Wakefield, 19 May 2012 -- Plastic additives tend to leach more into food under the following conditions:

- When the food has a high level of fat;

- When the food is acidic;

- When the food is hot.

Spaghetti sauce falls in all of these categories and yet, it is often prepared in a thermos with a plastic lid. Since nobody really wants toxic endocrine disruptors in their spaghetti sauce, it's best to avoid the situation. Glass is one option. Here's another... We are proud to introduce a series of four hot lunch containers with a lid featuring a stainless steel interior. Four sizes are available: 500 ml / 17 fl. oz; 850 ml / 28.7 fl. oz; 950 ml / 32 fl oz. and the mother of them all 2000 ml / 0.5 gallon. Check them out by clicking here.

Wakefield, 22 April 2012 - Thank you Mother Earth for the beauty and peace you create.  We salute you today, as we do every day.

Wakefield, 4 March 2012 -- We are just about to send to the printer our very first paper catalog. It will be sustainably printed on 100% recycled paper with veggie-based inks and features our family (including our son), members of our team as well as friends from our Village and community. If you are interested in receiving this fun catalogue at your doorstep, please subscribe by adding your name and address to our database. If you know someone who is not hooked up to the Internet but who might be interested in our products, please offer to add their names to our list, or let us know and we would be happy to add them to the mailing list. We are very excited about this new visual avenue to you and we hope you will like it! Click here to subscribe (via Constant Contact).

16 January 2012 -- Two pieces of legislation currently making their way through the U.S. lawmaking process threaten to seriously damage the nature and functioning of the Internet as we know it. The Internet blacklist legislation - known as the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) currently before the U.S. Senate, and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) currently in the U.S. House of Representatives - harms the free and open Internet and creates new tools to censor international websites inside the United States.  It compromises Internet security, inhibits online expression and hampers online innovation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has put together a very good list of reasons to oppose PIPA and SOPA.  

In an unprecedented move, on January 18, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, will blackout the English version of Wikipedia for 24 hours in protest against the proposed legislation. You can read the statement from the Wikimedia Foundation here, and a personal message from the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, Sue Gardner, here.

You can take action here with the assistance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and tell your Congressional representative that you oppose this destructive legislation.

Washington D.C., 1 January 2012 -- We are thrilled and honored to be the featured business in Green America's January 'Faces of the Green Pages' - a monthly candid interview of a business member listed in Green America's amazing Green Pages. Have a read through the interview to learn more about what we do, why we do it, and how it all began... 

And we would strongly suggest that you take a look at all the fabulous information and suggestions in the 'Take the Plastic Challenge' issue of the Green American magazine.  Go ahead and Take the Plastic Challenge by looking closely at the plastics you use in your everyday life, and ways to decrease them. 

Wakefield, 18 October 2011 -- We have put together a new category called "Travel and Take-Out". It contains plastic-free and reusable alternatives to products that we often forget to bring with us when we go for take-out or when we travel. You can have a tangible impact in reducing the consumption of disposable plastics. It makes sense to keep a fork or spoon in your purse or glove compartment in case you need to eat on the go. We found an even better option: a foldable stainless steel spork! And you should always have a mug or cup handy, or even better, a reusable and foldable stainless steel cup. We have it too. As far as styrofoam containers are concerned, why not replace them with a reusable and plastic-free stainless steel tiffin? We have even designed an organic cotton bag to carry all these things to your favorite take-out place. The bag handily opens up as a tablecloth for when you eat in a cafeteria or outdoors under a tree.

Update (13 September 2011):  GOOD NEWS - LAWSUIT DROPPED! DETAILS HERE AND SEPT 19 NYTIMES OVERVIEW HERE

Wakefield, 12 September 2011 -- Reusable bag maker Chicobag is being sued by several large plastic bag manufacturers who allege that statements on Chicobag's 'Learn the Facts' webpage are false and misleading. The webpage references widely accepted information to illustrate the gigantic gap between the consumption rates and recycling rates of single-use plastic bags, and the general impacts of single-use use plastics on our oceans and environment. Please consider signing the Care2 petition calling on the plastic giants to drop their lawsuit. There are much more productive ways to spend such time, energy and resources. Marin County and the City of Long Beach California have also been sued for taking stands against the ubiquitous polluting single-using plastic bag.  Action to protest this sort of bullying tactic is especially important and urgent given the recent news that the American Chemistry Council, a key lobby group for the plastics industry, has had direct influence over the drafting of the environmental curriculum for California public schools. Balance in educational materials is critical, but since when do 11th grade students need to be told by the plastic industry about "the advantages of plastic shopping bags"?

Image credit: Chicobag

Wakefield, 5 July 2011 -- You care about the environment - you want to learn more about what's happening environmentally all over the world - and you like to laugh? Grist is for you. As part of the 'Grist dared me to make a change' series, Grist writer Mike SanClements is doing a plastic purge. Here is his vow: "For two weeks, starting July 5, I am going to eliminate as much plastic as possible from my life. I will not purchase anything packed in or containing plastic. I will not eat any foods packaged in plastic. I will not use hygiene products packaged in plastic (except this recycled plastic toothbrush I already have, as no toothbrush would just be nasty), nor will I create any plastic waste."

We've teamed up with the fine folks at Grist - this top notch on-line environmental news source with a twist (a twist of "gloom and doom with a sense of humor") - to offer you the chance to support non-profit, independent environmental journalism at its best, and at the same time maybe even get a complimentary airtight stainless steel container from us if you hurry. The first 65 people to support Mike in his plastic purge by donating $25 or more to Grist will receive a container. The harder you laugh, the better your chances are.