"plastic" news and stories

San Francisco is considering making a change that will affect most shoppers in the city: they're talking about instituting a ban on the use of plastic grocery bags. Lawmakers are blaming the bags for everything from "littering streets and choking wildlife" to playing a major part in global warming. The expect that such a change will save the city millions of dollars, although taxpayers may have an increased out-of-pocket expense for reusable canvas (or other materials) shopping bags and alternative plastic bags that would serve the functions that reused grocery bags often do now (lining small trash bins, picking up after dogs, etc.).

San Francisco is not the first city to consider such legislation. Plastic bags are either taxed or not used in parts of South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan. Bangladesh has banned them and Zanzibar, Rwanda and Paris are also considering a ban. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on the measure next week and, if passed, it will take effect in six months.

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We all know that a certain fast food restaurant carries a line of salads in shakers. The premise is that you fill the container with all your salad ingredients, pour in a separate container of dressing, close the lid and shake. After a minute, you salad is completely dressed and ready to eat out of the same container.

The Salad Blaster is a reusable, dishwasher safe way to take advantage of this technique in your own home - or better yet, in your lunch at school or at the office. The Blaster has a reservoir in the lid that holds the dressing, while the base contains all your salad fixings. Simply press the top bottom to dispense the dressing into the salad, shake and your lunch is ready to eat, though you will have to provide your own fork.

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When the spork was first invented, there is little doubt that its creators thought that they had created the ultimate fusion of eating utensils. The spork soon spread to school cafeterias and even into those little plastic baggies they pass out with the meal on airplanes. But the spork wasn't as useful as it could be because you couldn't cut anything with it. To compensate, airplanes included knives with their sporks and schools prepare lunches with no discernable texture. The spork, however, has finally evolved to take cutting abilities into account. The Spork/Knife, coined as the sporknif by Bea of La Tartine Gourmande, has a fork/knife on one end and a paddle-like spoon on the other. It is made from durable, heat-resistant PC material, comes in a variety of colors and only costs a few dollars.

You may never need another utensil again.

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Biobags are storage bags made from completely natural and biodegradable materials. Although they resemble plastic bags, they are made from cornstarch - and even the corn is certified as non-GMO. The material used to make them is actually a "bioplastic" called Mater-Bi, which is made by an Italian company that specializes in finding alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

Biobags allow the produce (or anything else) placed inside them to “breathe”, so heat and moisture will be wicked away, reducing the chance of bacterial buildup and even keeping produce fresh longer. It will also reduce the odors from trash and other waste products. The bags, if placed in a compost pile, will break down completely within 10-45 days, and will achieve the same result, albeit at a somewhat slower rate, in a natural setting. This means that they're great for taking along as storage on picnics and camping trips in addition to home use, just in case you lose track of any bags while you're out in the woods.

The bags are available online and come in a variety of sizes, including everything from grocery bags (pictured) to trash can liners to doggie bags.

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Pieces of hard plastic in Canadian Cadbury eggs have already resulted in one injury, prompting a recall of several varieties of the little chocolate eggs. A press release from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Cadbury Adams Canada, Inc. warns that the Caramilk, Caramilk Maple and Caramilk Cafe eggs are all affected by the recall. A similar release says that the eggs have been distributed nationally. The FDA has yet to issue any such recall in the U.S. We have our own Cadbury egg problems here.

[Photo: CandyCritic.org]