Plastics and Your Health

Earth Day is April 22 and in honor of it, the rest of the newsletters this month I will reflect on some simple things we can do to help her out. This week's newsletter is all about plastics and what they are doing to our health and easy swaps to help us reduce our exposure.

I have always felt a deep connection to the earth and all living things. I am a Taurus, an earth sign, the need to do my part to take care of it for future generations runs deep in my veins. When we take care of our environment, we are also taking care of our own health. They are so closely linked. I love this quote I had on our CSA website when we ran it:

“A TRUE CONSERVATIONIST IS A MAN WHO KNOWS THAT THE WORLD IS NOT GIVEN BY HIS FATHERS, BUT BORROWED FROM HIS CHILDREN.” ― JOHN JAMES AUDUBON

It is our responsibility to make sure that we do our part to create a world that is safe for all and is there for future generations. A good place to start is to look at plastics.

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Exposure & Plastic Use

First, I want to say, just try to replace what you can when you can. Maybe take one of these areas and work to reduce and replace it over the next month or so. Also, don’t just through it all out – part of helping out the planet is to reduce waste. For example, if you already have a box of K-Cup pods, finish them, and then make the switch. And recycle what you can – you’ll want to look at your local recycling rules. Here are some common places we come into contact with plastic that you can work to swap out.

Food that Comes in Plastic: Try to buy food that doesn’t come in plastic bags or wrapped in it whenever possible. I know that seems nearly impossible. When you do purchase food in a bag, do NOT heat your food in the plastic – even the microwavable bags that your frozen veggies come in. Anytime you heat up plastic it releases chemicals into your food. Put it into a glass or ceramic container and then heat it up from there.

Grocery bags: purchase or make reusable bags – get in the habit of keeping them in your car. They make produce bags too.

Plastic wrap & ziplock bags: use cloth beeswax wraps (I teach a class on how to make these by the way and also sell them if you don’t want to make them yourself) and reusable zipper bags, glass or stainless containers. There are compostable bags out there now too – just make sure it says that they are backyard compostable. A lot of companies are now using “compostable” as a marketing catch – their products must be composted in a composting facility with high heat and do not readily breakdown naturally.

Tupperware/Rubbermaid: switch to glass, stainless steel, or ceramic containers.

Plastic water bottles: purchase a glass or stainless steel water bottle. Remember the no heating food in plastic rule, also don’t leave your plastic water bottles in the sun or in a hot car – same concept. They even have ones now that have a built-in water filter – bonus!!

K-cup pods: switch to a reusable pod and paper filters and buy your coffee in bulk – you’ll also save yourself A LOT of money.

Straws: when you’re out, opt for no straw. At home, purchase stainless steel ones.

I have many more swaps to reduce your plastic use, but they may not be as easy as a swap: toothpaste, toothbrush, dishwasher pods, laundry pods, individually wrapped food items, shampoo/conditioner/soap bottles. The list could go on really. Just start somewhere.

Why Make the Change?

Plastic is a problem for both the environment and our health. Plastics don’t break down and are made with chemicals that leach back into the earth and into our bodies. They are also a major source of pollution.

How Plastics Harm Us

Because plastics and their chemicals are everywhere, we can’t avoid them, but we can reduce our exposure to lessen what we call our toxic load or toxic burden. The chemicals in plastics are part of a group of chemicals called xenoestrogens. Xeno means foreign. They disrupt the function of our endocrine system (called endocrine disruptors). Even though the xenohormones are not structured like our hormones, they have figured out how to bind to our estrogen receptors wreaking havoc on our bodies.

“Xenohormones are petrochemical, non-biodegradable, fat-soluble, antagonistic contaminants that are showing up where they don’t belong — inside our bodies” Dr. Ed Bauman

There are hundreds of chemicals from plastics that are considered toxic. It was hard to limit the content of this article. I must admit, doing the research for this article was super overwhelming to write, so I can imagine what it would have been like for you to read all that information, so I’m keeping it to one chemical that we are most often exposed to that you have some control over. It’s called bisphenol; you’ve probably heard of it.

BISPHENOLS

Bisphenols, such as bisphenol A (BPA), are used in reusable food and beverage containers, re-usable water bottles, the linings of food cans, medical and sports equipment, eyeglass lenses, thermal paper receipts, and plastic water pipes. We are exposed when BPA leaches from the containers and into the food or beverages we consume.

Why are they harmful. According to an article by the Endocrine Society, “A large body of evidence confirms that BPA can affect brain development and behavior. Exposure can increase anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, inattention, behavioral problem, and is also associated with adverse reproductive outcomes affecting cell division in eggs. BPA is associated with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)—a complex hormonal condition associated with irregular menstrual cycles, reduced fertility, and increased risk of diabetes. In men, BPA affects fertility and is associated with sexual dysfunction among men exposed to high occupational levels. BPA is associated with breast, prostate, ovarian, and endometrial cancers.”

How Plastics Harm Our Environment

Most of the plastic used in the world is for short term use items: wrappers, food packaging, plastic utensils, straws, etc. The world produces on average 430 million tons per year. According to the United Nations, over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastics are dumped…into our waterways: oceans, rivers, lakes. They project pollution from plastic will triple by 2060 with no action. Here is where the plastics are going:

• Most harmful and most persistent fraction of marine litter, accounting for at least 85% of total marine waste – found in the digestive systems of very marine turtle species, many seabird and mammals

• Plastic packaging is the reason for the majority (36%) of plastic production.

• 46% of plastic waste is landfilled

• 22% becomes litter

• 17% is incinerated

• 15% is collected for recycling, with less than 9% actually recycled after losses

A committee has been formed, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, to tackle this on a global scale. This is a global problem and we as consumers can’t do it all on our own. Not all hope is lost though, as we can have an impact with our shopping dollars. You can help reduce your exposure to these harmful chemicals and help planet Earth. You get to choose what to buy and that shaped industry offerings.