Events for the Week of June 28th

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

Stay out of the heat with two fantastic events this week. Both will make you think about the products you buy and their impact on your health and the environment.

Consuming Choices Book Party

WHEN: Tuesday June 29th from 6-8.
WHERE: Busboys and Poets, 2121 14th Street NW (2 blocks from the U Street/Cardoza Metro)

DETAILS: Please join author David Schwartz for a cocktail party celebrating his new book, Consuming Choices.

The book raises questions about consumers and whether we share culpability for unethical and immoral practices associated with the products we purchase. To answer, author David T. Schwartz provides the most detailed philosophical exploration to date on consumer ethics. There will be a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres. Please RSVP by to sacha@grassfedmediadc.com.

Plastic Pollution Coalition Cocktail Fundraiser

WHEN: Wednesday June 30th from 7-9
WHERE: Muleh, 831 14th Street NW

DETAILS: This cocktail event and fundraiser supports the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a non-profit organization committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating plastic pollution globally.

Single-use plastics in particular and plastics overall are some of the biggest contributors to the current global environmental crisis. Aside from being petroleum-based products, plastics do harm beyond the fossil fuel related issues. 90% of the ocean trash is plastic. Nearly 40% of landfill trash is plastic. Single-use plastics are contributing to the privatization of water. Once created, plastic never biodegrades. The only way of ‘getting rid of it’ is to burn it, which releases toxins into the air.

There are alternatives to plastics – what is needed is the momentum to promote these alternatives and to raise awareness to the crisis.

Donations will be taken at the door or online (Platinum $500, Gold $250, Silver $100, Bronze $50). RSVP by June 28 to rsvp@plasticpollutioncoalition.org or 202.997.8400.

The Trees Will Thank You

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

Been a while since you visited your local library? It’s a great way to cut costs and keep your mind humming, while saving trees. Yes, there’s still the wacky dewey decimal system and people hunkered down all day (some drooling, I might add), at least at my trusty, musty Cleveland Park library. But now, instead of leaving empty handed when you can’t find that hot new tome, you can be added to a waiting e-list for books that are checked out.

I’ve been itching to read Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.” When I went to find them last week, the nice librarian informed me that all of their copies were checked out. She then asked if I’d like to be added to the wait list. Well, here it is not even a week later and an email arrived telling me that one of the books is waiting for me. Sure, we all love Amazon and Kramer Books, but if you want something for free and a trip back in time, the library is where it’s at.