Comments Beth Terry has made

  • I agree with peapack!

    Brangelina top the list?  They may toss a lot of money at environmental causes but their very public spectacle of child-bearing undoes all the good.  They make breeding look fun and sexy.  NOT what the planet needs at the moment.  We need green role models who set the example that it's not necessary to make lots of little copies of ourselves.On Read about six couples who turned their eco-love into an eco-venture ... posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago 15 Responses

  • Why Brita and not Pur?

    Hi DannyGirl.  We are a small group of individuals who don't have the resources to take on every water filter company, but we do have reasons for starting with BRITA.  From our web site at http://www.takebackthefilter.org:

    So why are we focusing on Brita rather than other water filter companies?

    1. Brita has the #1 market share of pour-through filter cartridges in the U.S. and Canada. It's the #1 faucet-mount filter in Canada and the #2 faucet-mount filter in the U.S. (Per Clorox's 2007 Annual Report.)

    2. The recycling infrastructure exists within the European branch of the company already.

    3. By purchasing Burt's Bees, developing GreenWorks cleaning products, and creating the FilterForGood campaign, Clorox is making a bid to appeal to environmentally-conscious consumers at this time. Taking responsibility for its plastic waste would be a great way for the company to "walk its talk."

    For anyone who is interested in a campaign to get Pur to recycle their filters, Ideal Bite has started a letter-writing campaign of their own targeting Pur, which is based on our Brita campaign.  You can read more about it in the "Personally Speaking" section of their post here:

    http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/reverse-filt ...

    Beth Terry http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

    On Campaign calls on Brita to recycle water filters posted 1 year, 3 months ago 7 Responses

  • Urge Clorox to take back and recycle BRITA filters

    There is a campaign afoot to urge Clorox to take back and recycle those filters.  The original BRITA company in Germany has been doing it since 1992.  Clorox tells us they don't know if it's worth it to consumers.  Let's tell them that it is!

    Please visit http://www.takebackthefilter.org to sign the petition, write a letter, and send us your used filters!

    Beth Terry http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

    On The Clorox Co. leverages sustainability for growth posted 1 year, 5 months ago 6 Responses

  • Urge Clorox to take-back/recycle Brita filters!

    FilterForGood, sure but have you ever wondered what happens to all the used plastic Brita filter cartridges at the end of their lives?

    If you lived in Europe, you could take that filter to a drop-off location where it would be sent back to Brita for recycling. Unfortunately, here in North America, we have no options for recycling our Brita cartridges at all. Each plastic cartridge is either landfilled or incinerated, adding to the toxic waste that is already choking our planet.

    That's why I have signed on to the Take Back The Filter campaign (http://www.takebackthefilter.org) to urge The Clorox Company, which owns Brita in North America, to redesign their filters and provide a way for us to recycle them, as is done in Europe. I urge you to join me!

    Here's how you can help:

    Sign the Petition (http://www.gopetition.com/online/18444.html)

    Send in your used filter cartridges: (http://takebackthefilter.org/2008/04/send-us-your-used-fi ...)

    Read more about the issue: (http://www.takebackthefilter.org)

    Spread the word. This is a grassroots movement. If we don't speak up, who will?On Evian Is Just Evil Misspelled posted 1 year, 7 months ago 9 Responses

  • Urge Clorox to take-back/recycle Brita filters

    Yep.  Clorox is greening its image.  But have you ever wondered what happens to all the used plastic Brita filter cartridges at the end of their lives?

    Sorry that the following is a cut and paste from our web site.  I have been blogging about this so much I just can't create new words each time!

    If you lived in Europe, you could take that filter to a drop-off location where it would be sent back to Brita for recycling. Unfortunately, here in North America, we have no options for recycling our Brita cartridges at all. Each plastic cartridge is either landfilled or incinerated, adding to the toxic waste that is already choking our planet.

    That's why I have signed on to the Take Back The Filter campaign (http://www.takebackthefilter.org) to urge The Clorox Company, which owns Brita in North America, to redesign their filters and provide a way for us to recycle them, as is done in Europe. I urge you to join me!

    Here's how you can help:

    Sign the Petition (http://www.gopetition.com/online/18444.html)

    Send in your used filter cartridges: (http://takebackthefilter.org/2008/04/send-us-your-used-fi ...)

    Read more about the issue: (http://www.takebackthefilter.org)

    Spread the word. This is a grassroots movement. If we don't speak up, who will?

    Beth Terry http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

    On Bleach company discovers its green gene posted 1 year, 7 months ago 5 Responses

  • simply buying less plastic stuff

    Simply buying less plastic stuff is the answer to many, many environmental problems, including PVC.  While other plastics may be less toxic and cause fewer problems, they all share the same fatal flaw.  Petroleum-based plastics are not biodegradable and are wreaking havoc in the marine environment and food chain, no matter what type of polymer they are made from.  Plastic is lipophyllic and attracts pollutants like PCB and DDE, which concentrate on plastic particles and make their way up the food chain.  There really is no "safe" plastic in the long run and we need to find alternatives.

    Beth Terry
    http://www.fakeplasticfish.comOn Umbra on avoiding vinyl posted 1 year, 9 months ago 3 Responses

  • Clorox needs to do more...

    Clorox is trying to green its image by purchasing Burt's Bees and creating Green Works.  But did you know they also own the Brita water filter company in North America?  In Europe, Brita cartridges can be recycled in an extensive company take-back program.  But Brita North America (Clorox) has no plans for recycling the cartridges here in the states, so we end up tossing a hunk of plastic into the landfill or incinerator each time we need to change the filter.

    If you're interested in asking Clorox to create a recycling program for these cartridges, please see my blog posts on the issue.  Here's the link where you can read the history on this:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/labels/Brita.html

    Oh, and if you want to green your toothpaste, consider mixing up your own.  I use baking soda mixed with wintergreen essential oil and a tiny bit of stevia powder for taste.  (Some people add salt for abrasion and others add vegetable glycerin to make it more like a paste.)  Tastes fine, works great, and my dentist is pleased with my teeth.On Umbra on green-company buyouts posted 1 year, 9 months ago 13 Responses

  • Wal-Mart recycling in Oakland

    I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart, but I thought you might be interested to see a little bit of Wal-Mart's recycling efforts in Oakland.  A few weeks ago, I toured the facility that has the contract to process Wal-Mart's recycling.  Wal-Mart bundles cardboard, plastic sheeting, and plastic hangers into "sandwich" bales before sending them to the facility.  There are some photos in the article on my blog:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/11/recycling-part-4-v ...

    I do wonder why they are recycling plastic hangers instead of reusing them.  Surely, they can't all be broken, can they?  If if they are, there must be a better type of hanger they could be using in the first place.On Wal-Mart releases its first "sustainability report" posted 2 years ago 3 Responses

  • fake log ashes

    Anything you can do with Duraflame ash?  Nowadays it's made from non-petroleum wax, apparently.  But is there any use for it in the garden?On Umbra on fireplace ashes posted 2 years ago 6 Responses

  • Just more greenwash!

    No matter how you spin it, bottled water is not "green."  I don't care how many offsets they purchase, bottling and transporting a natural resource that already flows cheaply and cleanly from our faucets is a huge waste of resources.  And they are just furthering the problem of plastic waste in the environment.

    Here's my take on the bottled water issue:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/think-outside-biot ...On Fiji Water announces plan to become carbon negative posted 2 years ago 3 Responses

  • What about all the plastic??!!!??

    I'm surprised you didn't include any individually wrapped rolls in your review.  Seventh Generation's individually wrapped rolls have the highest recycled content and no plastic wrapper.  I wrote a whole post about it on my blog, in my quest to find plastic-free toilet paper, and where you can buy it for cheap:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/08/seventh-generation ...

    Yes, it's important to save the trees.  But it's also extremely important that we get away from plastic, especially disposable plastic films.  Everyone's so opposed to plastic grocery bags.  Why's it okay to fill up our reusable canvas bags with plastic-wrapped products when we don't have to?On A review of recycled toilet-paper brands posted 2 years ago 21 Responses

  • I do it!

    I love my Smart strips.  And I don't have to reprogram anything.

    In fact, I wrote a whole post about smart strips and how I use them on my blog just last last week:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/smart-strips-are-r ...

    If you have a piece of equipment that needs to stay on because of programming, plug that one into the CONSTANT HOT outlet and you won't have to reprogram.  Everything else can be shut down automatically without your having to remember to flip the switch.On Umbra on power strips posted 2 years ago 13 Responses

  • Recycling, Part 3

    Paperboard frozen food trays are NOT coated in wax.  They are coated in a layer of plastic.  All of them.  Which means they are not recyclable AND I would not put them in my compost.

    The black plastic trays that Lean Cuisine and other frozen meals come in have a recycling "chasing arrows" symbol, but that does not mean that they are actually recycled everywhere.  Here in the Bay Area, they are not recycled by any of the cities where I live or work or my husband works.

    And just because an area accepts an item for curbside pickup doesn't mean that the item actually gets recycled either.  Some areas will accept everything so that residents don't have to figure out what not to put in, and then whatever they can't sell gets landfilled.

    It was very hard, but I finally gave up frozen meals altogether.  You can read about my research and experiences trying to find "green" frozen foods here:

    http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/labels/frozen%20foods.html ...On Umbra on the impact of food purchases posted 2 years, 2 months ago 21 Responses