Comments on: Blue Vinyl

By: The Worsted Witch » Mail Call: Nontoxic Shower Curtains

The Worsted Witch » Mail Call: Nontoxic Shower Curtains — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:42:22 +0000

[...] Related articles: 1. Sam Suds and the Case of PVC 2. The Poison Plastic 3. Blue Vinyl [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Billboard Lunch Sack

The Worsted Witch » Billboard Lunch Sack — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:40:02 +0000

[...] Although this lunchbag uses vinyl-laminated nylon fabric, I don’t mind its materials as much because they’re salvaged from old billboards. It’s even lined with mill-end fabric, which ordinarily would be considered manufacturing waste. Relan, which is based in Minnesota rescues approximately 8 tons of billboard and banner material from landfills and incinerators annually. (Chemical additives used to stabilize PVC, such as lead, cadmium, and pthlates, along with carcinogenic dioxins, can leach into the groundwater and release toxic emissions via landfill gases. Burning PVC lets loose hydrogen chloride gas, which turns into hydrochloric acid—the stuff of acid rain.) [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Paper Nor Plastic

The Worsted Witch » Paper Nor Plastic — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:27:00 +0000

[...] The bags at Paper Nor Plastic remind me a great deal of the ones I already use to bag my groceries—down to the nifty way both heavy-duty types fold to the size of a flattened brown paper bag—and I wouldn’t be surprised if they shared the same manufacturer. One notable difference, however: The ACME Earth Tote is made from Cordura nylon, while Paper Nor Plastic’s are made from vinyl-backed polyester. Both nylon and polyester are petroleum-derived, which admittedly isn’t terribly sustainable in the first place, but we all know how I feel in particular about vinyl, that most vile of textiles. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Vinyl Destination

The Worsted Witch » Vinyl Destination — Wed, 17 May 2006 22:36:07 +0000

[...] Knowing what I know about the insidious putridity of polyvinyl chloride (alias vinyl, alias PVC)—that dozens of vinyl fabricators have succumbed to the exceedingly rare angiosarcoma of the liver over the decades, or that if your house catches on fire, you’ll die from the toxic hydrogen chloride fumes released by your vinyl siding in minutes, before the flames even have a chance to reach you—I hork up a hairball every time I see a crafting sister- or brother-in-arms make otherwise wonderful creations with PVC. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Maybe Baby

The Worsted Witch » Maybe Baby — Wed, 10 May 2006 12:08:51 +0000

[...] 4. Avoid PVC/vinyl like the plague. [...]

By: green LA girl » A kinder binder

green LA girl » A kinder binder — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 17:56:27 +0000

[...] I posed this question to Brad of Sustainable Group, a lil Seattle company that makes eco-friendly office supplies. Their products — the Rebinder, made of recycled corrugated cardboard, and Repockets, made of recycled chipboard — avoid toxic vinyl like the plague. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Build it Green

The Worsted Witch » Build it Green — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 23:19:51 +0000

[...] This is community action at its some of its best. Pure genius! I wish I had known about this ahead of time because we’ve already made plans for tomorrow (including stopping by Earth Day New York), but dude, I TOTALLY signed up for their volunteer mailing list. I strongly feel that green housing should not be a privilege, but a basic human right, and we need to find a way to build healthy communities cost-effectively, especially in low-income neighborhoods. (The use of toxic PVC materials is widespread in the construction industry—including Habitat for Humanity—because of its affordability. But no matter how you spin it, it’s still class discrimination.) For the rest of us, a nonprofit store like this is a great way to build without contributing anything new to the waste stream, so this is one of those rare occasions where I tell you to GO NUTS SHOPPING. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » This Landfill Was Made For You And Me

The Worsted Witch » This Landfill Was Made For You And Me — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 17:33:29 +0000

[...] Because my office is getting ready for The Big Move, people have been cleaning out their offices and cubicles like the Second Coming of Martha Stewart and her poncho posse were coming over for an impromptu inspection. (We have five large black dumpsters, lined up like recalcitrant circus caravans, moodily crowding the hallway.) Recent … ahem … acquisitions of mine include a brand-new stainless steel thermos (obviously company swag), a small wicker basket with handle, a beer glass, a vintage “The Saint” paperback, a massive folder full of empty (possibly vinyl) CD sleeves, and a TON of packing paper. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Green: The Color of Money

The Worsted Witch » Green: The Color of Money — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:53:17 +0000

[...] One of the central themes of Blue Vinyl really resonated with me. (And seriously, people, I can’t recommend this movie any more if the producers threatened to stab my own mother in the face.) Where does environmentalism end and social justice begin? [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Green: The Color of Money

The Worsted Witch » Green: The Color of Money — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:53:17 +0000

By: The Worsted Witch » Present State of Mind

The Worsted Witch » Present State of Mind — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:45:50 +0000

[...] I don’t want stuff for my birthday or Christmas this year, I told him. This October I want to finally dance along the cranberry bogs of the Pine Barrens, wearing a misshapen tin-foil crown with paper stars and dubbing myself the “Cranberry Queen.” I want to take in, breathe in scenes I’ve only pictured in my head, second-hand, and maybe, if my courage doesn’t flag, sniff out the trail of the Jersey Devil. If anyone asks you what I want, I said, tell them I want them to watch Blue Vinyl or read Cradle to Cradle or The Ecology of Commerce. [...]

By: The Worsted Witch » Blue Vinyl Redux

The Worsted Witch » Blue Vinyl Redux — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 15:48:43 +0000

[...] D’OH. They have Blue Vinyl at my local library, and so I’ve placed a hold on it instead of dropping cash on a purchase. Verily, a lifetime of conditioning is hard to shake—my first impulse was to order the movie online because I belong to a generation that is used to, and lo, demands, instant gratification. (And, until I realized how much fuel and packaging went into feeding my online-shopping fix, I was so out of control that the hub was thisclose to staging an intervention. With sock puppets, because that’s the only way you can guarantee my attention.) [...]