I first heard about Beth Terry about a year ago when someone directed me to her blog Fake Plastic Fish.  Beth is a modern day crusader–her mission?  To rid the world of plastic.  She began at home and documents with unflinching honesty the plastic she uses EVERY MONTH.  At first I was skeptical, I mean, our lives are entrenched in plastic–everything my grandmother once bought a metal/wood/cloth version of is reproduced in plastic today.  In fact, it’s incredibly difficult to find an alternative.

But the environment matters THAT MUCH to Beth Terry.  The Great Pacifc Ocean Patch worries her.  Clogged water ways concern her.  Overflowing landfills disturb her.  Chemicals leaching out of plastic products and irreversably into our environment bother her.  On the top of her blog you read this:

Our oceans are filling up with plastic: plastic that harms wildlife and never biodegrades; plastic that enters the food chain and leaches toxic chemicals. This blog is a record of my journey to live with as little unnecessary plastic as possible. Won’t you join me? Fake plastic fish may be cute, but if we don’t solve our plastic problem, they could be the only kind we have left….

Beth Terry does more than reduce her use of plastic every year, she galvanizes support for plastic-free living by getting behind plastic bag bans (and for this Enviro Girl adores her–plastic bags are the bane of her existence living in the country like she does–she picks up hundreds of them on her property every year).  She suggests alternatives to plastic products and plastic-packaged products.  She’s a zealot, but she’s not unrealistic.  She researches her topics well and applies herself to this mission of A Plastic-Free World with breathtaking singlemindedness.  She contributes to BlogHer and convinced Brita to begin recycling their water filters.  Beth Terry IS an Eco Hero.

Below is an  educational video starring Beth–watch it!  She does more than point out how much plastic we use, she advises on how to use less.  Then go to her web site, Fake Plastic Fish, and subscribe.  The Eco Women take their hats off and salute Beth Terry, Eco Hero.