Life in Plastic. It's Fantastic.

[shanmonster]

For years, I've known that plastic isn't very good for me or the environment. But the extent of this knowledge rarely passed the "don't nuke food in Saran wrap" or "put plastic bottles in the recycle bin." Really, though, that's not enough. More plastic is thrown out each day than there was oil dumped into the Gulf in that last big spill. Emissions from plastic factories are killing and sickening nearby (and not so nearby) people and animals. In some parts of the ocean, there is over 40x more plastic than there is plankton, and the critters are eating it. Those critters are in turn eaten by other critters, so just look at what our plastic straws, tampons, shopping bags, and water bottles are doing to the food chain. I remember going to Halifax Harbour a few years ago. I walked along the shore, and for every rock on the beach, there were countless tampons, plastic bags, diapers, and condoms. I watched a seal swim by, and I felt horrible that he had to swim and eat in that filth.

Whenever you stoop to scoop after your dog and wrap the turd in a grocery bag, my shoes thank you, but you're preserving that poo for posterity. Yum yum.



Not a day goes by anymore where I don't come in contact with plastic. My computer keyboard is plastic. And even if I were to run off into the wilderness, I'd still have it. My contact lenses are plastic. So are my lenses for my eyeglasses, their nose grip, and much of my clothing has polyester in it. Even the tips of my shoelaces (aglets, for your word of the day) are plastic-coated. So where the heck do I begin? Completely ridding my life of plastic is about as plausible as emptying the Pacific with a teaspoon.

But if I can't completely rid of it, I can greatly reduce my consumption of it, which will be beneficial for my health, I believe, and will also make a tiny bit of a difference locally. And if my reduction in the use of plastic encourages someone else to do the same thing, well, then that is just plain excellent. It's all got to start somewhere.

I think the best place for me to begin is in my kitchen. I want to gradually replace my Tupperware, plastic measuring cups, spice bottles, etc. with things made of glass, Corningware, stainless steel, clay, porcelain, wood, and foodsafe silicon. I believe my kitchen will look nicer, and the food will taste better. I've always averred that I can taste the difference between beverages stored in plastic and beverages stored in glass.

I've already greatly reduced my use of plastic grocery bags. I take reusable bags (some made of woven recycled plastic, it is true, and cotton and canvas) with me when I go grocery shopping. I just need to remember to wash them more frequently, so they don't turn into breeding pits for bacteria. I also stopped using pads and tampons years ago in favour of a Diva Cup, and that's saved me a lot of money and reduced waste.

Even conscientiously putting your plastic bottles in the recycle bin is not enough. Water bottles can only be recycled once, unlike glass which can be sterilized and reused, or melted down and reformed over and over again.

I'll end this with another link dump, but a targeted one.

Tapped: "Examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil. The documentary is well structured and presents an overwhelming amount of evidence which will change the way anyone thinks about bottled and municipal water."

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: The largest garbage dump in the world is bigger than continental US.

Life Without Plastic: An online store dedicated to helping reduce the amount of plastic generated and used.

Plastic Bottle Cancer Risk: "In recent studies, it has been found the certain plastic reusable bottles may be a cancer risk. The risk is due to a chemical called BPA (Bisphenol A) that can be released when the bottle is washed, heated, and/or re-used. This impacts adults as well as children. Here are a very ways to limit the risk of BPA in plastic bottles."

US reluctant to canvass plastic bag alternatives: "Americans use 100 billion plastic shopping bags a year, according to Washington-based think tank Worldwatch Institute, or more than 330 a year for every person in the country. Most of them are thrown away."

Comments

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh hey! I love my Diva Cup, too! Yay cup-wearers!

I had a crisis of conscience when I purchased several plastic Ziplock containers for freezer storage the other day. It was, alas, the best option for me. It's a step up from single-use freezer bags, but I wasn't thrilled about it.

I've always averred that I can taste the difference between beverages stored in plastic and beverages stored in glass.

With you 100%. And I never, ever microwave anything in a plastic container.

I'm still trying to find a way to clean the cat box without using a plastic bag for disposal. I tried the flushable litter, but Fetish hated it, and it was messy and smelly and might have contributed to her outside-the-box peeing behavior. =(

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, plastic just tastes... yucky. I have no better word. I used to chew on a lot of pens when I was in grade school. I chewed them until the plastic broke down into something like hard strings. That can't possibly have been good for me, and I remember feeling ill, but still doing it. Durrr.....

I suspect living entirely plastic-free is impossible. I'm thinking about freezer options, and with my small freezer, there just isn't room for many solid containers. Hmm.

I hear ya about the kitty problem, too. If I had a composter, I could do something with my chinchilla's litter, but I don't see how it's feasible in a city apartment.

[tagryn]

Some of us are sufficiently old to remember when glass bottles were the norm. Today, they're considered a novelty item. I think the transition was sold as being safer - no more nasty glass shards on the ground when you break one, because plastic doesn't break! Like a lot of things, though, it has had long-term consequences that either weren't foreseen or weren't mentioned at the time.

Not that we actually got a vote on this, mind you; it was all based on the results of customer testing, I'm sure.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

In some places, glass still is the norm. At least until recently (not sure about now), pop bottlers in Prince Edward Island were forbidden to use plastic.

Yes, broken glass is problematic, but I've yet to have shattering issues with my stainless steel water bottles.