Plastic-free Food: Days 6 & 7

When I originally planned to do our plastic-free food week... I didn't factor in that we would be taking a 6 and a half hour road trip to Scottsville, VA to go camping.  BUT, once I realized those factors... the challenge took on a new shape.  Most often when people go camping (or on road trips) all rules are thrown out the window.  Don't buy bottled water?  Most campers (and road trippers) do.  Don't use disposable plates, utensils, cups?  Most campers do.  AND... when it comes to food... it's certainly not plastic-free.

First thing was first.  Snacks.  When my husband and I went to see Jason Mraz in Greenville, SC... I didn't plan ahead.  Part of plastic-free food week is planning.... so on Thursday, my kids and I hit up the bulk foods sections at: Tidal Creek and Fresh Market.

All containers are mine from previous purchases.... why recycle when we can reuse?!  Front row:  Yogurt covered raisins, carob almonds, dried cinnamon apples.  2nd row: Nut snack mix, yogurt pretzels, corn nuts, gummies.  Back row:  Sesame sticks, pumpkin granola, pistachios, bananas, mustard pretzels

While at Fresh Market, the bakery lady asked my kids if they wanted a cookie.  I looked at the little plastic sheets they use to grab the cookies and explained to her about our plastic-free food week.  I told her I appreciated it, but we just couldn't.  She said, "Hold on.  I have an idea."  She went to the back and returned with a pair of tongs!!  My kids were super happy and I was so grateful for that lady to go out of her way for us!!  YAY!!!'

That evening I made and prepared a slew of things for our camping trip.  I filled 12 glass juice bottles with water (no bottled water for us!  Not even a 2 gallon jug!) and made graham crackers (intended for s'mores) and a loaf of bread.

I promise I'll post the recipe!!

As usual, we were prepared for our road trip with 8 reusable water bottles... filled and ready to go.  Our road trip was long and uneventful.  I kept staring out the window looking at our littered roadways.  I wonder why people still litter??  There have been litter education programs for over (at least) 50 years, but people are still littering... I said out loud, "If education isn't working... and by the looks of it... it isn't... I wonder why these products (styrofoam, plastic bags, single use products, straws, etc, etc, etc) are still being made??  Something has to change."  For me... that's what a good portion of this plastic-free food week is about.  Making a change.  Voting with my $$.... choosing foods and products that won't be on this planet longer than me or my children... OR end up on the side of the road... because even if I don't litter... it doesn't mean that a piece of trash isn't going to fall out of a trash truck or blow in the wind from a landfill... plastic blows.

On our drive, we stopped at Subway for lunch.  Normally, we get chips with our meal and sometimes drinks.  We skipped the chips (they're in plastic bags), said no thank you to our sandwiches being put in a plastic bag and used our own water bottles in lieu of getting a drink from the soda fountain.

After over 6 hours of driving we arrived here:

Here's what we ate for our meals:

Day 1 Breakfast:  Dunkin Donuts and bananas with Chocolate Milk  (don't cringe... doughnuts are my kids special treat when we go camping ;)  In the future, I'd like to make our own)  I had a hot cup of green tea with ginger instead of chocolate milk

Day 2 Breakfast:  Pancakes, chocolate milk and bananas

(true making the pancakes does produce the plastic... from the lid of the buttermilk... I plan to work on this.)

Lunch:  Peanut Butter and Jelly with cut up carrots and fresh oranges. (and our bulk snacks)

I used the bread I made for the PB&J  and used fresh ground peanut butter (put in my own container), Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam (comes in glass with no plastic over the lid... I usually use my own... but we're all out!!!), carrots and oranges were bought loose.

Dinner 2 nights:  Vegetarian Chili with Avocado and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This photo was taken on night 2 of chili and we had leftover cheese from the sandwiches... so why not?!

Of course, the chili was plastic-free... that was easy.  (I'll post that recipe soon... ok it may be awhile... I've got a lot going on!!) The grilled cheese sandwiches were made my homemade bread and with local Hoop cheese (it's like a mild cheddar) that I got from Tidal Creek wrapped in paper.

Smores:  SO... I said I made graham crackers intended for S'mores.  We bought some Green & Black's organic dark chocolate for the purpose of ooey gooey marshmallows melting the chocolate onto our homemade graham crackers. Thing is... I didn't buy marshmallows.  They come in a plastic bag.  I thought that I would make marshmallows instead... but kept running into plastic.  I kept going back and forth... do I just buy marshmallows??  And ended up deciding that I just couldn't.  I figured that someone would have marshmallows for my kids to score at least one smores... but they were so into doing this challenge that they didn't even ask.  

I'm so proud of my kids as they brought so many different things to me to ask if they could have it.

As we were packing up on Sunday morning, I watched as a tractor went around picking up everyone's trash and putting it in a (roll-off sized) dumpster.  I looked around and realized that besides some compostable materials....we didn't have any trash.  We had a cooler full of beer bottles to be recycled... but no trash to go to the landfill.  AND... that felt amazing.

 On our way home, my husband and I talked about our plastic-free food week.  It's been such a fulfilling experience.... rethinking our food choices... teaching our kids about the problems of plastics (and seeing them understand)... and seeing what we were able to accomplish... In one week, the only plastic waste we-- a family of FIVE-- created was from 4 glass milk jugs.  And it all fits in the palm of my hand:

Once again I sent in my tally of plastics to Fake Plastic Fish: Show Us Your Plastic Challenge... I'll post that as soon as it is up :)

  As I talked to my husband, I had this feeling of not knowing what we're supposed to do now that our challenge week is over.  So I asked my husband, "What do we do now??  Do we go back to buying foods in plastic??"  AND my husband said, "I thought that this was a trial run... something that we would try and see if we could do it.  YOU did it... we proved we could live without those foods in plastic.  Why would we go back??"

I think he's right... that's why I had such a hard time thinking about the "what now".   The "what now" will be that we always strive to purchase no foods in plastic... rework recipes as needed to make them plastic-free AND share our adventures of being a family of five living in a plastic-free food world :D


Moments after I posted... I read this:

"Plastic pollution is the visible symbol of our global crisis of over-consumption. Let's pledge to shift our societies away from the disposable habits that poison our oceans and land, eliminate our consumption of throwaway plastics, and begin embracing a culture of sustainability. 

Our health, our children, and the survival of future generations depend on us." 

~ marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols

Plastic-Free Food: Day 5

For as long as I can remember "5" has been my number... I call it my favorite number, my lucky number... I often say I live by fives.  SO... of course, I had high expectations for day 5 of plastic-free food week.  

With the rain falling, I knew exactly what I wanted to eat for breakfast.  MUFFINS!!  I, seriously, have an addiction to muffins... they're so quick and easy to make AND the flavors are endless.  Today, I made Happy Herbivore's Apple Crisp Muffins.  I decided to make apple muffins because I have applesauce that I made last week and EVERY single ingredient on the list is plastic-free (thanks to the bulk bins)!!!  The muffins were absolutely amazing... I couldn't stop eating them!!  True, I do LOVE apple pie more than any other dessert... so these muffins are on my make... ummm... everyday list!! ;) Yep, the day started off AWESOME!!

At noon, the rain was pouring down... I didn't have a clue what I was going to make for lunch.  The kids shouted in unison that they wanted "PIZZA" (again), but I had to let them down because I was out of cheese.  I scoured through my pantry... trying to figure out what to make for lunch.  I grabbed a box of elbow noodles and thought that I would make Pasta E Fagioli... but looked at the little plastic window on the box and put it back.... I was starting to revert to Day 1 when I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that I wanted to make but couldn't.  Then I stopped..... stopped thinking about plastic and started thinking about food.  I made the decision that I would make soup... I had to have everything to make soup!!  I skimmed through a few cookbooks... and then looked at what I had and decided to make my own soup.... no recipes... no ingredient list to follow... Potato, Cannellini and Green Bean Soup.  It was perfect because I used what I already had and it was just what I needed (and wanted).

My afternoon was busy preparing for our camping trip... ever gone camping plastic-free??  Me neither.  Days 6 and 7 of our plastic-free food week will be spent camping... at first, I was super nervous... but after stocking up on bulk snacks, making bread, making graham crackers (YES! I made graham crackers... I'll share the how next post), making chili, shredding (paper wrapped) cheese, and filling glass (juice) bottles with water all today... I think we're about ready! (Note:  I always cook before we go camping... I find it more relaxing to reheat something than to slave over a camp stove while everyone else hangs out... extra work now means I get to chill later ;) )

Based on everything that I was doing to prepare for 2 days of camping, I wanted a simple dinner.  Once again, I had no idea what to make.  I stared at my CSA box hoping for inspiration:

Acorn squash, turnips, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, collards, eggplant, okra (in biobag) and arugula (in biobag- not pictured)



Day 5 Plastic-Free Dinner Menu
Potato and Onion Frittata
Sautéed Okra
Romaine Salad with Carrots and Red Onion

This dinner was the easiest (of all the meals I've made) to make plastic-free.  Everything naturally comes without plastic... no special requests... no plastic alternatives... they're all REAL whole foods... in their purest form... this is one the the best dinners that I never would have made if we hadn't decided to go plastic-free this week.  (Oh yeah, and I would've never bought okra had it not come in my CSA box... cooking okra tonight was a first!!!)

Before I started typing this post... I opened my email to read this:  (I think it's rather fitting... day 5 ;) )

"Starting something new allows us to choose to reset; knowing that with each choice we learn, grow, and move forward."

It's perfect... it says everything that I feel about what I've been accomplishing this week...
Moving forward, learning and growing... :)

Plastic-Free Food: Day 1

Knowing that I was planning on doing a plastic-free food week... last week, I kept all of the plastic that I used throughout the week.  This is what my plastic waste in my kitchen looked like:

I submitted my plastic waste to Fake Plastic Fish:  Show Us Your Plastic Challenge.  I'll post that link whenever it's up.

Sure there are some things there that I normally don't buy.  For example, the Clif Bars, M&M's, and individually wrapped tea were from a road trip to Greenville, SC to see Jason Mraz in concert.  I usually plan our road trips really well... but not taking our 3 children... I really didn't think to bring snacks and this girl was hungry and not stopping at McDonald's for lunch.  Good news.. I never leave home without  my reusable water bottle!!   I'll be prepared with an arsenal of snacks next time!  AND I have to bring up the cookies... when I purchased them, I thought... "Well, I'm going to go plastic free next week... what if it's forever?!  I need to say good-bye to Liz Lovely's Chocolate Moose Dragons."  I LOVE Chocolate Moose Dragons... but I don't love the packaging.

SO... today was day one of buying or using no foods in plastic.  Breakfast and lunch were easy peasy.

• Breakfast:  Pancakes with maple syrup and local chocolate milk.

• Lunch:  Quesadillas made with homemade whole-wheat tortillas with maple smoked cheddar wrapped in paper**, sweet corn tomalito and mexican rice (left over from tacos last night... recipes coming soon!) and canned peaches that I made last week!  Note:  The whole wheat tortillas were made without wrapping the dough in plastic wrap-- I used a dishtowel.  I used bulk canola oil in the pan instead of using a spray can.

Now on to dinner.  All day I was stressing about what to make.  My husband is out of town and usually when he's out of town I pick up something easy to make like frozen organic raviolis or Gardein.  BUT... that wasn't an option.  I didn't want to go to the store and I had two butternut squashes sitting on my counter that I got from the Farmers' Market almost 2 weeks ago!!  So I decided to make "Butternut Squash Ravioli."  And by make... I mean make everything... the pasta and the filling.  I made the pasta in my food processor and thought, "hmmm... that's the easiest thing I've ever done."  I let the dough rest and then started the process of rolling it out using my pasta maker (that I got as a gift 8 years ago!!  Thanks MOM!!).  AND... the dough kept tearing and after so many tries... I nearly had a meltdown....and I almost gave up. But, I got my kids to help knead the dough some more and kept running it through the pasta maker and then... MAGIC... beautiful pasta!!!!

Dinner:  Butternut Squash Ravioli served with sautéed zucchini.  I made the ravioli using this recipe with these plastic-free adjustments:

• Instead of wrapping the dough in plastic wrap, I wrapped it in a dishtowel.
• I left out the butter. (only because I forgot... oops!)
• I used local buttermilk (in glass) in place of the marscarpone or cream cheese (both come in plastic)
• I used Chapel Hill Asiago (wrapped in paper**) in place of the Parm.
• My thoughts are that none of the dairy ingredients were really needed.  Next time, I'll make it with almond milk and a bit of nutritional yeast.

Day 1 is down... only 6 more to go....tomorrow I'm making Almond Milk!!!

**Last week, I asked the "cheese girl" at my cooperative food market to wrap cheese for me in paper in lieu of plastic... she wrote down my request and Friday after yoga I picked up my plastic-free cheese!! YAY!!

Plastic-Free Food: Day 4

The rain is still coming down outside... we're supposed to get somewhere around another 8 inches on top of the 10 inches that we got the other day... our rain barrels are officially overflowing.  Our plastic-free food week is going awesome... it's hard to believe we're over half way through the week.  I picked up our CSA (community supported agriculture) box today... often we get a few plastic bags... but I planned ahead and called Ryan with Progressive Gardens last week to make sure that I didn't get any plastic bags in our box.  Instead of plastic bags, they put our arugula and okra in biobags.  YAY!!!  (I'll get pics up tomorrow once I figure out what all I'm going to do with our bounty!)

Our meals were pretty simple today.  Our breakfast was fairly similar to day three.  My husband had an omelet, my daughter and I both had banana peach smoothies (they were rather large), my oldest son had a cinnamon roll and I found a leftover pancake in the freezer for my youngest... the pancakes are officially gone!  For lunch, my kids BEGGED me to make pizzas again like we did on day 2.  While my daughter was spreading the tomato sauce on the whole wheat tortillas she asked me if we could make these pizzas whenever we're not doing the no plastic thing.  OF COURSE!!!  It's a super easy lunch... it's plastic-free... and my kids LOVE it!!

For the past week or so, my kids have been begging me to make chocolate chip cookies and today seemed like the perfect day.  So after lunch, we made chocolate chip cookies!!  When making cookies there are a few things that come in plastic.

#1:  Brown Sugar comes in a plastic bag (or a box with a plastic bag inside)-- a couple of months ago, I didn't have any brown sugar... so I decided to try to make my own.  Making brown sugar is crazy easy... it's one of those things that I'd never buy again plastic or no plastic.  Here's how to make it: measure out the amount of sugar you need (for example: for 1 cup brown sugar just measure 1 cup granulated sugar... I use organic raw sugar bought in bulk).  Put the measured amount of sugar into a food processor and add a bit of molasses-- a little goes a long way (I use blackstrap... it's in a glass jar).

 

Process the sugar and molasses in the food processor until it resembles brown sugar... of course, add molasses until the desired "brown sugar" (light or dark) is reached.  (The food processor is the easiest method, but I've also made brown sugar using just a bowl and fork.)

Check out the brown sugar that I made with the raw granulated sugar!

#2 Chocolate Chips come in plastic bags-- I took my own container (a yogurt container that I saved to reuse) to Lovey's Market and purchased bulk semi-sweet chocolate chips.

#3 Nuts:  I LOVE nuts in my cookies.  However, I didn't put any in these cookies because my husband prefers them without (BOO!)... but I just wanted to mention nuts because they too can be bought in bulk instead of purchasing them in plastic bags (like the ones sold right next to the chocolate chips ;) )

Did I miss any plastic ingredients??  Hmmm... I've seen vanilla in plastic containers, but the brand I use comes in glass with a metal lid.... 

I'd like to say that we ate our cookies as dessert... but I'll be honest... we ate them straight out of the oven as an afternoon snack.  I ate mine with the almond milk that I made the other day!!!  YUM!!

For dinner, we decided to go out to eat... ok... who am I kidding... we planned on going out to eat after dance (my daughter does a few classes and I do hip hop).  We hit up my favorite place in town:  Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn.  Flaming Amy's is fast, cheap and easy... and oh so yummy!!  Usually when we go to Amy's we end up with about 4 little plastic cups for salsa... tonight I asked them if I could have some small reusable bowls for salsa and asked that they put my daughters dip on her plate instead of in a plastic cup.  No straws, no salsa cups, and no take out containers... we were 100% plastic-free at Flaming Amy's!!!  WOOHOO!!!

Ginger Peach Salsa... mmmm... I'm ready to go back already!!

Plastic-Free Food: Day 3

For the past couple of days, the rain has been coming down here in Wilmington.  We got over 10 inches of rain on Monday and are expected to get another 4-8 inches by Thursday... and as I type the rain is coming down in buckets.  SO... we've been stuck inside... which leaves kids wanting more snacks than usual.  I don't usually have too many plastic wrapped snacks in the house... but we usually have pretzels, string cheese, and some other easy to grab kid snacks.  I normally make granola bars, but the recipe that I use calls for crisp rice cereal... AND... cereal comes in a plastic bag.  SO... for the past couple of days my kids have been snacking mostly on fresh fruits, dried fruits, nuts and granola (all bought in bulk... using my own containers).

As the week progresses, I feel like living without foods in plastic is completely attainable for longer than just one week.  Food without plastic really takes some thought... but it's only because new habits are in the process of forming.

For breakfast, I made my husband an omelet... my daughter had an egg  (if you recall, we have our own egg laying hens... but if I do buy eggs I choose paper cartons).  My youngest had a leftover pancake (when I make pancakes... I always make too many and freeze the leftovers).  AND, I made biscuit cinnamon rolls.  I wasn't too crazy about them, but my bread loving 8 year old devoured them...

For lunch, I made more whole-wheat tortillas and the kids and I had PB&J roll ups (peanut butter ground fresh... put in my own glass jar) with fresh fruit-- apples and bananas.  My husband ate the leftover Vegetable Barley Soup and french bread (from day 2).

AND... for dinner?!?!!!...I don't know why I get most excited about dinner.  Maybe it's because it's the end of the day and it is in some sense a culmination of the day's work... my "chef d'oeuvre" to a plastic-free food day.... it's my reminder of what I am accomplishing...

Day 3 Plastic-free Dinner Menu

Pan Seared Portobello Mushrooms

Mac Shells & Cheese

Romaine Salad with carrots and red onion

Here's how I made it all plastic-free:

I bought the portobello mushrooms, carrots and onions in bulk (using my own bag).  I didn't have any "mock beef broth" so I just used water.  I also didn't use the basil because I don't buy dried basil and I didn't have any fresh.  For the shells and cheese-- which I have to say that I was the most excited about!!-- I bought the pasta bulk (using my own container), I used local milk in reusable glass containers (the cap is plastic), and the gouda was wrapped in paper (per my request).  As far as the salad goes, I chopped up a head of romaine with loose carrots and red onion.

AND... besides being plastic-free... it was on the table in UNDER 20 minutes AND it was all SO YUMMY!!!!

52 Week Plastic Challenge: 13 weeks

Back at the end of September, I challenged myself (which meant my family, too!) to a week of no foods in plastic.  Before the plastic-free food week, I took the My Plastic Free Life Show Your Plastic Challenge by collecting all of our plastic waste for one week.  This is what one week of plastic looked like before we started focusing on plastic-free food:

View the entire post here :)

As part of my New Year's "More Than Resolutions"... I committed to taking the Show Your Plastic Challenge for all of 2011!!  The purpose of me taking the challenge for the entire 52 weeks of the year is to get a gauge of what we use the most, understand habits and patterns, and most importantly figure out ways to change the amount of plastics we use.

The first quarter of the year is now over, which means I've been collecting our family of five's plastic waste for 13 weeks straight!!!

During the first quarter of the year, I focused on not purchasing breads, cereals, wraps/tortillas, pre-packaged pastas, baked goods... err...cookies (oh how I miss Liz Lovely Chocolate Moose Dragons!!), and milks in paper/plastic containers. (<--my husband has given up his half and half!!)  Here's how I'm doing it: 

Breads, wraps/tortillas, cookies = homemade (on occasion from Panera put in a paper bag)

Cereal = bulk granola

Pasta = bulk or homemade

Dairy/nut milks = local milk in glass jars or homemade almond milk  (though I did fall off the wagon a couple of times and have not fully committed to making my own yogurt.)

We have also started paying very close attention to plastics when we go out to eat.  Requesting reusable condiment dishes and avoiding some of our favorite places to eat simply because of how much disposable plastic/styrofoam they use.  Check out these tips for How to Request No Plastic and Get What You Ask For.

Sooo....this is what 13 weeks of plastic for our family of 5 looks like....

January 2-8

January 9-15

January 16-22

January 23-29

January 30- February 5

February 6-12

February 13-19

February 20-26

February 27- March 5

March 6- 12

March 13-19

March 20-26

March 27- April 2

Have you taken the Show Your Plastic Challenge??  Check out my guest post on My Plastic Free Life about why to take the challenge!!  Collect Your Plastic.  Change Your Life.

Plastic-Free Food: Day 2

After my near meltdown on day one and feeling like there was no way that I could go 100% plastic-free with our food... I was nervous about day two... BUT... day two was AWESOME!!  Really all it took was me focusing on what we could eat instead of thinking about all the things that we couldn't eat.  I quickly reminded myself that I did the same thing when I stopped eating meat... focused on all the things I was going to "miss out" on instead of thinking about all of the possibilities.  From experience... I know that the possibilities are endless :)  SO....  Once I stopped thinking about all of the foods that come in plastic... all of these ideas as far as "what" to eat came to me.

So hear is a run down of our plastic-free meals:

One of the easiest and plastic-free breakfasts is a smoothie.  I usually make smoothies with Almond Milk, but almond milk comes in a plastic lined paper container... so there's no buying it.  Sure I could've used local milk... but I'm not a big milk drinker... and prefer almond milk in smoothies.  SO.... I bought raw almonds in bulk and MADE almond milk!!!!!! ;)  To make the smoothie, I just threw in fruit that I had in my freezer...bananas, local blueberries, and local peaches!!  YUM!

Along with our smoothies, my kids also finished up the rest of the pancakes from the previous day.

For lunch, my husband and I had taco salads using romaine that I cut up, black beans, and the leftovers from taco night.  (The taco night leftovers are finally gone... I'm a little bummed... as I don't know what I'll be eating tomorrow)  I made my kids cheese pizzas with the whole wheat tortillas that I made on day one along with applesauce and peaches.  

For the pizzas: My kids spread out some tomato sauce on each tortilla and we topped each tortilla with (paper wrapped) cheddar cheese that I shredded (in my food processor).  I popped the "pizzas" in the oven at 400º until the cheese melted.  My kids LOVED it so much they asked if I would make pizzas EVERYDAY!! 

Ok... now dinner is where I get super excited to share!!  On day one, I was panicking all day about what I was going to make.  BUT... thanks to the rain that was pouring down outside... I knew that I only wanted to make one thing... and that one thing was SOUP!!  So I grabbed a cookbook that I picked up from the library last week, and made vegetable stock.  As I was cutting up the vegetables, I kept thinking how strange it is that I've never made vegetable stock.  I used to make chicken stock all the time and keep it in my freezer... but hadn't made stock since I stopped eating chicken last fall.  Instead, I started BUYING vegetable stock... and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why I've been buying vegetable broth in aseptic containers!!  Besides the house smelling AMAZING... it's so easy to make vegetable stock-- cut up vegetables... throw them in a pot with some water and simmer.  

So here's our Day 2 plastic-free dinner menu:

Vegetable Barley Soup-- I used Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook for the stock and changed up their Vegetable Barley Soup for what I had on hand.  All vegetables and barley used to make the stock and soup were bought unpackaged and never put in a plastic produce bag.

French Bread-- yup!  I busted out my bread machine and threw in the ingredients and let the machine do the work while I made the soup.  The smell of bread baking was.... mmmmm :)

Before I made our soup, I read this quote... and it just made me feel happy about making my soup from start to finish....

"Everybody LOVES soup.  It fortifies the body and soothes the soul.  It's one of those comforting first loves that quietly sustain us from infancy into venerable old age."

Seriously, that soup renewed me :D

If you're interested in our plastic waste from last week... you can check that out here:

Show Your Plastic-- Danielle: Week 1

Plastic Bags: My Letter to Senator Goolsby

Yesterday, I FINALLY sat down and wrote NC Senator Thom Goolsby regarding his recent sponsorship to repeal the plastic bag ban in the NC Outer Banks.  I made the decision to share my letter on my personal Facebook account and now here in hopes that others will also choose to write him.  Please feel free to use my letter, edit it to make it your own or start from scratch.  

Whatever you do... just do something :) 

The proposed Bill to Repeal the Ban on Plastic Bags in Certain Coastal Areas: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/Senate/PDF/S318v0.pdf

You can email Senator Goolsby at this address: Thom.Goolsby@ncleg.net

Senator Goolsby,

My name is Danielle Richardet, my husband Aaron has been in contact with you regarding your recent sponsorship to repeal the plastic bag ban in the North Carolina Outer Banks.  I felt that I should also connect with you to voice my concerns about repealing the plastic bag ban.  While I may not have scientific degrees to share with you my expertise, what I do have is an active role in our community focusing on litter.  As a family, we spend a good amount of time cleaning up the litter that others leave behind.  One does not need a degree to see that plastic bags are a huge problem, even our three children are quick to point out the insidious amount of plastic bags that litter our roadways, waterways and beaches.  As I'm sure you are well aware, plastic bags are the 2nd most commonly found item during beach and waterway clean ups. 

Of more than ten million pieces of garbage picked up on ocean beaches in 2009 during International Coastal Cleanup Day... 1,126,774 were plastic bags.  ***7,288 of those plastic bags were removed from North Carolina.*** Plastic bag debris was second only to cigarette butts/filters (21%) in number and accounted for full 11% of ALL marine debris picked up.    

See: http://act.oceanconservancy.org/images/2010ICCReportRelease_pressPhotos/2010_ICC_Report.pdf

But, the fact that the plastic bags are littered (and not always intentionally) isn't the only concern that I have.  I'm aware of the study that shows plastic bags using less resources than paper bags.  While that may be true, this isn't about paper vs. plastic.  Whether or not paper uses more energy and plastic uses less... there are consequences to both of these single-use disposable products.  When it comes to plastic bags, there are factors that aren't relayed in the paper vs. plastic studies such as how countless animals die from plastic ingestion every single year. 

See: http://www.seaturtle.org/plasticpollution/   

At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris (or more appropriately plastic pollution) including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish.  Studies on dead turtles reported ingestion of plastic pollution in 79.6% of the turtles that were examined from the Western Mediterranean (Tomas et al. 2002), 60.5% of turtles in Southern Brazil (Bugoni et al. 2001) and 56% of turtles in Florida (Bjordal et al. 1994)2  See: http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/publications/docs/plastic_ocean_report.pdf

Some other factors that must be understood and taken into account are:

• Plastic bags are made from polyethylene which is a byproduct of petroleum and natural gas.  Both sources are nonrenewable and create more greenhouse gases and increase our dependency on foreign oil.  

• All of the chemicals used in the process of creating plastic bags are toxic and cause damage to the environment as well as people. According to the US EPA, 35 of the 47 chemical plants ranked highest in carcinogenic emissions produce plastics (BEC). DEHP is a chemical used to stabilize the plastic in plastic bags. DEHP has been shown to decrease sperm levels and even act as a neurotoxin. One of the key ingredients in manufacturing plastic bags is vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride is a proven carcinogenic and may also cause liver, kidney, and brain damage.  

• Once the extremely toxic chemicals are turned into bags, the bags still need to be transported to their destination. These plastic bags are often transported from overseas on ships and then put on trucks for distribution across the country. If people bring their own bags then there would not be a necessity for any of the transportation or disposal costs. All the excess fossil fuels used to bring plastic bags around the country would be eliminated. The shipping resources could be put to better use and the fossil fuels can not be used at all. 

• Between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide every single year.  Taking the low worldwide consumption number of 500 billion bags used annually, if 99.9% of plastic bags were recycled that would leave 500 million plastic bags to be littered or landfilled.  The recycling recovery rate for plastic bags is between 1 and 3%.  Unfortunately, when it comes to plastic bags recycling is not the answer.  

Last May, while at Figure 8 Island we were hit with a reality that we cannot turn away from.  You can see the photos from our day at the beach here: http://itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com/2010/05/whats-so-different.html

Below is a Press Release that was sent to me by Dr. Wallace J Nichols.  I believe you will find it interesting, eye-opening and no doubt helpful in your decision making process.

Thank you for your time on this important issue of environmental and economic responsibility,

Danielle Richardet

Phone number

ATTACHED:  photo of degrading single use plastic bag (from Wal-Mart) at Wrightsville Beach, NC.  The bag was breaking down into smaller pieces that had to be scooped up with sand.

-----Original Message-----

Subject: Press Release: Our Plastic Food Chain -or- The Turtle Who Pooped Plastic: new report chronicles effects of decades of plastic pollution on sea turtles

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/sea-turtle-plastic/

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(explicit research photos available at http://www.seaturtle.org/plasticpollution/)

Contact:  Wallace J. Nichols, PhD                                                                                                     

Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences

+1.831.239.4877

wallacejnichols@me.com

Our Plastic Food Chain -or- The Turtle Who Pooped Plastic

As ocean pollution experts meet in Hawaii, disturbing new report chronicles effects of decades of plastic pollution on sea turtles—and what we can do about it.

 Honolulu, 26 March 2011

In 2009, marine biologists with Disney's Animal Programs in Melbourne Beach, Florida, discovered a green sea turtle that was having trouble digesting food. They found that a piece of plastic had lodged in the turtle's gastrointestinal tract. When biologists removed the obstruction, the turtle defecated 74 foreign objects in the subsequent month. Among the items documented were four types of latex balloons, five different types of string, nine different types of soft plastic, four different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet-like material, and two tar balls to boot.

The list of items from this one turtle read like a catalog of a growing and deadly concern for virtually all marine animals—single-use plastics are having a lethal effect on animals living in the sea.

Experts on plastic pollution from around the world, determined to solve this growing problem, gathered this week for the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, a mecca for green sea turtles.

Now, in a recent editorial published in the Marine Turtle Newsletter, marine biologists Colette Wabnitz, PhD, of the University of British Columbia and Wallace "J." Nichols, PhD, of the California Academy of Sciences, lay out the entire disturbing history of plastics in the ocean, from the first scientific report to the latest surveys, to call attention to the concerns from 1972 to today. The report is grim, but provides a ray of hope in the form of proactive steps that can and should be undertaken to curtail overproduction and careless discard of single-use plastics.

The authors were careful to acknowledge that certain plastics have done much good in the world. The report firmly lays the blame at the feet of so-called "disposable" plastics: commonly used beer cups, water bottles and caps, grocery bags, plastic utensils, and so forth, intended to be used just once and thrown away. While these plastics are cheap and convenient, they are also durable and buoyant—making for a potent and deadly combination in the water. 

Though plastics like these do break down from exposure to sunlight and other elements, the molecules of plastic never fully biodegrade—they just break into smaller and smaller pieces but never completely disappear. Eventually, many of these small particles get blown or washed into tributaries that feed rivers which flow to the ocean where plastics coalesce in ocean currents. Here they swirl in the eddying currents forming a  sort of plastic soup where they float virtually forever and are often—the whole pieces and broken bits—ingested by the creatures of the sea. Once in the guts they can do great harm, or even kill, animals such as sea turtles.

Among the more startling facts reported is that 1 billion single-use plastic bags are distributed free of charge every day, of which an estimate 0.2-0.3% make their way to the ocean. Even that small percent means hundreds of millions of bags each year are left to float in the sea. In particular, the crisis has had a deleterious effect on sea turtles, which mistake the floating bags for jellyfish, a favorite food. 

All seven species of sea turtle are listed as endangered on the World Conservation Union's "Red List" of species in danger of extinction, a situation made even more urgent for many animals by plastic pollution.

"Last year I counted 76 plastic bags in the ocean in just one minute while standing in the bow of our sea turtle research boat at sea in Indonesia", reports Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences and coauthor of the review. "The science is becoming crystal clear: sea turtles and plastic pollution don't mix well. Sea turtles have spent the past 100 million years roaming seas free of plastic pollution, and are now sadly the poster animal for impacts of our throw away society on endangered species", states Nichols.

Other facts reported by Wabnitz and Nichols and explicitly illustrated in the accompanying photo library, include:

• Worldwide, plastic pollution is adding to the stress on endangered ocean wildlife, like sea turtles;

• Plastic can be ingested by or entangle sea turtles and can physically interfere with their nesting activity on beaches when it accumulates in large amounts;

• Approximately half of all sea turtles surveyed had ingested plastic items; and,

• Micro-plastics are accumulating in molluscs and crustaceans sea turtles eat.

The authors were not without suggestions for corrective measures to ameliorate or end the plague of plastics in the ocean. In addition to broader policy efforts recommended by the authors, were simpler—"off-the-shelf"—personal behavior solutions, including:

• Avoiding plastic-bottled beverages;

• Buying products with minimal or reusable packaging;

• Buying in bulk whenever possible to reduce packaging;

• Buying used items;

• Seeking out reusable shopping and produce bags like those made from renewable sources (e.g., natural fibres) and always bringing them along;

• For coffee and or tea – bring your own mug;

• For food – bring your own container.

"Sea turtle researchers and conservationists have a unique role to play in our cultural evolution away from plastic pollution, as we have watched the havoc the surge of plastic has caused first hand", notes Dr. Colette Wabnitz of the University of British Columbia.

"Sea turtle researchers from around the world have been submitting photos of interactions with plastic to the Image Library on Seaturtle.org. Given the amount of disposable plastic I see alongside the road everyday and the garbage my kids pick up whenever we go to the beach, the results are not surprising", added Dr. Michael Coyne, founder and director of SeaTurtle.org.

The pdf of the report and a collection of images from around the world depicting in excruciating detail the impact of plastic on sea turtles can be found at: 

http://www.seaturtle.org/plasticpollution/