water bottles' evil twins

With all the hype about reusable, non-plastic water bottles, you'd think everyone would be up in arms about juice, sport drink, and other beverages in disposable bottles.

Oddly, it's pretty quiet out there. Is it because you can't get Gatorade from a tap?

beyond the shopping bag

Finally! reusable options for things we toss every day.

Sandwich Bags
snackTAXIs are a great alternative to plastic bags and wraps, especially when just one reusable bag has the potential to eliminate an average of 1000 plastic bags over its lifetime! snackTAXIs are lined with coated nylon, and can be machine washed and dried, or simply wiped clean with a damp sponge.

Chopsticks
bambu's snapstix are made from organic bamboo and they're chopsticks and a chopstick rest all in one snap. Both the snapstix and the rest pop back into the cheerfully designed sleeve for easy storage.

Tampons
Jade & Pearl's 'Sea Pearls' are sea sponge tampons containing no dioxin or synthetic fibers. Sustainably harvested and reusable for three to six months or more, Sea Pearls are economical, easy to use, and earth friendly. We were surprised to learn they've been selling them since 1974!

Cloth Produce Bags
There's nothing funny about a cloth grocery bag filled with plastic bags of produce :> Happily, Blue Skies Yoga carries cloth produce bags made of a unbleached, lightweight cotton that barely weighs on the produce scale.

Plantable Paper
Botanical Paperworks creates beautiful stationary and cards made from 100% post-consumer waste collected from local businesses. The paper is embedded with wildflower seeds, that bloom when planted. Eco and easy!

would you like less trash with that?

To me, stepping lighter means not having to drop out of society, move to a cabin in and grow my hair out. Therefore, I think the possibility of never getting take out food or beverages again is, well, not a possibility.

But what am I to do with the plastic and Styrofoam garbage that's leftover, not to mention the guilt?

Biodegradable and compostable containers. Cutlery and straws that aren't individually wrapped. Condiment dispensers instead of packets. All of these things are available, so why aren't restaurants clamoring to implement them?

Cost, I'm guessing. Maybe availability. So in the spirit of convincing my friend and restaurant owner to go green, I'm committed to finding a solution to this issue. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, the folks over at ecoagents are busy encouraging everyone to adopt the phrase "Eco to Go," the Waste Reduction Store is making cups from corn, and Ecovoyageurs is getting kids to do garbage audits of their homes. Good work people.

baby bottles fly off store shelves

The Globe and Mail reports that the overwhelming demand in BPA-free baby bottles has resulted in shortages across the country, making it difficult for many Canadian parents to get their hands on them.

The mounting public concern over bisphenol A, a potentially harmful and increasingly controversial chemical common in many plastics, has reached a boiling point in Canada after recent tests on Avent, Gerber and Playtex brands showed the chemical can leach from baby bottles and may be harmful to children.

Though distributors like Born Free, Green to Grow and ThinkBaby are filling orders as quickly as they can, the demand has been so high many stores don't expect new stock for several more weeks.

Glass bottles are more readily available, but some parents and child care organizations are wary of using them because of the risk of broken glass.