Terry - Plastic-free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too

Additional Praise for Beth Terry and Plastic-Free

Works like Charles Moores Plastic Ocean are increasing awareness of the mounting plastic problem; Plastic-Free offers concerned readers inspiration and concrete steps they can take to combat it personally. Recommended.

Library Journal

We could have such lovely things in our lives. Why do we settle for crap made from plastic? Beth Terry is the pioneer when it comes to building a life filled with the things that truly matter.

Colin Beavan, author, No Impact Man, and founder of the No Impact Project

This is the tool that weve all been waiting for to ease the transition to going plastic-free. Time to wake up. Peace.

Rosanna Arquette, actor, Plastic Pollution Coalition member

The use of plastic is enmeshed in our American way of life. Kicking any habit is tough, but kicking a habit that is invisible in its ubiquity is even more difficult. In this important and enjoyable book, Beth Terry walks the reader through her trials and travails and shows what the average person can do to rid themselves of plastic. Along the way, she creatively demonstrates that ridding ones life of plastic is not only good for the planet but also good for the health and the pocketbook of the American consumer. This book is inspirational and has helped me kick my plastic habit not only when shopping but throughout my daily life.

Congressman Steve Cohen, Tennessee

Beth Terry is one of the most inspiring people on the planet. Her wisdom about plastic-free living is a beacon of hope for whats possible. Everyone should read this book!

Stacy Malkan, cofounder, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face

Inspiring. Empowering. And most of all, liberating! Finally, heres everything you need to know to live a healthy, safe, plastic-free life. Kudos to Beth Terry! Shes definitely my plastic-free guru!

Diane MacEachern, author, BigGreenPurse.com

Beth is the most knowledgeable person on plastic, particularly disposable plastic, that I know. Her journey to getting rid of disposable plastic is inspiring and amazing, but she also makes it doable for the rest of us. When I first met her, I lived my life pretty nontoxic, but I still used a lot of disposable plastic. Her efforts inspired me to eliminate disposable plastic too, and faced with choices, I always ask myself WWBD (or What Would Beth Do)? She is the standard by which I measure my greenness.

Jennifer Taggart, www.thesmartmama.com, author of Smart Mamas Green Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Childs Toxic Chemical Exposure

Tempted to bring your own reusable silverware to take-out joints but dread the eye-rolling it may generate? This book is for you. With sass and intelligence, the anti-plastic crusader Beth Terry guides readers toward the road less consumptive, offering practical advice and moral support while making a convincing case that individual actions to lighten our environmental impact do matter.

Elizabeth Royte, author, Garbage Land and Bottlemania

"Were so addicted to plastic, its hard to imagine doing without it. But Beth Terry dared to imagine, and with hard work, humor and lots of trial and errorturns out theres no easy way to make your own liquid hand soapshe broke the plastic habit. Her book is informative and inspirationalan ideal combination for anyone hoping to follow a less plastic path.

Susan Freinkel, author Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

Plastic-Free tells a story that could inspire everyday behavior change for all of us. Small steps, leading to one big milestonea planet free of plastic pollution. The power lies with each of us to take these steps. It is that simple.

Daniella Dimitrova Russo, cofounder and executive director, Plastic Pollution Coalition

Copyright 2012 by Beth Terry

Chapter 10 and additional content copyright 2015 by Beth Terry

Foreword copyright 2015 by Jack Johnson

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

www.skyhorsepublishing.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-665-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-035-7

Jacket design by Jane Sheppard

Interior design by Brian Peterson

Printed on ECO-G Recycled Woodfree Paper, made of 100 percent recycled pulp (post-consumer and pre-consumer mixed).

Printed in China

For Michael Stoler, my hero.

In memory of Betty Terry, who didnt know the meaning of the word procrastination.

Publishers Note on Making a Plastic-Free Book

What do we mean by minimal plastic?

When we decided to publish a book called Plastic-Free , we knew we wanted to make the book itself plastic-free. As it turns out, thats something of a challengewith plastic coating on the cover and jacket, polyester or nylon thread in the binding, and plastic glue throughout, most books are full of plastic! So weve stripped things down. The cover and jacket are uncoated, the thread is made of cotton, and the spine is exposed. Our printer even managed to find a plastic-free glue to use. With all that in mind, we assure you that if the books not 100 percent free of plastic, its as close as can be!

Authors Note on the Updated Edition

Please download a free readers guide for your book group at www.MyPlasticFreeLife.com/book/

In the original 2012 edition of Plastic-Free , I wrote, While the general principles and strategies of plastic-free living are timeless, the specifics may change. Companies go out of business and new ones emerge. Researchers make discoveries. Websites move. After reading this book, please visit MyPlasticFreeLife.com for in-depth reviews of new plastic-free products and solutions, posts on the effects of plastics on human health and the environment, up-to-date resource pages, and stories and suggestions from the community on ways to reduce plastic in everyday life.

What I didnt anticipate back then was just how frequently web addresses change. So, in this new edition, I have chosen to omit most URLs. But dont worry: Google is our friend. Every reference in this book can be found online simply by typing the name into a search engine, which is what most of us do nowadays anyway.

I also didnt realize at the time just how American-centered the book was. Since then, Ive been contacted by people all over the world wondering what they can do to reduce plastic where they live. The fact is, there are now bloggers and activists across the globe writing about living plastic-freepeople in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and probably more that I havent yet discovered. So Ive added a whole new chapter to the book to introduce you to a few of them and hopefully inspire you to get started reducing plastic wherever you live.

And Ive kept learning and researching new and better plastic-free alternatives. There are whole new sections in this edition (plastic-free sunscreen, for instance) and changes and updates to previous sections as Ive revised my opinions or gathered additional information. And there is updated information on a few of the characters introduced in the first edition: Jean Hill, for example, with her antibottled water campaign. Please enjoy this new, updated edition of Plastic-Free .