VIDEO CLIP: Raising an eco-friendly family

The Today Show  11.19.08

Our products were featured by author Helen Coronato as an easy, affordable solution to greening your lunchbox.

Link: Raising an eco-friendly family

AUDIO CLIP: Dirty plastic bags

npr,  11.14.08

Our founder, Vincent Cobb, joins Ashkay Rao, program director and professor at University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, to discuss why not all reusable bags are created equal.

“[The 99-cent reusable shopping bag phenomenon] has become a marketing gimmick du jour, big time. It’s an advertisement for the retailer, so they’re very incented to get them out there. If they just sit and accumulate in a closet and you go back to taking plastic bags, then yeah, you have done a net negative.”

Listen to the interview

Toys Containing Banned Plastics Still on Market

The Wall Street Journal 10.23.08

Three types of phthalates, chemical additives that render hard plastics flexible, will be banned from children's toys and child-care products starting Feb. 10, while three other types of phthalates will be temporarily prohibited from child-care products and toys that can be placed in a child's mouth…

"This holiday season is going to be 'buyer beware,'" says Elizabeth Hitchcock of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Consumers will see "toys marked down at a discount without knowing that they contain a substance that will be banned in February," says Ms. Hitchcock. That could "present a tremendous danger," she says, because the lower prices will be all the more appealing to shoppers during an economic downturn.

Link: Toys Containing Banned Plastics Still on Market

Panel Faults F.D.A. on Stance That Chemical in Plastic Is Safe

The New York Times 10.29.08

A scientific panel has issued a blistering report against the Food and Drug Administration, saying it ignored important evidence in reassuring consumers about the safety of the controversial chemical bisphenol-A.

The agency’s evaluation of BPA “creates a false sense of security” and “overlooks a wide range of potentially serious findings,” the report said.

Link: Panel Faults F.D.A. on Stance That Chemical in Plastic Is Safe

In Mayor's Plan, the Plastic Bag Will Carry A Fee

The New York Times 11.07.08

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register.

 If the proposal passes, New York City would follow the lead of many European countries and become one of the first places in the United States to assess a so-called plastic bag tax.

Our Take:  While we applaud a consumption-based fee of any kind, 6 cents just isn't enough to change behavior. The main objective of Ireland's hugely successful PlasTax was to cut consumption. This seems designed to create an ongoing revenue stream for a struggling municipality, while reducing consumption a little. We doubt anything less than 25 cents will work.

Link: In Mayor's Plan, the Plastic Bag Will Carry A Fee