Plastic-free reusable produce bags are the MUST HAVE way to avoid those flimsy single-use plastic bags you grab when you’re shopping bulk produce aisles.

I’ve updated this post for Plastic-Free July to remind you how great reusable produce bags are and help you find ones that work for you.

Get some and do what I do: keep them with my reusable cloth shopping bags. That way, I’m sure to take them into the store and have them handy when I need to stock up on loose green beans or a half dozen apples. I LOVE not having to use  throwaway plastic bags that are so thin they can’t be used more than once.

We originally partnered with SGM Reusable Mesh Produce Bags to let you know what plastic-free alternatives were readily available. While those are out of stock, here are three other great options so you’ll never need to use ANY plastic bags again.

Organic Cotton Mesh Reusable Produce Bags – These bags come in a set of 3 large bags, 3 small bags, and 4 medium bags. I have a set of 3 medium cotton mesh bags. I use them for everything except bulk beans. I can put them and the produce they carry directly in the fridge, so they’re very convenient. They’ll get a little stretchy if you put heavy food in them, but that doesn’t affect their performance.

Simply Eco Reusable Produce Bags With See-Through Window – This set of 7 bags includes muslin bags for bulk shopping. It also includes mesh bags for produce shopping, and a bag the manufacturer says works like a lettuce keeper in the fridge.

Reusable Produce and Muslin Bags, Plus Bonus Bag – This looks like a good set. It includes three  produce bags and three muslin bags (good for seeds, oats and grains, rice, cereals, etc.). And the large drawstring bag can be used either for bulky items like apples or corn on the cob, or as a grocery bag.

Here’s Why You’ll Love Reusable Produce Bags

⇒ They’re both durable and washable. They can be used over and over and over again, so each bag could probably replace thousands of throwaways. They’ll last pretty much as many times as you go shopping.

⇒ They often come in “value packs” of 12, in three sizes: 3 small, 6 medium and 3 large. Use the small ones for foods like herbs, nuts, and raisins that you buy in bulk. Use the medium sized ones for lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, radishes, onions, carrots, plums, and more. Use the large ones for grapefruit, apples, oranges, bananas, and larger quantities of anything else you need to get. (I personally don’t need more than 8-10. You might need a couple more or less.)

⇒ They’re “Multi-Purpose.” In addition to using them for produce, you can also use them as mini laundry bags when you travel, or to hold kids’ toys, office supplies, and laundry “delicates” (i.e., underwear!).

⇒ They’re cheap. And once you buy them, you don’t need to buy them again.

⇒ You can rinse fruit right in the bag and then put the bag directly in the fridge. They create no extra waste or packaging.

⇒ They’re versatile. Use them in the grocery store but at the farmer’s market, too.

⇒ They’re easy to store. Just place them in one of the reusable tote bags you take to the grocery store.

At least once a day, someone from the Big Green Purse community contacts me asking where she can get reusable produce bags. For a lot of people, getting rid of single-use throwaway plastic produce bags is the last step to truly plastic-free shopping!

We’re happy to link you to these bags and hope you’ll get some straight away. And please share this post and the links on your own social media. The more people use them, the less plastic we’ll be throwing away.

NOTE: Partnerships and affiliate links enable us to bring the expert green living content you want at no expense to you. Our editorial recommendations remain our own. Thanks!

The post Don’t Shop ‘Til You Get These Plastic-Free Reusable Produce Bags appeared first on Big Green Purse.

That’s the idea behind #WeWantRefill, an important new petition drive asking retailers to put plastic container refilling stations in their stores to make it easy for us consumers to use and throwaway less plastic.

WeWantRefill is sponsoring this post. We’re working with them because we support the idea of refilling and reusing plastic containers 100%.

Why Refill?

Fewer than 40% of plastic bottles are recycled. Instead, they get thrown away, where they can break into chunks and little pieces called #microplastic and easily get into our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.

It’s estimated that every square mile of ocean has 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. And no matter what we’ll do, we’ll never get that plastic out of the ocean.

But we don’t need to add to the problem. The key is to prevent plastic waste in the first place. Of course, the most important step you can take is to go plastic-free and use non-plastic packaging as much as possible. But when you do use plastic bottles and jugs, shouldn’t they be refillable?

That’s where We Want Refill comes in. #WeWantRefill is leading a global petition drive to pressure retailers like grocery stores to set up refill stations so it is easy for you and me to refill our plastic jugs an bottles instead of throw them away.

How Does a Refill Station Work?

If you buy food in bulk, you already get this idea. You simply go to the bulk bin and refill either your own container or a bag you can get at the bin. Many traditional grocery stores, food co-ops, and Whole Foods-type stores devote aisles to bins of grains, tea, nuts, dried pasta, cereal, flour, sugar, dried herbs, candy, and more. You simply fill up your container and note the SKU number on a tie or the container so the cashier can charge you the correct price when you check out.

Some retailers also have in-store stations set up when you can squeeze your own orange juice into a bottle, grind your own peanut butter, dispense your own olive oil and honey, and package up your own feta cheese and tofu.

Why not refill shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, laundry detergent, and liquid soap the same way? Here’s how easy it is:

Some retailers offering refill stations already exist. Here’s one in France. It’s called “Day by Day,” and it’s committed to zero waste.

Here’s one in Brooklyn, NY called The Fillery.

Why Do We Need a Petition?

Organizers of the effort say “the whole purpose of the #WeWantRefill campaign is to show retailers and manufacturers that we, the consumer, want change and we’re ready for this technology. Stores will never do this on their own; when we’ve approached them, their answer is that consumers won’t shop this way.”

By signing the WeWantRefill petition, and liking the campaign’s Facebook page, we can show retailers that there is grassroots support for eliminating plastic by being able to refill plastic containers when we shop.

Won’t It Make a Mess?

“The types of technology available makes the mess obsolete,” reports WeWantRefill. “The refill machine recognizes the size of your container and refills it appropriately.” It’s not a hand-pump system, which can be messy, but rather an automated system that makes refilling clean and efficient.

Please Sign The Petition

WeWantRefill is planning to send copies of the petitions to WalMart, Target, and Whole Foods, as well as manufacturers like Pepsi, L’Oreal, and Procter & Gamble to show them there is support for setting up in-store retailers. We’ve signed, and we hope you will too.

And remember: Follow #wewantrefill on Facebook to stay up to date on the latest campaign news.

The post Want to Eliminate Plastic Pollution? Sign the #WeWantRefill Petition. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

In the new animated Disney movie “Finding Dory,” the adorable little blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres accidentally sleep-swims her way out into the open ocean, gets trapped in a plastic six-pack ring, and ends up captured.

Dory turns out ok. Her panicked family eventually finds her, and they go back to swimming through forests of  kelp, over gorgeous coral reefs, and around all kinds of other fish, urchins, octopi, sea otters and more.

But here’s the spoiler alert: The movie is a cartoon, but the oceans it depicts are not, especially when it comes to plastic pollution. In fact, by 2050, Dory’s fate could be far worse than what’s depicted in the film. That’s because:

in less than 35 years, scientists predict that
there will be more plastic in the sea than fish when measured by weight.

All good movies have a hero, and fortunately, our real-life movie about ocean pollution does, too. It’s the Love the Ocean campaign, a joint initiative of the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas Project and DAVIDOFF Cool Water, a fragrance for men whose sales  help protect marine environments across the globe. They’re sponsoring this post so you can pitch in and not just love the oceans, but help save them, too.

Why Bother?

Don’t think the oceans are worth protecting? Here are 6 mind-boggling facts that will change your mind in less time than it takes you to make a tuna fish sandwich.

Stop Trashing the Oceans.

6 Mind-Boggling Reasons Why.

1) 71% of the “earth” is covered by the ocean. The oceans are why the world exists as we know it. No oceans? No us.

2) Over 50% of the oxygen we breathe is produced by our oceans. Don’t like the idea of suffocating? Keep the oceans alive.

3) A shocking 11 billion pounds of plastic waste were dumped into the ocean in 2012 alone. That’s just one year. Now multiply that year after year after year. Mind boggling, right?

4) By the year 2050, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish when measured by weight. Yes, I said this already. I’m repeating it so you will, as well. Because that’s what you need to do with mind-boggling facts. Tell everyone you know so their mind will get boggled, too – right before they take action.

5) 90% of the world’s fisheries are either overexploited or fully fished out. That means that the fish that used to be there pretty much aren’t any more.

6) 47% of edible seafood is wasted each year in the United States alone. It’s like taking that nice piece of grilled salmon on your plate, cutting it in half, and throwing it away. Just. Like. That.

What Can You Do to Save Dory and Stop Trashing the Oceans? Go Plastic-Free.

At the Love the Ocean website, spokesperson and hunky actor/model Scott Eastwood (yes, THAT Eastwood) says, “We can’t ignore the importance of protecting the world’s oceans.”

“As individuals, we have more power to change the world than we think.”

You can watch his short and compelling video right here:

Eastwood also encourages folks like you and me to go plastic-free. Here’s how:

1. Stop using so much plastic, especially plastic bags.
2. Encourage your local government to introduce legislation supporting a plastic bag ban, or ask consumers to pay a small fee to use plastic bags rather than their own reusables.
3. Take the Plastic Free Challenge. Avoid single-use plastic as long as you can – a day, a week, a month, longer? (Beth Terry at My Plastic Free Life can show you exactly how to live very happily without plastic.)
4. Use your social networks. Encourage friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and your community online to kick the plastic habit, too.
5. Join a clean up. DAVIDOFF is organizing beach clean-ups in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany to get people involved. But don’t wait for them to pitch in. Your local environmental organization and coastal protection group probably already has clean-ups in the works. If not, help them get one going.

By the way, make sure you’re eating the right fish, too. Leave the threatened species alone. Purchase only seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as being sustainably maintained. You can see the list of what they recommend here. Or, look for their eco-label when you shop.

The post Finding Dory Will Be Impossible If We Don’t Stop Trashing the Oceans appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Reusable water bottles are superior to single-use, throwaway plastic bottles when it comes to reducing throwaway plastic and saving water.

  It’s estimated that as much as two gallons of water might be wasted for every gallon that’s bottled in a factory, so filling up at home, at work, or on the go is a great way to save this precious resource.

 

Plus, one reusable water bottle can eliminate the need to buy and trash literally hundreds of single-use containers – containers that actually never really biodegrade.

 

The post 5 Best Reusable Water Bottles appeared first on Big Green Purse.

But let’s back up a minute, to the original question. How much money do you waste buying plastic every year? I’ve written about why using less plastic matters here. In short, the stuff is made from oil and other toxic chemicals, can make us sick if we’re repeatedly exposed to those chemicals, and wreaks havoc on wildlife and the environment.

If you’ve given up buying bottled water, use your own reusable cloth shopping bag and maybe grow some (or most) of your own food, your automatic response might be: “Almost none. I don’t buy plastic.”

But chances are, you’re still subsidizing the use of a fair amount of plastic, since almost everything anyone buys these days comes either shrink-wrapped, padded in plastic balls or peanuts (yes, polystyrene is a form of plastic), encased in a plastic package of some sort, or wrapped in paper that’s been coated with a plastic film so thin you don’t even notice it.

One area where I’ve become particularly aware of how much plastic I consume is in the bathroom. Even though I don’t use a lot of cosmetics and follow a mostly “natural” hygiene regimen, now that I’m paying attention, I’m appalled at how many of my personal care products come packaged in plastic. I’ve switched to bar soap that’s sold either wrapper free or wrapped in paper, my face cream comes in glass jars, and my hand salve comes in metal tins. I use wash cloths instead of disposable wipes to remove dirt and make-up, and a crystal for deodorant. But my shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, toothpaste, sunscreen, and mouthwash? They’re all packaged in plastic. Ditto for the blush, mascara and lip gloss I apply.

The kicker is, I’m not buying a lot of conventional products. What I buy is always free of parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, and triclosan, as well as many other questionnable chemicals I’d rather not put on my body or wash down the drain. Because most of these items come in jars and tubes made from recycled plastic, I used to think that was good enough, since I can easily recycle them in my city’s curbside recycling program.

Beth, whose expertise I admire enormously, has done the research, and she says that, in most cases, the best plastic is no plastic at all, recycled or not. I recommend you read her book yourself to understand why. Let me just say that I’ve been so persuaded by her reporting that I’ve decided to embark on an effort to try many of the plastic-free alternatives she suggests, including several of her make-it-yourself recipes.  (Come back soon to see how her home-made shampoo and conditioner recipes did on my hair.)

At Big Green Purse, we recommend shifting your spending to the safest, greenest products available as the fastest, easiest way to protect yourself and your family while giving manufacturers real marketplace incentives to do better, too. (Read this post about how Beth shifted more than $1,000 to all kinds of great green goods as part of our One in a Million campaign!).

How big an impact can you have, if you just focused on beauty products? According to the YWCA report “Beauty at Any Cost,” five years’ worth of beauty products costs about $6,423 on average. One full year of college tuition and fees at a public in-state college is $6,185! Neither I nor Beth are recommending you stop using any of these products at all. But if you spend over $1,000 a year on personal care products, think of the impact you can have by shifting your spending to products packaged in glass or paper, or by making your own rather than buying so much. Whether you shift a dime or a dollar, you can make a difference.

I hope you’ll read this book, and not just because of what you do in your bathroom. Beth examined her entire lifestyle to figure out where she was using plastic and how she could cut back. The results are incredibly inspiring. “In the years since my plastic awakening,” she writes, “ I’ve gone from personally generating almost four pounds of plastic waste per month to a little over two pounds per year (the average American generates between 88 and 120 pounds per year), and I am continuing the downward trend. While I’ve learned many facts about plastic—how it’s made, which types leach toxic chemicals into our food, why plastic recycling is actually “down- cycling,” and the many ways in which it’s both helpful and harmful—the biggest lessons have been personal rather than factual.”

She acknowledges that “It’s nearly impossible to eliminate plastic from our lives entirely. And, unlike me, you may not even want to try. That’s OK. This isn’t a competition, and I don’t hold myself up as an ideal.”

Here’s what I especially like about Beth’s philosophy:  “The goal is to be aware and responsible,” she says without the least bit of preachiness. “You might find yourself saying, “I know this is plastic and bad for the environment (and for my health), but I really need it or want it right now.” You think about the consequences, weigh your options, and make a decision. Other times, you may say to yourself, “It might be nice to have this, but it just isn’t worth the pollution and health risks. I can do without it.” Perhaps you will set a goal—to reduce your plastic consumption by a certain percentage or keep it under a certain amount per month. Or you might define what constitutes an emergency situation for you, and save plastic for those times. Whatever you do, it will be your choice.” What a great attitude!

JUST FOR FUN!

In addition to all the great background information and straightforward action checklists, Beth provides some surprising insights into the ways she’s had fun going plastic-free. I love her suggestion for a “make your own” iPod cover:

“What do you do when your iPod cover cracks and you need a new one and all you can find to buy are covers made out of plastic or handmade covers from Etsy that just don’t fit your lifestyle and the way you want to use your device? This might seem like a silly concern when the mp3 player itself is made from plastic, but my plastic-free life is not about deprivation but finding creative ways to enjoy the possessions I already have without buying new plastic.

“So one night, when I was supposed to be working on a million other things, I entertained myself by devising my perfect knitted iPod cover, complete with holes for the power cord and headphone jack and openings for viewing the screen and accessing the click wheel. I felt pretty tickled with myself, and even more so a year later when the foam pads on a couple pairs of headphones wore out and I taught myself to crochet in order to make some plastic-free replacements out of wool. I feel a real connection to and appreciation for items I’ve spent hours making myself. I also feel much more motivated to take care of them properly. Whenever I need something new, I check Google first to see if someone has come up with a handmade version or instructions for doing it myself. I’m not always willing to take the time, but when I do, it’s always worth it.”

BUY NOW!

Beth is selling signed copies of her book through her blog to benefit the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Plus, any copies Beth sends out or that are purchased via BuyGreen.com are guaranteed to ship without plastic packaging. Get a copy for yourself, for your friends, and for community leaders who think there’s no way to live without plastic. Beth’s book proves them wrong from the very first page to the last.

The post Want a Plastic-Free Life? Buy This Book ASAP! appeared first on Big Green Purse.

The new environmental law, which goes into effect January 1, 2012, is designed to help get rid of the billions of horrible, nasty, throwaway bags that waste resources, clog waterways, and kill wildlife.

Throwaway bags are one of those inventions that never should have seen the light of day. According to Pati Robinson from The Cleaner Earth Project, in 2010 consumers worldwide used over 1
trillion throwaway plastic bags. Because the bags don’t biodegrade, they cause serious environmental problems. When they get loose, they end up polluting rivers, streams and oceans, where animals
mistake them for food and die. In fact, scientists have found that fish living in the Pacific Ocean eat more plastic than plankton! Wildlife also die when they get tangled in plastic and can’t break free.

Plus, plastic bags waste oil. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil are required to make the nearly 100 billion single use plastic bags used every year in the U.S. alone, says Cleaner Earth.

Then there’s the fright factor. Plastic bags are downright ugly when they get caught in trees or blow along the highway like synthetic tumbleweed.

For years, municipalities the world over mounted campaigns to educate people about the harm plastic bags cause while trying to motivate consumers to use reusable bags, to no avail. Then someone smart hit on the idea to charge shoppers for every plastic bag they used.

Today, cities that require retailers to charge as little as a nickel for each bag a consumer takes are finding plastic bag use plummeting. In nearby Washington, D.C., disposable plastic bags used to make up 47% of the trash found in the Anacostia river basin. The Anacostia River feeds right into the Potomac, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay, which feeds into the Atlantic Ocean. Conceivably, a bag thrown on the sidewalk in D.C. could end up in a sea gull’s belly in no time at all.

In January 2010, a nickel fee was placed on single-use plastic bags. In just six months, bag use decreased by 65%, reducing the total number of bags per month to 3.3 million, down from 22.5 million per month prior to the fee, reported the Washington Post.

Now, a nickel is not a lot of money. It’s just five pennies. Pretty much anyone who has bought enough stuff to need a bag can afford to pay for it.

Yet human nature being what it is, people seem to hate paying “extra” for something they used to get for free. I’ve stood in line at a cash register in D.C. and watched people fill their arms to
overflowing with their purchases rather then cough up a measly five cents to put it in a bag.

Stupid?

Nope. Brilliant!

Other cities are looking equally environmentally savvy. Brownsville,Texas, is charging people an extra dollar for each transaction that requires a disposable plastic bag. Why?

“We want to have a beautiful city,” Commissioner Edward Camarillo said. “We want to make sure that we take care of the environment.”

San Francisco started the trend in the U.S. in 2007. The result has been a 50 percent drop in plastic bag litter on the streets since the ban took effect. Several other California cities, including Palo Alto, Malibu, and Fairfax, have since followed suit. On the east coast, North Carolina banned single-use plastic and non-recyclable bags last year in the Outer Banks. Retailers like Ikea and Apple no longer give out free bags in their U.S. stores, either. Across the pond, British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S), has seen an 80% reduction in the use of disposable plastic shopping bags since introducing a charge for them nearly a year ago. The company reports that the number of bags
taken over the last year has fallen from 460 million a year to 80 million.

This is such a simple solution, why doesn’t the entire U.S. adopt the policy? We wouldn’t be alone. India and China have already banned single use plastic bags outright. Ireland introduced a plastic bag tax in 2002 that cut consumption by 90%. Canada’s 2003 plastic bag tax has inspired 95% of consumers there to supply their own sustainable bags when they shop.

When’s the last time anyone ever got so much for a nickel?

GET REUSABLE BAGS!

Every grocery store sells durable, reusable bags for $.99. Or take a look at the fashionable bags we sell in our store.

The post My County Finally Did It! What About Yours? Our New Plastic Bag “Tax.” appeared first on Big Green Purse.

You can learn more about the threats plastic pose and what you can do to protect yourself, your community, and wildlife,

by tuning in to the TedX conference on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Today, Saturday, November 6.

The post Here’s Your Chance to Learn About the Great Pacific Garbage Patch appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Beth took the One in a Million Challenge last year, as you can see from her balance sheet below. But the spending shifts she’s made weren’t temporary. They’re a way of life that I hope will inspire you to do the same!

Total ……………………………………………………….. $1114.59 

    **NOTE:  “None of this includes cash spent at the Farmer’s Market or elsewhere. These are just credit card expenditures.” Wondering how Beth made these shifts and avoided plastic? She bought laundry powder in a recyclable carboard box, rather than liquid laundry detergent in a plastic jug. She uses cotton mesh baggies to collect produce, rather than plastic bags. She also buys milk in a cardboard carton rather than a plastic bottle. (BTW, ACV stands for apple cider vinegar. TJ stands for Trader Joe’s, though Beth has recently shifted to Tom’s because the aluminum toothpaste tube is recyclable. In the last year, Beth also shifted from detergent powder to Laundry Tree soap nuts.)

Feeling inspired? Please join Beth and the almost 5,000 other consumers who have already taken the One in a Million Challenge! It’s easy — Fill out this balance sheet, keeping track of the shifts you make over time until you have shifted $1,000. Then send us your sheet, along with a picture so we can add your lovely face to our growing wall of One in a Million members. We’ll feature you in Big Green Purse, so you can help inspire others – though we hope you’ll urge your friends and family to take the challenge, too.

The post Plastic Activist Shifts $1114 to Green Goods appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Yes, we need to phase out plastic bottles, and the sooner the better.

But in the meantime, can’t all you wizards come up with a bottle cap that will protect its contents securely but once discarded, degrade in a very short period of time?

You’ve gotta be able to do it. Talk to the folks at Frito-Lay, who have figured out how to package their snack packs in plant-based, biodegradable bags. In fact, why don’t we urge Frito’s parent company, Pepsi, to take the lead?  Start here.

The post Environmental S.O.S. For Water-Soluble, Biodegradable Bottle Caps appeared first on Big Green Purse.

That’s a fair question to ask, since we consumers are constantly being reassured that a product is “green” or “greener” because it is “recyclable” – even when, in reality, the product is barely being recycled at all.

Consider single-use plastic water bottles. Companies that manufacture the billions of plastic water bottles flooding the market claim the product is “eco friendly” because the bottles are recycleable.

In reality, only 12% of the 15 billion throwaway water bottles manufactured each year are being recycled. As a result, 40 million plastic bottles are thrown into the trash or otherwise become litter – every day. And the millions of gallons of petroleum used to manufacture and transport those bottles? That’s pretty much gone down the tubes, too.

What’s the best solution? Stop buying plastic water bottles and drink water from a reusable mug or cup.

What’s the reality? At least for the foreseeable future, water will be sold in plastic bottles. In fact, bottled water is the single largest growth area among all beverages, including alcohol, soda and juice, reports MSNBC.

That being the case, manufacturers should make good on their claim that their bottles are recyclable by putting a deposit on the bottles to ensure they’re returned to a recycling facility.

Such “bottle bills” are nothing new. Since the first bottle bill was passed in Oregon in 1971, ten states have followed suit, including California, Maine,Vermont, Iowa, Michigan, Delaware, Hawaii, New York, and Massachusetts (full disclosure: I helped pass the laws in Michigan, Delaware, Iowa and Massachusetts). However, only three states – California, Hawaii and Maine – include water bottles in their  program.

Do deposit laws work? According to the Container Recycling Institute, states with bottle bills on the books recycle 80% of beverage containers generally. Deposits as little as five cents per bottle are effective, but in states like Michigan, which requires deposits of a dime on a beverage bottle or can, 95% of containers are being recovered.

Which begs the question: why not pass a NATIONAL bottle bill to increase recycling?

Consumers would have a financial incentive to return the bottles for recycling, taxpayers would save money on litter pick up and the wasteful use of petroleum, and the environment would become cleaner as a result.

Seems like a big return for an investment of a dime, doesn’t it?

For more ideas on how to deal with plastic, don’t miss this month’s Green Moms Carnival, hosted by Beth Terry over at www.fakeplasticfish.com.

The post Want to Increase Plastic Bottle Recycling? Put a Deposit on It. appeared first on Big Green Purse.