Plastics
To many, in the environmental sphere, the word plastics is like MRSA is to an infection control nurse!
A quick Google search reveals “Plastics are evil” because they:
- Are made from oil
- Live in the landfill for a long time
- Contain harmful chemicals that make Men grow breasts
- Litter the sand, and sea!
- Cause Breast Cancer
The litter, the origin of plastics, and the long-term breakdown of things made of plastic is undeniable. The health effects are being debated by researchers. The final answer may be years in coming.
If you are wanting to be the most green on your street, what are you to do? The Huffington Post, has this list of ways to decrease your plastic use.
But for those that just want to use common sense and frugality, what are the best ways to deal with the plastic in your life?
7 Tips For Cutting Back on Plastic Use
Homage to Recycling-photo by ann
- Avoid fast food- containers made with plastic, the food is not healthy and costs more.
- Use re-usable bags-If everyone used them, costs at the market would go down, and litter would drop too!
- Don’t buy water in plastic bottles. Use reusable metal or glass. I like tap water, if you don’t- buy a filter.
- Cook at home (this is what you do, when you don’t buy fast food!) Dust the cobwebs out of your oven first.
- Put food up-using old fashioned glass containers
- Recycle
- Carry your coffee mug with you-coffee is usually cheaper if you use your own mug, and I think it tastes better without the Styrofoam or hard plastic cup.
In medicine plastics are everywhere. They are in the syringe, IV bags, and tubing. They are in ambu- masks used in anesthesia. They are invaluable.
But where possible we need to decrease its use.
Are you not as irritated as I by all the thousands of plastic bags on the side of the road, and at the beach?
We have to start somewhere, and I am going to start with me. I vow to do better!
- I will not whine when my wife wants to go to the recycle center on the weekend!
- I will try to keep a cloth bag in my truck for my runs to the library and market!
- I will pick up the litter on my walks through the neighborhood!
That’s enough for today, as I don’t buy bottled water. And you don’t see me without a coffee mug from home in my hand.
What will you do, Today?
Tags: decreasing plastics use, plastics, plastics and cancer, plastics and recycling
