Advertising/Review Policy

Would you like to advertise on Fake Plastic Fish?  Have a product or book for me to review?  Do you want to pitch me  a story idea?  I’d love to hear your ideas if they are relevant to this blog.  Please read the following:

Fake Plastic Fish is not a general green blog.  While I sometimes veer outside my usual topic area, the main focus is plastic.  Plastic pollution.  Plastic toxicity.  Plastic litter and waste and recycling.  Ways to reduce our dependence on plastic and find plastic-free alternatives.

Advertising Policy

Fake Plastic Fish accepts advertising from companies and organizations that are in alignment with the values of this blog and its writer.  Organizations and campaigns can be related to environmental issues, social justice, animal welfare, or other humanitarian causes. 

Products and services advertised must either be plastic-free or help us to reduce our plastic consumption in some way.  For example, I would not run an ad for a natural skincare cream if the product is packaged in a plastic jar.  I might, however, advertise a durable plastic item if its use will significantly reduce the consumption and waste of many disposable plastic items.  I will never run an ad for a food product packaged in plastic.

Additionally, I insist on full disclosure of ingredients in any products I promote.  Non-specific ingredients like “fragrance,” “dye,” “preservatives,” etc. are not acceptable.  If we don’t know what’s in the product, we can’t be sure it’s safe. 

Product advertisers must also be commited to sustainable shipping.  Please see below for my packaging policy.

There are several ways to place an ad:

• BlogAds:  This program allows you to run an ad for a fixed price each week, regardless of the number of hits or sales generated through the ad.  BlogAds appear at the very top of the advertising sidebar on each page.  Follow this link to create your ad on Fake Plastic Fish.
• Share-a-Sale, ClixGalore, and LinkShare are all companies that provide Affiliate advertising for bloggers.  You can create ads that pay for clicks or for sales generated.  If you already have an account with one of these companies and feel your ad would be appropriate for Fake Plastic Fish, please contact me and let me know about it.  If not, you will need to sign up with one of them to get started.
• Amazon.com affiliate program: After much ambivalence, I signed up with the Amazon.com affiliate program.  While I encourage readers to find books and other products locally and to support independent book sellers, I recognize that not everyone has access to the kinds of small, independent stores that are plentiful in denser areas like Oakland and sometimes Amazon.com is the best choice.  For example, we purchase our recycled toilet paper in bulk from Amazon.com because the packaging is plastic-free (except for tape on the box).If you are selling an appropriate product via Amazon.com that can help people live life with less plastic, and if you ship using the least packaging possible (see packaging policy below), please contact me and ask to be added to my Amazon.com sidebar widget.

Review Policy

I love to review products that are plastic-free or that can help us reduce our need for plastic products and plastic packaging.  I especially appreciate products shipped without plastic packaging.  (Please see note below for more information about product packaging.)  And I love to host give-aways of plastic-free products. 

Here are a few examples of appropriate and successful Fake Plastic Fish product reviews:

• GlassDharma glass drinking straws — Because they are reusable and replace plastic drinking straws.
• LaundryTree Soapnuts — Because the company switched to plastic-free packaging.
• LunchBots stainless steel containers — Because they replace disposable plastic bags and plastic containers.
• Life Without Plastic airtight stainless containers — They also replace plastic food bags and containers.
• Sustainable Group’s ReBinder School Supplies — Because they are plastic-free and replace toxic vinyl binders.
• Skoy cloths — Because they are compostable and replace synthetic sponges and microfiber cloths.
• Soda Stream Penguin soda maker — While the body is made from plastic, the soda maker will replace hundreds of disposable plastic soda bottles.

I’m not interesting in reviewing the latest organic shampoo or natural laundry soap if it comes in a plastic container.  I’m also not interested in biodegradable single-use products.  Please don’t send PR pitches for water in disposable corn-based bottles, bags made from biodegradable plastic, or throw-away utensils made from potato starch.  While they may biodegrade, they still require materials and energy to produce.  My goal is to help us move from a throw-away mentality to valuing products that are durable, reusable, and safe.

If you feel that your product or idea is a good match for Fake Plastic Fish, please feel free to contact me and let me know about it.   I welcome samples (who doesn’t love free stuff?), but be aware that sending me your product does not guarantee a positive review.  My posts are nothing if not honest.  If I choose to review your product, I will mention the pros and cons as I see them.  If I feel that the product is not a fit for Fake Plastic Fish, I will let you know and then give the product to charity.

Product Packaging

When shipping products to me, please try not to use any plastic packaging.  This includes styrofoam peanuts, plastic wrap, plastic bubble wrap, plastic tape, Tyvek and other plastic envelopes, plastic bubble envelopes.  There are plenty of plastic-free alternatives.  My favorites are made from recycled paper.  Here are just a few options, but there are plenty more.  If you use a different sustainable packing material, I’d love to hear about it. 

• Yesterday’s News padded mailers made from recyled newpaper fiber
• Jiffy padded mailers (the kind with paper pulp padding rather than plastic bubble padding)
• Paper packing tape
• Molded paper pulp
• PaperNuts
• Cushion cubes
• Geami protective wrap
• Expandos

Fake Plastic Fish is listed on Blogger Black Book, an organization devoted to ensuring that pitches are directed to the right bloggers. Please check out their listings for other blogs that are relevant to your story or product. This site is doing all of us a great service.

Disclosure

I support the Blog With Integrity Pledge, part of which states:

I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.

When posting a review, I fully disclose any free samples I receive from companies within the body of the post.  I do not accept money for writing reviews.  I do participate in some affiliate programs (all of which are shown in the Ads Section of each page) and when there are affiliate links within the body of the post, I will also disclose them within that post.

My words and opinions are my own.  I do not feel beholden to advertisers, PR reps, merchants, or others who wish to gain from a relationship with this blog.  I select relationships carefully because not only is my personal reputation on the line, but the whole purpose of Fake Plastic Fish, which is to help create a better world through learning to live with less plastic. 

People have asked me if I live off of the income generated through Fake Plastic Fish.  The answer is a resounding no.  The high standards I set for advertising is such that I make only enough to support Fake Plastic Fish.  I can travel to blogging conferences, for example, or take field trips to learn about plastic recycling.  In order to keep a roof over my head and food in my belly, I work as an accountant for a Bay Area home care agency.  But thanks for asking!