Heal the Bay's benefit dinner shuns plastic bottles -- except in the gift bags

Nowhere would a plastic bag monster be so popular as at a Heal the Bay party. Earlier tonight, Heal the Bay -- a nonprofit dedicated to cleaning up SoCal beaches  -- threw its 17th Annual Bring Back the Beach Benefit Dinner party.

And people were lining up to take pictures with the plastic bag monster, who became a bit of a celebrity!

The event brought out a big crowd to the Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport on a beautiful, if a little windy, day. I randomly met Jack Sahl, director of environment and resource sustainability at Southern California Edison, an eco-initiatives person at Warner Brothers, then ran into the usual westside eco-peeps like Andy Lipkis of TreePeople.

Everything from a guitar signed by Maroon 5 to a Ford Escape Hybrid was auctioned off while people tucked in "an organic and sustainable menu" catered by Patina Restaurant Group while sipping on local beers and "sustainable" but not organic certified wine from Kunde Estate Winery. Amy Smart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (left), and Ingo Rademacher all took part in the ceremonies.

In general, the event itself was very eco -- aside from all the driving people did to get there (I received a free parking pass but no biking instructions; in the end I eco-cabbed it). Heal the Beach's little brochure for the dinner -- printed with soy based inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper processed chlorine free -- bragged that the  event used neither single-use serviceware nor bottled water.

Strangely, each gift bag given to attendees contained a plastic (#1) bottle  of water -- something Anna Cummins, also at the party, pointed out to me. To be fair, the stuff isn't just plain water -- it's organic certified "Bone Water," (right) meaning that the concoction also includes evaporated cane juice and other juices, oils, and flavors -- as well as calcium and other "nutrients"  that make the  "water" taste a lot like a less-sweet but still synthetic Gatorade.

Heal the Bay's dinner brochure included a plastic warning educational page of sorts, which said this about #1 plastic:  "Unfortunately, studies indicate  that with repeated use, PET containers may release di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, an endocrine-disrupting compound and probable human carcinogen."

Granted, the info mainly advises against reuse of #1 plastic bottles, but in general, Heal the Bay is no fan of plastic. I mean, most disposable water bottles are made of #1 plastic, which Heal the Bay bragged about avoiding -- outside the gift bags. Plus the nonprofit's leading the fight against plastic bags.

Of course, Heal the Bay has to make a lot of compromises -- something I wrote about when the L.A. County Board of Supervisors' decision on plastic bags came down. Bone Water wasn't even the only plastic bottle issue of the night. Heal the Money must've also gotten money from FIJI water -- because that company got a page in the dinner brochure.

The entire evening was full of conundrums such as these. The Escape Hybrid -- auctioned off for $30,000+ going directly to Heal the Bay --  has better mileage than other SUVs, but it's still an SUV made by un-eco Ford. Both the Paul Mitchell and Murad products included in the gift bags have some eco-properties -- but are preserved using parabens. Even the gift bags themselves are reusable totes -- but appear to be made of pesticide-intensive conventional cotton.

I'm not saying Heal the Bay was wrong to accept these sponsorships or products, necessarily. I'm just pointing out the quandaries to say I don't envy the jobs of the people who work there. Sure, I really do have a bone to pick with this Bone Water thing -- but every environmentalist has her pet peeve, and every little compromise the nonprofit makes must bring forth a  cacophony of complaints --

Comments

[m]

If #1 plastic breaks down into potentially harmful chemicals, are these same properties that make it unsafe transferred to the items made out of recycled #1 plastic, like the suit you mentioned a few days ago and the fleece made by Patagonia from recycled plastic? Would it only happen if you wash the clothing? If so, are we only hurting ourselves by trying to buy items made from this recycled plastic?

[Dorothy Le]

hmm. i've wondering this also.....should we not wear "recycled plastic" clothing items? now i'm confused.

[Ken Holmes]

Actually, the scare about risks of reusing PET #1 bottles is based on a chain email that is in turn based on incorrect informaiton from a college student's master's thesis. They happen to be safe. Check out:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp
http://www.plasticsmythbuster.org/reusing.asp

I work in the plastic bag industry, and believe it or not, I am not an evil person just trying to sell a product in order to destroy the planet. Plastic retail bags are far more environmentally friendly than paper...look it up. And even though they are touted as "single use", over 90% of Americans reuse these disposable bags - trash can liners, for disposing of kitty litter, picking up after the dog, and even - gasp! - reusing them at the grocery store. These bags are also extremely easy to recycle. Problem is that many places in the country don't have recycling programs, and many people don't seem to mind littering. So bags end up blowing around the streets. How about this solution... educate the public on how to properly dispose of trash. Bans and taxes just don't work. Ireland imposed a bag tax a few years ago, and grocery bag use dropped by 90%, but sales of packaged bags went up 400%, resulting in a net gain in plastic use.

The imaginary evil of plastics are mainly myths. The problems associated with plastics are more complex than the media or many environmentalists make them out to be. So please, do your own research, read as much as you can, before making up your own mind. And of course, reduce, reuse, and for goodness sake, recycle.