[GPSCC-chat] Fwd: Please, Say NO to Plastic

[Azure Sea]

 FYI - timely, moving article from Green America blog.  Lori


October 24, 2011 / GreenAmerica.org TracyRysavy
 Plastic Monday: Say No to “Stupid Plastic”
*cancer* <http://blog.greenamerica.org/tag/cancer/>,
*neurotoxicants*<http://blog.greenamerica.org/tag/neurotoxicants/>,
*oceans* <http://blog.greenamerica.org/tag/oceans/>,
*plastic*<http://blog.greenamerica.org/tag/plastic/>,
*recycling* <http://blog.greenamerica.org/tag/recycling/>

We just sent our latest issue of the *Green American* to the printer, so in
about three weeks, you’ll be getting “Take the Plastic Challenge” in your
mailboxes—or e-mail inboxes, if you’ve signed up to *get our publications in
digital format*<https://www.greenamerica.org/supportus/join/100paperless.cfm?source=WJ-AN1&step=form&trk=PLASTICMONDAYS&ask=x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-20>.
In honor of the editorial team hitting our latest deadline, I thought I’d
offer a small sneak peek at our upcoming plastics-centered theme.

When my fellow editors and I started looking into the social and
environmental impacts of plastic, we expected to find plenty of things to be
concerned about. What we didn’t expect was to be freaking out as much as we
are about plastic.

Because once you really start thinking about it, you notice that plastic is
EVERYWHERE. As author Susan Freinkel points out in her book *Plastic: A Love
Story*, you probably can’t go five minutes after waking up in the morning
without touching something plastic (i.e. alarm clock, glasses, toothbrush,
soap dispenser, towel rack, and oh-my-gosh … toilet seat).

There are two big reasons to flip out over how pervasive plastic has become
worldwide since Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented Bakelite (the first
commercially successful plastic) in 1907:

Reason number one to flip out over plastic: Tons and tons of it—especially
single-use plastic like packaging, food wrappers, and plastic bags—are
ending up on beaches and in the ocean, where the stuff is choking fish and
albatrosses, wrapping itself around dolphins and sea lions, and burying baby
sea turtles in their nests before they can even make their first trek to the
ocean. Try doing a Google search for “plastic” and any one of those animals.
Better yet, don’t. The images are awful.

Reason number two to flip out over plastic: A study published in the July
2011 issue of *Environmental Health Perspectives* found that hundreds of
types of plastics of every single resin code number (those numbers 1-7 in
the recycling symbol on plastic products) leach hormone-disrupting
chemicals. Hormone disrupters have been linked to obesity,
neurodevelopmental impacts, and cancer in humans.

Every single resin code number.

Longtime Green America members might remember that several years ago, I
asked you all to come up with a cute mnemonic to remember that plastics
numbered 3, 6 , and 7 were the ones to really worry about when it comes to
toxins, while 1, 2, 4, and 5 were fairly safe. (One person came up with, “1,
2, 4, and 5 help keep you alive. 3, 6, and 7 send you straight to heaven,”
FYI.)

Well, throw that out the window, because all plastic might just be leaching
toxins.

So now that I’m extra mindful of the plastic in my life, what am I going to
do about it? It’s not realistic to aim to wipe plastic off the face of the
Earth. There are a lot of great things that plastic has made possible, like
artificial hearts, lightweight glasses, and Kevlar vests for police
officers.

As I mention in my letter in the upcoming *Green American*, one activist who
appeared in the 2010 documentary film *Bag It* brilliantly summed up what
has now become Green America’s official position on plastic: “We’re not
saying no to all plastic,” he said. “We’re saying no to *stupid* plastic.”

So Green America senior writer Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist, online editor Andrew
Korfhage, and I will be challenging ourselves to say no to stupid plastic.
Every Monday from now through the end of November (at least), we’ll be
blogging about how we’ve gotten stupid plastic out of our lives, and where
we’re facing challenges.

So come join us every “Plastic Monday.” Tell us in the comments section how
you’ve gotten stupid plastic out of your lives, ask us questions, or talk
through your plastic challenges with the Green America community.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

*Blogger Beth Terry (MyPlasticFreeLife.com<http://www.myplasticfreelife.com/>)
says that the two biggest things people can do to get rid of stupid plastic
are to give up bottled water and to bring your own reusable bags to the
store. What are your top ways to purge plastic from your life?*
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