California's plastic bag pollution situation.

Cheese in a Can!

Cheese in a can. No- I am not talking about spray cheese (one of my guilty pleasures). But I digress:
Beth, aka Fake Plastic Fish over at my Plastic Free Life, was blogging about plastic free cheese, or rather Cheese storage. I thought about Cougar Cheese. What is cougar cheese? It is cheese made at the Washington State University Creamery. WSU, being an "Agricultural College" in our state operates a creamery. And they sell the cheese. I cannot say the cougar gold or the cheddar are favorites of mine, but almost everyone I know raves about them. I am going to try the "Natural Viking", a jack type cheese. I just hope it doesn't hurt my U of W sensibilities. Big talk- considering I attended Highline Community College, or as we call it "Midway U".
one other cool thing- since it is canned, makes it a great choice for those pesky emergency food supply kits... doesn't need refrigeration to store for a period of time.
Anyway, yes I know that cans are lined with a thin film of plastic. But considering I will keep the can and turn it into a bank for more cheese, I am not worried. Just don't tell Beth!

Swiss Chard, Kindle Covers and Freezing My Buns- the Weekly Challenge Update

Sharon's Independence Days Challenge Year 3, week41
1. Plant something: Started some Chard indoors
2. Harvest something: some greens from the green house
3. Preserve something: nope
4. Waste Not: Repaired my garden shears for another season of use, oiled my garden weasel as well; Replaced the old worn out draw string form my sweat pants with some elastic. I bought these sweat pants from the thrift store and 3 years later still wearing them for pj's. L.L. Bean makes good stuff!
5: Want not: Made a Kindle cover for my kindle using a small canvass bag, and another for a gift.
6. Preparation and Storage: Still working on shed between rain drops
7. Build Community Food Systems: Helped out TEDx and Beth Terry by using my blog to broadcast the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Seminar. Not really a Building community food systems thing, but without clean water there is no food, right?
8. Eat the food (cook something new): Mesclun greens on a sandwich

Growing Challenge Extreme Evangelist Edition- I started some Swiss Chard Indoors, and I harvested some mesclun greens from the green house

Freeze Your Buns Challenge- first week has gone pretty good- thanks to some warmer temps earlier in the week.

TEDX Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Beth @ Fake Plastic Fish ask to take over my blog for a day... who am I to say no? When one of my Eco Diva's ask I will oblige. The topic is TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch WatchParty... so sit back and enjoy the videos and the live stream!

tedxgp2 on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Plastic Free Catsup and DIY Pancake Syrup

About a year ago (or a year ago in January) Beth at Fake Plastic Fish and I got into a little food smackdown... rather she made her own some homemade Spicy German Mustard and I made some home made (okay... semi home-made) Catsup. Then she complained that I used canned tomato paste. "BPA! BPA! in the lining of the tomato paste can"She cried. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Then I found her a recipe for making homemade tomato paste. Was she happy??? I think not. Well now she can't complain, because I found a whole butt load of catsup recipes that are made simply from tomatoes, no canned or packaged products. Well almost. Spices are still packaged last I checked of course you can buy them in bulk. Happy now Beth??? I should think so!

Homemade Catsup Recipe one from Cooks.com

Homemade Catsup Recipe two from Cooks Advice

Homemade Catsup Recipe three ( and other condiments) From Associated Content

And even though the Farmers Daughter wouldn't approve, with all those maple trees and sugar shacks between her and her husbands families, Here is a recipe/video for making your own pancake syrup. My mom used to do this, (ooooh the Mapleine) You know me...I have never been one not to grab on to someones shirt tails - or in this case apron strings- except I have to make room as Connie from SmockityFrocks.com apparentely already has kids buggin' her while she is cooking!And she is nice enough to show how to save a little money making your own pancake syrup. Take a look at it and see if you found as much humor in it as I did. Of course, you know I am of a sick and twisted mind!

WTF? Bottled Water- Bullshit!

Think bottled water is bottled at the sources like Alaska or Yosemite? Well Penn & Teller take their show "Bullshit" to the level of the Bottled water- showing how bottled water is just a Madison Avenue gimmick.
I understand that there is a need for bottled water, people traveling through the desert- maybe. Of course If I am going through a desert on a horse with no name I choose to take a water jug, but that's just me and how I roll.
Bottled Water?- pretty much it's all BULLSHIT!

Fake Plastic Fish has a great interview with Jackson Browne and some great links to you tube on Bottled water

Confessions of a plastic user

My name is Rob, and I am a plasti-holic. I recently did FPF's Plastic Gauntlet challenge,
and feel I failed miserably. I am no Fake Plastic Fish.
So here I am trying to write a post on responsible re-use of plastic waste. Some
of these are easy- I almost always have "Muggsly" (what? You don't name
your coffee mug?) in hand so coffee is not a problem- no paper cups with
plastic lids for me! I re-use plastic pop bottles for upside down
planters, and for bel cloches to protect plants from the cold. I have
started saving dog food cans- Yes they have BPA in their plastic
linings- I freeze water in them to make luminarias. I save ziplock bags and
wash them out (not as gross as it sounds) when I wash dishes in the
dishwasher. Just turn them inside out and stick them in- this was handy
when I was feeding Romeo natural pet food stew from the pet food pantry.
But I have since quit doing that since they won't come up with a
reasonable way to allow customers to bring in their own containers. That
and the last few times I was there they were out of the ziplock bags and
I just don't do deli plastic clamshells. So I returned to canned dog
food. I still make Romeo's ice cream treats, which he loves. And there
is plastic involved with that as well- I use plastic ice trays, which
make cylindrical shaped ice cubes, and I store them in a ziplock- one of
Romi's old dog food ones as a matter of fact.
I have quit feeling guilty about plastic vegetable bags so much as I
reuse them over and over, until they finally come to the end of their
life as Romeo's poop bags. I know not perfect but better. I reuse breads
bags over and over again as bags to put produce in, store things in,
etc. etc. They end their life in the same way as the produce bags.
Of course it wouldn't bother me if no bags were involved with buying
produce- Sometimes I get away with it- for examples when at Trader
Joe's, that bastion of plastic wrapping, I buy organic bananas or
potatoes singular. That way no plastic bag gets involved- and their
checkers are more than happy to just place them in the bag! Nothing
makes me angrier than a checker assumes I forgot the plastic wrap and
puts the item in a plastic bag for me! BTW anyone notice the plastic is gone from the
tips of the organic bananas at Trader Joe's?
I know there is room for improvement; I do recycle all my #1 AND #2 pete
containers. #5 would be nice if we had a Whole Foods store in the area
that 1- Was local and 2- Participated in the Preserve "Gimme Five"
program. But it doesn't appear that will happen soon. I would buy in
bulk but there again no stores in the area to do that- except for the
local health food store. I would buy milk in glass bottles but the only
store that offered it closed. And I just don't know what's better:
plastic milk jugs or paper-board boxes?
That brings me to pop- I don't drink a great deal of pop- not a Coke
addict. But I prefer bottles over cans. But cans don't bother me much as
they are recyclable. In fact it is cheaper for the soda companies to
make cans from recycled aluminum than new aluminum. Apparently the BPA
in the can is not a problem either. Who the hell knows where it goes? It
would be nice to have one of those new-fangled soda machines that Beth
uses, but I don't drink enough pop to warrant it. Dry Cleaning is not
much of an issue with me since I don't own much that needs dry cleaning.
And most of what I do own is okay to hand wash.
Yes I know recycling and re-using aren't perfect answers- but for now,
they work for me. And so does washing bags, reusing soda bottles,
Re-using dog food and tomato cans for luminarias.
You'll notice I don't mention Plastic shopping bags- I don't use them much. I
use reusable shopping bags or try to make an effort to use them - I do pretty well. Those I do get occasionally usually go back to the store for recycling.
SOME OF THEY WAYS I REUSE PLASTIC:
1- Make bell cloches and planters out of plastic bottles.
2- Make Luminas out of cans and "solig lanterns" out of Crystal Light
containers
3- Save plastic planters to use for next year. OR donate them to
something like Sustainable Burien to pot strawberry plants in them to
give them away! (I had wished they at least used Tully's coffee cups or
something similar but hey I am shy and didn't scream Bloody murder).
4-Sell and buy used- That way no new plastic is made for the item,
including packaging.
5. I do a lot of dehydrating. To keep from using plastic bags (for my
vacuum sealer the bags come on a roll, so even if I used them I only use
what is needed) I us mason jars and my vacuum sealer has an attachment to
vacuum pack the jars. Thanks to Chile for turning me on to the
Mason Jar attachment for my food sealer!
6- Buy products that are sent responsibly- I have bought a number of
products that are sent with packaging in mind- Thanks to Beth, I have
Skoy clothes, which are fantastic and Lunchbots and Tiffens for lunches.
All these products came sent very smart with little or no plastic
involved. The Skoy clothes are fantastic! They dry well and never get
moldy which is one of the things I have against sponges! And the
lunchbots and tiffens are great to they allow me to bring food to work
for lunches with no baggies. Even my lawnmower ( a Nueton Rechargeable)
was sent with impressive packaging- No Styrofoam, minimal use of plastic
bags (for small parts etc- and then they combine the parts in one bag
rather than a bag for each part) In place of styrofoam they used cardboard.
7- Never stop trying new ideas- whether it is something simple as using
toilet paper tubes and six pack holders for starting pots, or making
cloth out of shopping bags. I am open to trying new things.

So what say you? What hints do you have for reducing plastic waste?

I AM fake plastic fish! (minus the trashy photos)

Okay so Beth is asking us to live like her for a week. And put up trashy pictures. Like I would ever pose for a trashy picture- well, there was that one time in college...Hey... I needed the money. Anyway I digress- on her post today, she threw down the gauntlet (and incorporated Soots the cat)for us all to tally our plastic garbage use, and maybe put up a pic or two for posterity- I can do this. I have a sleek black cat (who doesn't nom plastic but hey he noms spaghetti and pizza) Just live plastic free for one week. Just keep thinking W.W.F.P.F.D.? (What would Fake Plastic Fish do?) So I accept Ms. Terry's challenge. Provided I don't have to pose for any trashy photos. I will start Monday so as to get a full week on my weekly challenge post.

UPDATE: As Condo Blues points out, the idea is not to see how little plastic you can do, but rather to see your normal total usage for a week. Got it. Thanks CB!

Introducing Fake Plastic Rob

As accustomed as I am to not having original thoughts shut me up on this blog, today I think I will copy Fake Plastic Fish. Yesterday Beth made wonderful mustard and eliminated one more plastic condiment bottle from her clutches. Today I will make Catsup in an effort to eliminate a plastic bottle from mine!
This recipe is from the All Things Frugal site. I unashamedly stole it. First gather your ingredients:
1 Can Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar



Mix together, cover and refrigerate. (Note the human power mixer I used whereas Beth used an electric blender). *Electric-power consuming Fake Plastique Fish? Fake plastic Fish is really an Electric Eel?

This is how much I got out one batch plus about enough to cover two weenies- Refrigerate and it should keep for a month

The taste of this is very similar to chutney I buy at Trader Joes. Very sweet and good. And while the initial expense of the spices seems far from frugal, I would imagine one could buy them in bulk for a fraction of what I paid. You should also note that keeping in the spirit of FPF, I tried not to buy too many plastic bottle spices- I chose Colman's Dry Mustard (In a tin) and used my Trader Joe's cinnamon (in a glass bottle)- Any way I can now say that i will not buy ketchup in plastic bottles again. Thanks Beth. As far as the frugal goes you use just a small amount of the spices that cost wise it should be good.

*I tease Beth unmercifully in this post. But she is one cool fish, and her campaign against plastic usage is important and sincere. Anything I can do to help reduce plastic waste is always OK by me.

FPF TAKE BACK BRITA CAMPAIGN

Fake Plastic Fish has started a campaign to have Brita take back the used filters. It's appalling that they do this in Europe but not in the US and Canada. Brita US is owned by Clorox. Appalling because they are out their pushing their "Greenworks" line of eco-friendly cleaning products. Sound like a bit more of the corporate America saying how good we are while cutting down the playground swing? Well I say lets go one further...Until Clorox agrees to take back their Brita Filters, I say everyone boycott Clorox products. That would get their attention.

FAKE PLASTIC FISH

I stumbled on this blog Fake Plastic Fish- it is amazing to me some lengths people will go to help the planet- I don't know if I could be as dedicated as Beth on reducing my plastic output, but I sure give her snaps for trying. No Frozen convieniance food? You go girl!