By now, we all know that we have a plastic problem. It’s choking our oceans, polluting our lands and making our planet and her inhabitants sick.
Recycling is not the answer. Why?
Roughly 90% of all plastic produced never gets recycled.
With plastic being sort of an infinity material, it just hangs around and breaks down into tiny microplastics, being a great nuisance and danger along the whole way to all lifeforms on our planet.
Are these facts still not convincing enough for you to drop your plastic habit?
How about this;
Chemicals leached from some plastics used in food/beverage storage are harmful to human health. Correlations have been shown between levels of some of these chemicals in the bloodstream, and an increased risk of health issues.
Cancer, early puberty, obesity, chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, and impaired brain and neurological functions are all diseases linked with some of the chemicals in plastic.
The chemical most looked at and blamed for this is called Bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone disrupting chemical. First found in 1891, BPA has been used in the production of thousands of consumer products from food packaging to toys and healthcare equipment.
If food or drinks are stored in these plastics, they can be contaminated. If food is microwaved in these containers chemicals like BPA can make their way into the food and into our bodies.
Pretty terrible on top of all the other negative aspects of plastic, don’t you think?
It gets even better; no international standard exists about the use of BPA in food containers. However, The European Food Security Authority took precautionary measures by listing BPA as ‘a substance of high concern.’
In 2016 Sweden banned the use of BPA in epoxy resins in water pipe linings. France has gone even further, banning the use of BPA in all packaging, containers and utensils that come into direct contact with food.
Regardless, the United States Food and Drug Administration declared in a report in February 2018 that BPA is safe for food packaging. In reaction, scientists, environmental organizations, healthcare professionals, and consumer organizations strongly criticized this decision as reported in Mother Jones, raising the alarm about the use of BPA in food related products.
How can you protect yourself?
You might think that opting to buy BPA-free products ought to do it. Sorry but no, because this doesn’t mean a product is free from other harmful chemical compounds that are just slightly different with a different name.
It’s time that we radically change our ways when it comes to plastic. That’s why I decided to create this mini series on how to;
Get rid of your plastic addiction!
Let’s start by the kitchen, shall we? Join me then and let’s do this together. It’s not too late to save our planet and thus ourselves honey bees!
Other episodes include; the closet, your cleaning routine, when you are on the go and for your bathroom!