Category Archives: Year Of No Garbage

Earth Day is Coming- and Not a Moment Too Soon

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I learn more every day about the magical murderous material we call plastic. And I’m delighted to report that I’ve been hearing from folks all over as we gear up for Earth Day in April, for which the theme will be— are you ready?— Planet vs. Plastics!!

This message arrives not a moment too soon. Perhaps you’ve noticed that new studies seem to be coming out every day telling us all the terrible places plastic is showing up, and what it costs us: 

  • Did you know that a new study estimates that exposure to plastic chemicals was responsible for $250 billion in health care costs in 2018 alone?
  • Or that another study showed that 90% of food proteins- including chicken, fish, pork and plant-based meat alternatives- contain microplastics? 
  • Or that yet another study found that recycled plastic contains “an unknown number of chemical substances in unknown concentrations”?
  • Did you know that the plastics industry has started lobbying your kids?

The bad news keeps coming. I think the temptation is to see bad news as a bad thing, as in: “Ugh! Can it get any worse?” but honestly I think this information is JUST WHAT WE NEED. We need to know the shocking information in order to motivate people towards change.

My mantra has become: not by bamboo toothbrushes alone will we stop the Plastic Waste Crisis. Yes, personal responsibility is important, but AT THE SAME TIME so is legislation. And speaking of legislation, Greenpeace is asking folks to tell the Biden Administration that they care about the Global Plastics Treaty being negotiated at the United Nations right now, in the form of an online petition you can sign. Here is what it looks like:

I’ve done it and it literally takes two minutes, so I’m asking everyone to take a moment and weigh in here.

Finally, here is a link to an awesome and very fun podcast interview I did with Jeffrey Treistman and Matthew Schmidt of Impolitic. We cover A LOT of ground, including Darth Vader, adult diapers, some very bad Dad jokes, and the argument against recycling plastic. I hope you’ll check it out- you can listen here.

Kicking Trash and Taking Names in NJ

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MARK YR CALENDARS NEW JERSEY PEEPS I’ll be talking in person at 6:30 on January 16 at the Teaneck Public Library!! We are going to have some serious fun here debunking ALL the myths about plastic and trash. Come say hi and bring a friend.
Very special thanks to the Teaneck Public Library as well as the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and the Puffin Cultural Forum!

On The Trail of the Elusive No Plastic Bra

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Avoiding plastic can be treacherous business. Sure, this item avoids plastic, but will it be any GOOD? Will it work/be comfortable/ not make me look like a potato? Will I jump in and spend the extra $$$ for the non-plastic thingy only to be disappointed and left with another object I don’t want? Or worse yet, will the item be hiding plastic in it somewhere after all?

Seriously?!? A ZERO PLASTIC BRA

I’m delighted to report that I’ve happened upon something I had almost despaired of ever finding: the ZERO PLASTIC BRA. You read that right. And I know what you’re thinking: this is going to look like Amish underwear isn’t it? It’s gonna be weird or uncomfortable or involve things that have no business being on a bra like… like buttons or grommets or something. It’s gonna cost an arm and a leg and then turn out to have plastic hiding furtively in the cup seams.

But no- the Very Good Bra Company is very, very serious about making their product zero plastic— right down to the elastic and the sewing thread— which is no small feat. At $59 the price is comparable to the average plastic bra you might find at the mall, but then there is shipping to be considered and these bras are coming from Australia.

I know- buying my bras from as far away as Australia doesn’t sound very climate friendly does it? But when you consider the fact that the average new piece of clothing has traveled to six countries in the course of its manufacture, you understand that there is a loooooong footprint for any new bought item of clothing, no matter how you slice it. Since I don’t buy new clothing at all anymore except for underwear (only used, consignment or vintage) I figure buying one bra from Australia is not going to kill any more polar bears than absolutely necessary. Plus, there’s the added benefit that when I am done with it years from now, it won’t contain plastic to poison the environment with in some landfill for generations to come.

FYI Posting bra selfies is NOT my new hobby, Mom

In fact, The Very Good Bra has a blog post with pics of their bra in a home worm farm, to demonstrate their ready compostablility. You won’t find that at Victoria’s Secret.

That’s all well and good, but how does it perform, bra-wise? I wouldn’t be writing this post today if I hadn’t been very happily surprised by my purchase. The Very Good Bra lives up to its name: it arrives in (hallelujah) plastic-free packaging and not only is made of 100% degradable materials (Yes! Even the hook and eyes! Yes! Even the label!) but best of all I found it to be stunningly comfortable. To the point that now I’m spoiled: I don’t want to wear any of my old plastic bras anymore because they are not as nice to wear as my new Very Good Bra.

To sum up: I don’t have to wear plastic on my ta-tas anymore, I don’t have to worry about microplastics being released into the water supply when I wash them, and I know someday when its useful bra-life is done, unlike all other bras being sold today, it will degrade right back into the earth.

All that makes me feel beautiful. And not at all like a potato.

PS- For more products I like, allow me to proudly introduce my new page of Zero Waste recommendations!:

Year of No Garbage Resources