Plastic. To live at the current standard of life of the average American today, it wouldn’t be possible to continue without plastics. Let’s rephrase that. It wouldn’t be possible to continue without making changes and different choices.
Recently, plastics are getting a bad rap in the news and popular culture. But, all of this is with good reason. Plastics are polluting the earth and harming ecosystems. Ever heard of the Pacific Garbage Patch? It’s a swirling gyre of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that spans more than twice the size of
Any guesses as to how long it takes for plastic to break down in a landfill? The truth is, there are many different numbers out there with estimates, but the general consensus is that the bottle of water that you drink and then throw away will never break down in your lifetime, or many lifetimes after you. All that happens to the plastic is that sun exposure breaks it into smaller pieces, but it never truly decomposes. So, as with the Pacific Garbage Patch, the plastic pieces get smaller and smaller so that they only get into the systems of smaller and smaller organisms.
“But wait- you said that we couldn’t live without plastics. So why are you telling me all this bad news about how plastics are harming the environment?” Well we do need some plastics to keep us safe. Plastic helmets for riding your bike, plastic IV bags in the hospital, plastic coating on electrical wires so that they aren’t exposed. But there are also places in our life where plastics may not be necessary- and those are the plastics we can reduce.
So what are some ways to reduce plastic? Use glass. Invest in a good, non-plastic water bottle to re-use instead of buying already bottled water. Take your own reusable bag to the grocery store. Don’t use disposable silverware but use real metal, reusable utensils. There are so many ways to reduce plastic in your life, and I hope that through this blog I can help show you alternatives to common plastic items as well as alternatives to other household items that are considered toxic. Because plastic has been on my mind lately and in the news, I’ll start the first few posts with plastics information.
References
