You’re Using Plastic The Wrong Way!

There’s a Right Way to Use Plastic – and There’s Plastic The Wrong Way

 

Plastic is an amazing material. I tend to forget this, because I get so upset at the amount of plastic waste and the harm it does (more on that shortly).

storage plastic the wrong wayBut it IS really clever. It is:

  • Cheap to produce
  • Easy to shape
  • Much lighter than glass and metal (so it’s cheaper to transport)
  • Long-lasting
  • Impervious to water
  • It doesn’t rot
  • It doesn’t rust.

All of these things are really good for manufacturing.

BUT – we’re using plastic the wrong way.

The Problem

You see, plastic lasts – well, basically for ever. Almost all the plastic ever made is still lurking around today!

And that’s a problem. (It’s not green or ecofriendly either).

non toxic lie

Plastic pollution is so common now that it is found everywhere on the planet – including even the most remote areas of our oceans.

About 8 million tons of plastics enter our oceans every year – 8 million tons! When it gets into the ocean, the sun, wind and currents cause it to break into smaller and smaller pieces.

And the oceans are not empty! Marine creatures become entangled in plastic and this can cause strangulation. Or horribly restricted growth like this turtle on the right.

A lot of tiny plastic pieces are mistaken for food (apparently it smells like some types of marine food!) and when eaten, it blocks the internal organs of sea creatures and birds.

They die a horrible, slow death from starvation.

Even some of the smallest creatures on the planet including zooplankton have been found with micro-plastics in their digestive systems.

What About Us and Plastic?

OK, so that’s nasty for animals, fish and birds. But if you’re thinking it doesn’t affect you, think again.

we eat plastic the wrong wayPlankton and other tiny creatures are eaten by larger ones. Which are then eaten by larger ones.

The plastic moves all the way up the food chain – to the fish that we consume.

According to The Telegraph (a UK newspaper), seafood eaters ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year.

(Do YOU eat seafood?).

It Gets Even Worse

Plastic has yet another sickening ability. Plastic can attract certain types of toxic chemicals called Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic Substances or PBTs for short.

toxic plastic the wrong wayThese toxic chemicals include DDT (used as insecticide), PCBs (used for coolant), dioxins (by-products of industrial processes) and flame retardants.  When they combine with degrading plastic, they are found in much higher concentrations than normal.

When sea life consumes this contaminated plastic, these horrible toxic chemicals move up the food chain all the way to your dining table.

Ugh!

The Wrong Way

I said at the beginning that we’re using plastic the wrong way.

Because it’s so long-lasting, it makes sense to use plastic for things that we want to be long-lasting. Furniture, pallets, roofing shingles, car parts, truck bed liners and even new roads are some examples.

Even better, these items can be made from recycled plastic (saving new resources). But recycling rates for plastic are very, very low.

disposable fork is plastic the wrong wayAnd what do tons and tons of plastic get used used for ?

Single-use items.

Plastic bags. Straws. Forks. Cups. Fast food containers.

They are plastic the wrong way.

bottled water is plastic the wrong wayAnd we haven’t even got to plastic water bottles yet. It takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce plastic bottles for water just for the USA for one year. Over 2.5 million tons of CO2 are emitted each year – just for US plastic bottles. That’s also plastic the wrong way.

Of course, a lot of this would be saved if this plastic was recycled.

So, What Can You Do?

What’s the biggest contaminator of beaches? After cigarette butts, it’s single-use plastic water bottles.

Buy a reusable water bottle, refill at the tap and save not only your money, but the environment that your children will have to live with.

Here are some other things you can do to ditch the disposables:

  • Save money – don’t change your mobile phone when the contract expires – keep your current phone and get a reduction in your monthly bill. Endlessly replacing and discarding “stuff” is using plastic the wrong way.
  • Repair that laptop to save money and 10 pounds of potentially lethal substances from ending up in a landfill leaching its chemicals into our ground water system.
  • Do you REALLY need a straw (just drink out of the cup!) or if you do want one, buy glass, metal or bamboo reusable straws
  • Take your own silverware and plates to work.
  • Use reusable hard-sided sandwich containers instead of sandwich bags.
  • If you use plastic bags, many supermarkets and tons of other places will take them back for recycling! Find your local (US) recycling center here.
  • Buy from the bulk aisles in your grocery store – no packaging, and you can bring your own containers. Check out http://www.litterless.co/wheretoshop/ for bulk-only, no packaging stores (US & Canada). Bring your own containers, save the cost of packaging and those horrible PBTs.

Ditching disposables will change the outcome of tomorrow to benefit you, your children and generations to come.

Think Differently!

We are definitely using plastic the wrong way.

You may think the best reason to recycle plastic is to reuse it and save our resources. That’s good! It will also help to keep landfills from overflowing. That’s good too.

And while these are important reasons to recycle, there are even more important reasons as outlined above.

So, next time you buy something, pick up takeout food, shop at  the  grocery store, or want to buy more “stuff”, remember the direct impact of plastic on you and your family as well as  the  environment.

This article is written with thanks to Allen Ventures Inc.  who turn plastic waste into beautiful, modern, commercial-grade outdoor furnishings. You can view their recycled plastic products here.

In everyday life you are surrounded by products with dangerous toxic ingredients (you’ll be shocked at where they hide!). But you CAN avoid them – when you know how. Find out how to protect your family and keep them safe now.

 

 

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Warm regards,

signature Clare

 

 

 

P.S.  Want to live a simpler, more green and ecofriendly life? (It’s been shown to increase happiness!). You can download your FREE green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here. Get it now!

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Tags

beaches, ecofriendly, environment, fish, green, litter, oceans, plastic, plastic the wrong way, plastic waste, sea creatures, toxic


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