Mushrooms to save the world...

I was reading about fungi the other day and how they are absolutely incredible at breaking down all kinds of waste. The context for it was how certain fungi are able to help absorb and process oil from spills, such as the more recent horrible Gulf Coast disaster. There is a sweet video of the dude who has been studying fungi for like 30 years doing a TED talk his name is Paul Stamets: www.ted.com or http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/can-mushrooms-save-the-planet?utm_source=wkly20100820&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=titleVideo

Totally awesome.

Living without plastic

So today is the beginning of my journey without plastic. Well I should clarify, I am not disposing of all the plastic in my life, I have decided that I am no longer going to purchase anything that is wrapped or contained in plastic. This is may be quite challenging and fortunately it won't exclude beer and wine! However there are a few food items which I rather enjoy that are confined within a polyethylene cage. Tofu is going to be the single most challenging item to overcome. I am yet to find a brand of tofu which is available in an alternative packaging. Therefore my only option is to make tofu myself. This is a task I have been wanting to perform for a while and believe it is within my abilities to achieve. Now not using plastic bags has never really been an issue for me as I ride my bike everywhere and consequently always have a backpack with me ready to be filled with whatever items require bagging. That leads me to my next thought of loose items like grapes, which are measured by weight. I guess I will simply have to reuse some of the plastic bags my housemates have collected or conversely use paper bags designed for mushrooms of which I already have a few. So far I think this journey should be relatively easy. Fortunately I have access to a couple of food co-ops where I can buy in bulk using my own containers. So off I go on my plastic free adventure. Wish me luck and feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions.