An estimated 20 million people are thought to earn their livelihoods in the global waste industry by collecting, disposing, repairing or repurposing a wide range of materials and products. However, the cost and consequences of handling waste are borne far more heavily in developing nations. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the impact of waste from textiles.
Ghana becomes dumping ground for the world’s unwanted used clothes | PBS News
It’s Plastic Free July!
We have a plastic problem. Manufacturing plastic creates air pollution, single-use plastic ends up in the ocean, toxic chemicals, and microplastics find their way into our food and water. Plastic permeates our lives, and we would all be healthier by reducing our plastic use.
Make it fun this month as you try to reduce the plastic you expose your family and yourself to plastic. See below for ideas to reduce your plastic exposure.
We all see plastic litter that is harmful to our waterways and our environment, but we might just be learning that plastic contains harmful chemicals and that it breaks down into microfibers. We can’t see the chemicals or the microfibers that can harm our bodies.
Plastic contains thousands of harmful chemicals that are especially harmful to children. These chemicals leach from plastic containers into our food and bodies. Plastic contains serious hormone disrupters that can cause obesity, diabetes, cancers and birth defects.
Plastic also sheds into small flakes of microfibers that have been found in every organ of our bodies. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/health/microplastics-human-penises-study-scli-intl-scn-wellness Microfibers enter our bodies from our food, drinks, water, air and synthetic clothing. We ingest about a credit card of plastic a week.
Below are two lists of ways you can reduce plastic. Choose one or two ways and work for success. Good luck!
While it’s practically impossible to eliminate plastic from modern life, there are a number of steps you can take right now to cut back.
Do: Drink tap water.
Don’t: Rely on bottled water.
Water from plastic bottles has about double the microplastic level of tap water on average, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry. So unless your tap water is contaminated with unsafe elements, such as lead, it’s probably best to drink tap. Fill up a metal reusable bottle for when you go out. You can always filter your tap water. Depending on the filter, that may further reduce microplastic levels. (Check CR’s ratings of water filters.)
Do: Heat food in or on the stove, or by microwaving in glass.
Don’t: Microwave in plastic.
Some heated plastics have long been known to leach chemicals into food. So if you’re warming up food, use a pan in the oven or on the stove, or if you’re microwaving, use a glass container. Also, avoid putting plastics in the dishwasher because of the high heat involved in cleaning.
Do: Buy and store food in glass, silicone, or foil.
Don’t: Store food in plastic, especially plastic that may contain harmful chemicals.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has said that plastic food containers with the recycling codes 3, 6, and 7 may contain potentially harmful chemicals, unless they’re labeled “biobased” or “greenware.” Don’t store food in these types of containers. Instead, use containers made of glass or silicone, or wrap your food in aluminum foil. If you’re storing food in or eating food out of plastic containers, know that plastics with recycling codes 1 and 2 are more likely to be recyclable—though they are usually recycled into lower-quality plastics. And there still may be harmful or unknown chemicals in any type of plastic.
Do: Eat fresh food as much as possible.
Don’t: Rely on processed food wrapped in plastic.
The more processed or packaged a food is, the higher the risk that it contains worrisome chemicals. Food cans are often lined with bisphenol A (or similar compounds). Buy fresh food from the supermarket, and—as much as possible—try to use refillable containers if your market allows. (Of course, with shopping made difficult by the coronavirus pandemic, prioritize your health and shop however is most feasible and safest.) Certain markets let you fill up cardboard or reusable containers with bulk items and weigh them, or you can use your own mesh bags for produce. Raw meat and fish need to be kept separate for safety reasons, but ask the store fishmonger or butcher to wrap these foods in wax paper instead of plastic. Take cloth—not plastic—reusable bags to the store to take your groceries home.
Do: Vacuum regularly.
Don’t: Allow household surfaces to get dusty.
The dust in your house could be loaded with microplastics and chemicals that are found in plastic, such as phthalates. Cleaning up dust may help reduce the amount of plastics you inhale, especially if you are stuck inside for long periods of time during a period of social distancing. CR recommends vacuuming regularly with a HEPA filter, which is best for trapping dust. (Check CR’s ratings of vacuums.)
Do: Work with your community.
Don’t: Assume your impact is limited to what you do in your personal life.
Legislation to limit the use of single-use plastics and plastic production may pull the biggest levers, but joining forces with community-level recycling groups can truly make a difference. Look for so-called zero-waste groups, which can offer guidelines for how to recycle or compost all your garbage—and which lobby for local rules that can restrict throwaway items. When possible, shop at markets that source goods locally, so they don’t require as much packaging and shipping. Seek out groups such as Upstream, a nonprofit working to create reusable takeout packaging for restaurants. And when possible, educate yourself about and support any city, county, and state legislation limiting single-use plastics.
My list to reduce plastic:
1. Sandra Laville, “Single-use plastics a serious climate change hazard, study warns,” The Guardian, May 15, 2019.
2. “What do plastics have to do with climate change?” United Nations Development Programme, November 15, 2022.
3. Oliver Milman, “‘Deluge of plastic waste’: US is world’s biggest plastic polluter,” The Guardian, December 1, 2021.
4. “We know plastic pollution is bad — but how exactly is it linked to climate change?,” World Economic Forum, January 19, 2022.
5. “We know plastic pollution is bad — but how exactly is it linked to climate change?,” World Economic Forum, January 19, 2022.
6. “Reducing plastic waste in the states” U.S. PIRG, July 26, 2022.
7. Celeste Meiffren-Swango, Jenn Engstrom and Mark Morgenstein, “Statement: Amazon to phase out single-use plastic shipping bags,” Environment America, July 19, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Rya-ZOJ7g (microplastics)
1. “Another PA train derailment, another close call catastrophic accident averted,” PennEnvironment, March 13, 2024.
2. Shannon Osaka, “With microplastics, scientists are in a race against time,” The Washington Post, March 11, 2024.
3. Neel Dhamesha, “The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you’ve probably never heard of,” Vox, May 6, 2022.
4. Lisa Frank and Kelly Leviker, “We’re campaigning for Microplastic Free Waters,” U.S. PIRG, April 16, 2024.
From November 13 to November 19 world meetings in Kenya are being held to try to stop the spread of plastic pollution. Plastic is a serious health problem, polluting our bodies and our environment. Made of fossil fuels plastic contains thousands of toxic materials and breaks down into to tiny microfibers that are found in every organ of our bodies. Recycling plastic intensifies the toxicity. Sign the Greenpeace petition below to help reduce plastic!
Make a concentrated effort to reduce your plastic exposure
A new study led by scientists from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has found that recycled plastics contain hundreds of toxic chemical compounds, including pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides and industrial compounds.
The scientists say this means plastics are not fit for most purposes
No plastics are safe or suitable for reuse or regeneration due to their toxic chemical content, as well as their ability to adsorb additional chemicals during use! https://www.ecowatch.com/recycled-plastics-toxic-chemicals-health-risks.html
| From Greenpeace: We need an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty to turn off the plastics tap and, finally, end the age of plastic. The movement is 2 million strong! Will you help grow it even bigger by calling for a strong Global Plastics Treaty to end the age of plastic, and signing our petition? |
| TAKE ACTION! |
| Together, let’s end the age of plastic! |
Walter Morris, “Hyattsville residents raise concerns about plastic pellets spilled in train derailment,” NBC4 Washington, October 3, 2023.
2. Neel Dhamesha, “The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you’ve probably never heard of,” Vox, May 6, 2022.
3. Karen McVeigh “Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of,” The Guardian, November 29, 2021.
4. Karen McVeigh, “Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of,” November 29, 2021.
5. Lisa Frank, “New bill would stop companies from dumping plastic,” U.S. PIRG, May 25, 2022.
6. “Our waters shouldn’t be dumping grounds for plastic,” U.S. PIRG, October 3, 2023.
7. Doyle Rice, “Oh, yuck! You’re eating about a credit card’s worth of plastic every week,” USA Today, June 12, 2019.
Living in a cold winter climate, I love my fleece shirts, and have been struggling with this information for a few months trying to ignore the facts.
Studies have shown the Mississippi River is full of these microfibers. These are even smaller than microbeads. Microbeads in soaps, make-up, and toothpaste created much worry and Congress has banned them. However, new studies are showing that microfibers are worse for us and wildlife than microbeads. Yikes, very confusing. Read the entire article on the Mississippi River study
Information from NPR:
“The innovation of synthetic fleece has allowed many outdoor enthusiasts to hike with warmth and comfort. But what many of these fleece-wearing nature lovers don’t know is that each wash of their jackets and pullovers releases thousands of microscopic plastic fibers, or microfibers, into the environment — from their favorite national park to agricultural lands to waters with fish that make it back onto our plates.
This has scientists wondering: Are we eating our sweaters’ synthetic microfibers?
Probably, says Chelsea Rochman, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Toronto, St. George. “Microfibers seem to be one of the most common plastic debris items in animals and environmental samples,” Rochman says.
In fact, peer-reviewed studies have shown that these synthetic microfibers — a type of plastic smaller than a millimeter in length and made up of various synthetic polymers — have popped up in table salt in China, in arctic waters and in fish caught off the coast of California. These tiny fibers make up 85 percent of human debris on shorelines across the globe, according to a 2011 study. They’re basically inescapable. So it’s not unlikely they’re finding their way into the human diet, especially in seafood.” NPR
https://health4earth.com/2014/07/16/what-products-contain-microbeads/
Health4earth 