An Interview with Beth Terry: Live life with less plastic.

In June of 2007 I saw a photo that changed my life.  It was a dead albatross chick filled with plastic pieces from daily life:  bottle caps, toothbrushes, lighters, plastic toys…  At that point, I had never heard of the North Pacific Gyre (the area in the ocean now known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where so much of our plastic trash ends up) and I had no idea that our lifestyles were causing such harm thousands of miles from civilization.  I looked at my life and realized I had to change.

The plastic collection was a way for me to see just how much plastic waste I was generating in the first place and the blog was a way to keep myself on track.

How did you come up with the blog title Fake Plastic Fish?

It’s actually a reference to a Radiohead song, “Fake Plastic Trees.”  (Radiohead is one of my favorite bands ever and pretty environmentally conscious.)  I came up with name Fake Plastic Fish because if we don’t stop polluting our oceans with plastic, they could be the only kind of fish we have left.

Who are your mentors?

My first inspiration was actually Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man.  I had heard about him and his project to live for a year generating no negative environmental impact on a radio program.  It was via a link on his web site that I stumbled upon the photo of that albatross chick.  He helped me believe that my personal actions could make a difference.

Closer to home, one of my mentors has been Stuart Moody, the coordinator of Green Sangha’s Rethinking Plastics campaign.  Green Sangha is a spiritually-based local environmental organization whose philosophy is that there is really no separation between us and that if we want to heal the planet, we need to come from a place of love rather than creating enemies.  The Rethinking Plastics program is one of their major efforts, and they give presentations to schools, businesses, and community groups about the problem of plastics for health and the environment.  I’ve actually given that presentation a couple of times myself.

And finally, one of my heros is Captain Charlie Moore who first discovered the plastic in the gyre over 10 years ago and has worked tirelessly to bring awareness to this issue.  I love that he never minces words.  He says that plastic pollution is just the visible symbol of our global crisis of over-consumption.  He came up with that in a strategy meeting I attended, and I was so moved that I wrote it down and memorized it.

Honestly, the people I admire are those who stand up for what they believe and don’t worry about looking foolish.  That’s what I aspire to.

What are some of the challenges you face when choosing an alternative to plastic?

Some things simply cannot be replaced.  That was the hardest lesson for me.  I actually was addicted to convenience foods.  Energy bars.  And especially frozen dinners.  But after stubborn trial and error, I found that there is no frozen convenience food that is not packaged in some kind of plastic.  Even the cardboard trays are lined with plastic.  I used to think I could order drinks in a disposable cup and just ask for no lid and no straw.  Then I learned that all those cups are lined with plastic too — as are metal cans, which also contain BPA.

Can you tell us more about your job as the Plastic Sea Monster?

Ha!  Don’t know how many more times I will do that because walking around in plastic all day is not fun.  Especially in the hot sun.

I created the plastic sea monster costume for the SF Bay to Breakers (the annual foot race/walk across San Francisco).  My friend Eli Saddler from Ocean Health (http://www.facebook.com/oceanhealth) dressed as a leatherback sea turtle (because sea turtles eat plastic bags) and I chased him around SF.  We actually won the Bay to Breakers costume contest in the green category.

I wore an earlier version of the costume at Oakland’s Earth Expo and for two days in a row at the Marin County Fair.  That was what turned me off from ever wearing it in the sun again.  I think I need a cloth lining.  Sweating in plastic trash is not a good time.

What is your biggest pet peeve with plastic?

Bottled water.  Hands down.  Not only is the bottle plastic, but the whole idea of bottled water is one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated.  Why pay so much money for something we can get for pennies out of our taps?  Not to mention the environmental impact of extracting water, shipping it from the source to the bottling plant, using the energy and plastic that go into the bottles, shipping it to the store, and then the waste after the bottle is used.  Why can’t we invest in our water infrastructure, making sure there is clean municipal water for all?  And that our drinking fountains are plentiful and actually work?

Okay, my other pet peeve is overpackaging.  Individual fruits and vegetables wrapped in plastic.  I recently saw an article about 7-Eleven trying out bananas wrapped in plastic.  Bananas come with their own natural wrapper!  And all the automatic extras you get at take-out food places.  Utensils, straws, condiments, napkins, etc.  The plastic containers are bad enough, but restaurants should ask if you need that stuff before automatically sticking it in the bag.  Automatic unnecessary plastic that many consumers don’t even question or that they see as an entitlement.

If you had the opportunity to make/change the laws surrounding plastic what would be the first thing you do?

1)  I would require full disclosure from manufacturers of the ingredients in their plastic packaging.  We know about chemicals like BPA, phthalates, styrene, and recently antimony in #1 PET bottles; but what about the chemicals we don’t know about?  Plastic bottles, bags, and containers rarely contain the simple plastic polymer.  Companies use additives to affect the strength, texture, pliability, color, and even antimicrobial properties of plastic.  And for proprietary reasons, they are not required to disclose any of those additives.  If consumers don’t know what’s in the plastic, how can we really know it’s safe?

2)  I would like to see packaging included in requirements for organic certification.  Isn’t it ironic that we are willing to spend extra money to make sure no toxic chemicals have been added to our foods and personal care products, only to have them packaged in plastic that could potentially leach hormone disrupting chemicals back into them?

3)  I would pass EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) legislation which requires manufacturers to provide for the full life cycle of a product.  Currently, we as citizens spend our tax dollars to figure out ways to handle all the plastic and other waste generated from these products.  Our cities have to pay for recycling services and figuring out what to do with the material.  When EPR legislation is in effect, as it is in Europe, companies that make the stuff are much more conscious of the materials they use in the first place, because they are the ones who have to figure out what happens to it when it’s used up.

What do you want people to know about your plastic less journey?

First, I want to clarify that I am not against all plastics.  I want to see an end to single-use plastic packaging, as well as plastic used for food packaging and storage.  But in terms of durable non-food related items, I’m obviously using a computer made from plastic.  My phone is plastic.  My kitchen appliances are plastic.  To me, the key is reducing our consumption over all.  Taking advantage of resources like Freecycle, thrift stores, lending/borrowing programs, repair services.  We are living in a disposable society, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  For example, why does each home need to have their own lawn mower?  Here in Oakland, we actually have a tool lending library, where we can check out tools just like we would books.  In fact, it’s part of the public library system.

The other thing I want them to know is that I don’t expect anyone to be as extreme as I am.  My goal is simply to show what is possible.

AND just for fun… if there were no issues with plastic whether in landfills or toxicity; what would you buy?

I’d do the same thing I am doing now.  You know why?  Because of all those things still require materials and energy to produce in the first place.  The manufacture of so much stuff is one of the causes of global warming.  But also?  Living more simply with less stuff just plain feels better.

touche’

Thanks again, Beth!!

Hope everyone enjoyed the read as much as I did!