I learn more every day about the magical murderous material we call plastic. And I’m delighted to report that I’ve been hearing from folks all over as we gear up for Earth Day in April, for which the theme will be— are you ready?— Planet vs. Plastics!!
This message arrives not a moment too soon. Perhaps you’ve noticed that new studies seem to be coming out every day telling us all the terrible places plastic is showing up, and what it costs us:
- Did you know that a new study estimates that exposure to plastic chemicals was responsible for $250 billion in health care costs in 2018 alone?
- Or that another study showed that 90% of food proteins- including chicken, fish, pork and plant-based meat alternatives- contain microplastics?
- Or that yet another study found that recycled plastic contains “an unknown number of chemical substances in unknown concentrations”?
- Did you know that the plastics industry has started lobbying your kids?
The bad news keeps coming. I think the temptation is to see bad news as a bad thing, as in: “Ugh! Can it get any worse?” but honestly I think this information is JUST WHAT WE NEED. We need to know the shocking information in order to motivate people towards change.
My mantra has become: not by bamboo toothbrushes alone will we stop the Plastic Waste Crisis. Yes, personal responsibility is important, but AT THE SAME TIME so is legislation. And speaking of legislation, Greenpeace is asking folks to tell the Biden Administration that they care about the Global Plastics Treaty being negotiated at the United Nations right now, in the form of an online petition you can sign. Here is what it looks like:
I’ve done it and it literally takes two minutes, so I’m asking everyone to take a moment and weigh in here.
Finally, here is a link to an awesome and very fun podcast interview I did with Jeffrey Treistman and Matthew Schmidt of Impolitic. We cover A LOT of ground, including Darth Vader, adult diapers, some very bad Dad jokes, and the argument against recycling plastic. I hope you’ll check it out- you can listen here.
Eve O. Schaub 
My husband has a question that he said he “doesn’t want a Google answer; he’d like to hear from a real person”: why aren’t paper bags a thing anymore?
Paper bags aren’t extinct! They’re a legit replacement for the super-harm-causing plastic bag. In Vermont the rule is now no plastic bags and paper bags cost you 5 cents. Of course the goal is to get folks to bring their own so there is NO disposable product, but a paper bag will break down in the environment and isn’t made with hundreds of toxic, untested chemicals that cause cancer and enodcrine dispruption, so if someone needs a bag paper is a far better choice than plastic.
Unfortunately in NJ the stores are giving us cheap plastic fabric reusable bags that end up breaking in a month and getting thrown out. 🙁 They have been accepting them back if you do grocery pickup but I’m not sure they reuse them.
I’m going to ask for paper badges the next time I order grocery pickup and see what happens.
Angela, In Australia we’ve ditched single-use plastic bags at the major grocery stores and they’re back to paper now. Many stores also offer boxes left over from stocking your shelves. I find the boxes are great (better than plastic and paper bags) because they’re durable and a good size to handle. Try asking your grocer if they could put your groceries in a box instead of a bag. It helps the store too- saves them from having to break down some boxes for recycling.