Life Without Plastic Blog

Storing Homemade Play Dough in an Airtight Stainless Steel Container

Last weekend, our son Jyoti and I made play dough. Jyoti is 9 years old so play dough is not as exciting as it was when he was little, but he had the idea of creating a time lapse video with it. So, he invented a story and took pictures of a little monster escaping the stainless steel airtight container in which we had stored the play dough. I put together the movie, and here is the result.  Feel free to pass it around.

 

Play dough is a great tool for making a time lapse video, and if you want your play dough to last, make sure it is stored in an airtight container.  Here is a good homemade play dough recipe:

Basic ingredient ratios:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)

Mix all these ingredients together in a saucepan on low heat until the play dough starts to detach from the sides of the saucepan.  Add food coloring if you wish.

Let us know what you thought of our little video.

Chantal Plamondon, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

On Khadi: Fabric of Freedom

Before I even get into khadi and why it is much more than just a silky soft, hand spun, hand woven fabric made in India, some background is in order.

I was born and raised in Canada, but my roots are part Bengali on my father's side. Bengali people hail from Bangladesh or West Bengal, the northeast Indian state adjacent to Bangladesh. In 1947, India achieved its independence after 200 years of British colonialism and oppression. Independence came at a divisive price as India was partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan following violent conflict between Hindu and Muslim extremists.  At that time, what is now Bangladesh became East Pakistan. This is where my father grew up until adolescence and where our family had lived for ages. Overnight there was a mass migration of Muslims out of India into Pakistan, and of Hindus out of Pakistan into India.  Our family was part of that teeming human flow moving from East Pakistan into West Bengal. Generations of family heritage were left behind overnight in exchange for survival. (Map Image: ©National Maritime Museum, London)

My father was studying at Calcutta (Kolkata) University in 1947 and was a leader in the student government. In Kolkata, violent fighting was going on between extremist Hindus and Muslims. Students - Hindu and Muslim together - had barricaded parts of the University to seek refuge and prevent the bloodthirsty rioters from getting in and spreading the killing, which had become intense, random and completely irrational. One man - revered by both Hindus and Muslims - was able to stop these senseless terrorizing riots:  Mahatma Gandhi, the key architect behind India's freedom from the British. He ended the fighting by going on a hunger strike, refusing to consume anything more than a little water each day until all the fighting stopped. It must have torn his heart in two to witness such violence between Indian people after having achieved Indian independence through non-violent means.

I remember seeing Richard Attenborough's excellent film Gandhi with my father when it was first released in 1982. As the vivid riot scenes came to life on the screen I saw my father put his head down and breath deeply. He left the cinema and paced out in the lobby. Later he explained that he was having flashbacks of those awful riots that had brought him and his classmates so close to death. He described how the students had boiled water to pour over the barricades because they knew of no other way to prevent the mob of killers from coming at them.

I mention all this context to give you an idea of what Mahatma Gandhi was capable of - through wholly non-violent means. Khadi comes into this picture because it was one of the most powerful and symbolic tools Gandhi used in galvanizing the Indian people against British political and economic supremacy to achieve Swadeshi (self-sufficiency) and Swaraj (self-rule).  Gandhi encouraged all Indian citizens to make their own khadi using a traditional spinning wheel, called a charka, and thus decrease Indian dependence on British-made imported textiles. Gandhi wore only khadi and encouraged all Indians to do the same. To this day, many Indian politicians continue to wear only khadi. (Image: Gandhi spinning on a charka at Sabarmati Ashram, 1925 --- ©Vithalbhai Jhaveri/GandhiServe Foundation (Image from Wikimedia Commons))

So now the link to living without plastic. As you can already tell, khadi is so far from plastic in so many ways. We found a wonderful Indian company that makes traditional organic cotton khadi and colours it with rich natural dyes derived from plants, fruit, and seeds. We worked with them to obtain some gorgeous bolts of super soft, earth tone khadi. We then passed this lush fabric over to our local master seamstress friend Tracy from Eco-Tav, and she has created three practical works of khadi art for us to offer to our customers for everyday use in decreasing their reliance on plastic. The two-tone blossom bag (shown at right), the portable placemat and cutlery holder (in gold or green), and the spork pouch (in gold or green).

We think it's important to know where the things that populate one's life come from, what they are made of, and who made them. It's not always possible to know this. And even with this khadi we don't know the name of the particular rural Indian weaver who made it - though we could probably find out. But we know this is a fabric that creates freedom. And that's pretty darn cool.

Jay Sinha, Co-Founder
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

Polyester and Nylon are NOT Compostable

I must admit, I do not follow fashion. I am not sure what is "in" right now.  I just buy the styles, colours and fabrics I like to wear. I am kind of an unintended anti-fashionista. I almost always shop at thift stores because not only do I save a lot, but I also find the most interesting pieces of clothing. My favourite thrift store is the Value Village located on Pembina Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which I visit every time we travel to Winnipeg to spend time with Jay's parents (see photo taken from Google Street View). One thing I always check when picking my clothes is the fabric label. I always want to make sure the item is made of a natural fabric. I am always astonished at the amount of synthetic fabric used in clothing.  A large majority of clothes are made of synthetic fibres which do not biodegrade, are not compostable and take a very long time to decompose according to an article published in Grist:

"Casual composters report that a year after adding a cotton-poly T-shirt to a pile, the cotton is gone and all that remains is a spooky polyester skeleton. Estimates for a more complete breakdown of polyester seem to range from 20 to 200 years, given various conditions." (From Grist, "Ask Umbra: Is Fabric Compostable")

What is worse is that synthetic fabric breaks down over time in small particles and we end up breathing it in without realizing it. One of the worse uses of synthetic fabric is for curtains. Curtains exposed to the sun will break down quickly and the small synthetic particles float around and pollute indoor air.

Chantal Plamondon, Co-Founder
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

How clean is your bin?

First, an embarassing confession:  I meant to write this blogpost, er, um, about a year ago. Life happens. Here it is finally. Thankfully, it is still relevant. Correction: More relevant than ever.

Just over a year ago we had the pleasure and honour of co-sponsoring - with our friends at La Forêt and The Black Sheep Inn - a Wakefield, Quebec screening of the funky, powerful, funny, award-winning, *important* indie documentary The Clean Bin Project. I'll get to why it is so important a little later.

The dynamic, waste-busting, film-making duo of Vancouverites Jen and Grant embarked on a year-long project they dubbed their  "zero waste, consumer-free year".

Their mantra:  "The goal is zero landfill waste. For one year we will not buy any material goods and will attempt to live without producing household garbage." 

For the duration of the Project between July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2009, they had three cardinal rules:

1. No buying stuff. (They could not buy any material goods.)
2. No producing garbage.  This means “avoid packaging”. (They could not buy anything that comes in non-recyclable packaging and they had to avoid excess packaging)
3. Take responsibility for your waste. (They had to take all waste produced personally by them home with them to recycle, compost, etc.)

Jen works as an environmental planner and grows a fine garden, and Grant is a self-employed music producer who likes to wear white pants (more on that in the film). Together they show just how challenging it can be in every day life to go zero waste in our consumerist, overpackaged society. As they say, it was "a competition where less is more".

We loved the film for many reasons, but obviously because it beautifully displays the problem of plastics as a key source of waste, especially in the environment. There are superb interviews with a couple of our heros, anti-plastic crusadors Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and photographic artist par excellence, Chris Jordan.  

This is such an important film because it shows just how much one can have an impact at the individual level when you become aware of the waste you produce on a daily basis. And it provides ways that you can take action. Take a look at the top ten tips Jen and Grant suggest for taking action to reduce waste.

We had the opportunity to meet the smiling Jen and Grant in person at the screening in our hometown last year. Wakefield was one stop on their 7600 km bike ride across Canada screening the film in 30 different communities and inspiring folks like us along the way to work toward clean bins. These are two down-to-earth folks who are helping make this world a better place.

The film is currently screening all over the place (and picking up film fest awards as it goes). We highly recommend checking it out if you get the chance, and if not, DVDs will soon be available for purchase off their site.  Even better, you could organize a screening in your community.  Jen and Grant might even show up to do a fun Q&A after the film. And Grant might even wear his white pants.

Jay Sinha, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

The Perfect Tray for Last Minute Breakfast in the Car

If you are like me, you probably rush to the last minute in the morning in order to get your child's lunch ready on time while making sure he gets dressed, eats his breakfast and brushes his teeth. Unfortunately, sometimes I am just not efficient enough to get all these tasks done on time, so we have to leave quickly and bring our son's breakfast in the car. We just found these really practical little food trays, just perfect for breakfast in the car.  Mind you, they are also great for the picky kid who doesn't like it when various parts of his meal mingle together. The tray is made in Korea of high quality stainless steel 18/8. It is of course BPA-free, phthalate-free, lead-free and it is dishwasher-safe.

These two little pictures show our son kidding around and devouring one of his muffins. The food tray on his lap is available on our website at LifeWithoutPlastic.com. You may read all about this little stainless steel food tray by clicking this link. Enjoy!

Chantal Plamondon, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

Freezing the Season's Harvest in Safe, Non-Toxic, Plastic-Free Stainless Steel Containers

We have some great products available to those looking for a safe and plastic-free way to store the bounty from the garden.

There is our 4 litre / 1 gallon rectangular stainless steel airtight container which can accommodate a large batch of frozen tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and so on. We love this container.  We use it a lot to bring large batches of food to a potluck or family dinner. We also use it to conserve our bread as it sits nicely on our countertop and it has the perfect shape. Available for $62.95.

Now, we also have a set of 4 large stainless steel airtight food containers. Four convenient sizes are included: 18 cm / 7 1/16" diameter 1.75 L / 59 oz. capacity; 20 cm / 7 7/8" diameter, 2 L / 68 oz. capacity; 23 cm / 9" diameter 4 L / 135 oz. capacity; 26 cm / 10 1/4" diameter, 6 L / 203 oz. capacity. The four containers nest into one another completely (with the lids on) thus optimizing storage space. Available for $99.95 (for all four).

Freezing fruits and veggies is an excellent way to conserve them for future use. Unfortunately, Mother Nature does not necessarily offer the same bounty throughout the year. She provides many things all at once during the summer months. Where we live, it is now the time for beans and tomatoes.  So we are eating a lot of bean and tomato salads these days, but we are also freezing some extra for this winter. This not only saves money and provides wholesome veggies during the winter, but it also cuts out the greenhouse gas emissions such produce would create if it had to travel to end up at our local grocery store throughout the rest of the year.

- Chantal, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

The Little Bald Eaglet that Got Caught in Plastic Fishing Line

I have always admired the majesty of bald eagles. So when I discovered the Hancock Wildlife Foundation and its live webcams installed near bald eagle nests, I was thrilled. I opened a small window on my computer screen and I could admire the eaglets progressively transforming into magnificent birds. I must admit that the life of a baby bald eagle is pretty boring at times, but the parts when a parent comes back to the nest with some food for the eaglets is quite fascinating.

Two weeks ago, however, disaster struck and it was all because of discarded plastic... One of the three eaglets of the Victoria/Sydney nest got caught in some fishing line that must have been used to build the nest. The poor thing was not able to move and therefore could not meet its parents to get fed when they would bring food to the nest. Many of the thousands of people watching got really upset and started raising money to fund a rescue operation. Fortunately, within days of the incident, a crane was commissioned and Mr. Hancock, the operator of the webcams, was able to free the poor eaglet from the fishing line.  As of today, it is still alive and seems to be doing quite well. Go take a look. Click on the image below.

What I find really sad is thinking of the thousands of birds and other animals that get tangled in plastic fishing lines or other plastic hazards every day and die in complete isolation. It just so happened that because watchers could see the eaglet struggle, they decided to spend a large sum of money to save it. Suddently, its life was priceless. I wish we could find a way to make people realize the dangers that discarded plastic poses to wildlife without having to install webcams all over the place. Yikes, that sounds ominous.

Go ahead and open a little window on your computer screen (my favorite nest is the White Rock). These birds will become your daily companions and you will want them to survive, no matter what.

Chantal Plamondon, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

 

 

Win PLASTIC...and more

It's not what you think. We haven't migrated to the other side. The PLASTIC we're offering up won't leach into your food, but it will leach into your mind and make you look twice at the plastic in your life.

You may have noticed on our website that on Earth Day we featured a recently released book about plastic - called 'PLASTIC: A Toxic Love Story' - by journalist Susan Freinkel. Feel free to check out our review of this important book here. We mentioned that we had contributed some product to a promotional Earth Day Plastic-free Prize Pack that the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), were raffling off as part of the book launch. 

Weeellll, it seems the Prize Pack sweepstakes were only open to United States residents, which we did not initially realize, but which we quickly found out from some very unhappy Canadian followers. We asked HMH if they would be willing to provide a copy of the book for us to raffle off. They immediately agreed, and here we are.

So it's raffle time again, and this time the giveaway is open to anyone in North America. The prize pack includes a copy of the book PLASTIC: A Toxic Love Story, a Square Airtight Glass Container with a Stainless Steel Lid, a Round Airtight Stainless Steel Food Container, and smiles from Chantal and me - actually those are available to all :) :)

To enter, all you have to do is to tell us about an important item in your everyday life that you are unable to find in a plastic-free format. But be creative -- low-hanging fruit like "water bottle" and "coffee mug" are weak -- you can find those almost anywhere now. Think hard about something that you may have spent time looking for but just can't find in a non-plastic medium. Let us know by posting a comment below, and/or posting a comment in this item on the Life Without Plastic facebook page and indicating that you "Like" the page, or sending us an e-mail at info [at] lifewithoutplastic [dot] com.

The contest will be open for two weeks, so through Friday, May 20th. A winner will be chosen once the contest closes. Good luck!

One last thing - if you are interested in buying the book, we suggest purchasing it through this link, which will help support the Plastic Free Times.

Jay Sinha, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO TARA, WHOSE FACEBOOK ENTRY IS THE WINNER! THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING.  SO MANY EXCELLENT SUGGESTIONS WE HAVE TAKEN NOTE OF - BECAUSE WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW ALTERNATIVES TO PLASTIC.

Dog Food Without Plastic

About two years ago, one of our employees who always brought her dog to work had a great idea. She decided to start bringing her dog's food in one of our 2-tier 14 cm (5.5") tiffins. In one of the compartments, she would put some 'yummy' dog food and would keep the other empty so she could fill it up with water when she came to work. It worked great! Animals are just as likely as humans to be contaminated by toxins leaching from plastic. So stainless steel is a great alternative to plastic, especially because animals won't be able to chew on it, and because it can be completely sterilized in the dishwasher, which is not the case with plastic.

We offer one, two and three layers tiffins. With the 3-tier tiffin (as shown on the photo) you could have a layer with food, another one with biscuits and the last one would be reserved for water. These tiffins are made in Thailand of high quality 18-8 stainless steel. You can see them all here.

The beautiful dog in the picture is Lulu, our friend Jean's dog. She is a gentle gem of a canine being. The picture was taken in early March 2011 here in Wakefield. As you can see, the tiffin is just the perfect size for Lulu.

Chantal Plamondon, co-owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com

My Rodale Month Without Plastic

I have always been mindful of my plastic consumption, but when Rodale.com challenged its readers to go plastic-free for a month, I decided to make an extra effort. I am realistic about the fact that it is virtually impossible to live without plastic because of everyday products such as phones, computers, televisions, but what I find most disturbing is all the plastic food packaging. And when we want to cook from fresh ingredients to avoid plastic packaged processed food, imported food produce also comes packaged in plastic in northern climates like ours. Even organic produce and food products are packaged in plastic. So I decided to observe our habits. We live in the rural village of Wakefield, Quebec, about 30 kilometres from the City of Ottawa, Canada's capital. While we want to live plastic-free as much as possible, we have to be mindful of the extra gas we would incur to get all of our food needs without plastic packaging.

After our one-month experience, which revealed frequent disposal of single use plastic, Jay and I decided to create the following rules for our family:

1. If a product is available locally in a non-plastic packaging, even if it is not our favorite brand, we will favour it.
2. If there is a bulk version of a product available locally, we will bring our own plastic-free food containers and get it in bulk.
3. If a product is not available in a non plastic container nor is it available in a bulk format, we will contact the manufacturer and let them know we are not happy with their packaging and urge them to change it to a non-plastic format and/or offer it in bulk format.

I recommend that everyone actually make the extra effort to go plastic-free for a month in order to realize how much disposable plastic we are consuming every single day. There are some exceptional plastic-free heros such as Beth Terry who consume very little plastic every year, but for most of us, the extra effort is so great, espe cially when one lives in a rural community, that it is very difficult to achieve. However, it is possible to help change things by getting the companies that make our favorite products to change their packaging to make them more eco-friendly and plastic-free.

  For now, I have given up my favorite brand of yogourt (Liberté) for the Pinehedge Farm brand which comes in a glass jar. If Liberté wants to have me back, they will have to change their packaging.

Chantal Plamondon, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com