clair098

Where is the plastic-free gardener who can help us with gardening, as The Plastic-free Chef  does with cooking?  That person has not yet stepped forward.  Instead a bunch of people are tinkering, and sharing their experiences. Shreveport, 1950's:  my Aunt Grace lets me "help" harvest produce in her lovely and productive backyard garden.  We feast on beans, tomatoes, boysenberries, figs.  No petroleum products, no  plastic. NYC, 2012:  plastics have become deeply embedded in the gardening mindset and in supply sources.  Even organic gardeners often choose plastic pots, petroleum-based weed cloth and row covers, and buy organic fertilizers, composts, and manures in plastic bags. However, along with all the plastic window boxes and plastic mulch, hints and help with alternatives do exist.  For instance: Beth Terry of My Plastic-free Life  , entertaining and informative as usual, shares her plastic-free gardening adventure, parts 1 ...

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an estrogenic-like chemical used in many plastic products. BPA can can interfere with hormones and normal development in children and has been linked to everything from infertility to diabetes to heart disease. Some products—such as sippy cups for toddlers—advertise themselves as being "BPA-free". The presence of BPA in the linings of many canned products has been less publicized. Several manufacturers , such as Eden Organics , have voluntarily stopped lining their cans with BPA. Weruva is one of the few pet food companies to have canned food with BPA-free linings. Four Swedish reporters decided to do some informal research about BPA in canned foods. They ate nothing but canned food for two days and doctors found that their BPA levels rose between 2,800 and 4,600 percent. These levels are below what the Swedish government estimates to be safe, though what is a safe level of BPA is still being debated. Since April 2012, the Swedish government outla...

Question : Which of the following items are recycleable? hair blue jeans wine cotton swabs crayons keys Answer : All of them! Keys are made of valuable metal. Keys For Kindness is a small, family-run program designed to raise money through metal key recycling for the Multiple Sclerosis society. Wine really is a zero-waste beverage. Its bottle can by recycled in a glass program, and ReCORK America has drop-off locations for corks at local Whole Foods stores. Jeans to your local Goodwill, but if they are too worn to be reused they can be recycled into other products. Companies like Green Jeans Insulation and Bonded Logic manufacture insulation products from recycled denim and cotton fibers. The Grand Army Plaza and other local greenmarkets accept fabric donations as well. &#9658 Read more about these less-known recycleables at Earth911 .