Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Plastic Pollution

By JOEL D. JOSEPH

Plastic pollution is slowly killing us. The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (March 2024) recently reported that for the first time scientists have linked tiny plastic particles, the result of degraded plastic pollution, to cardiovascular disease.

Researchers have cataloged thousands of chemicals found in plastic. Many of these have been linked to health hazards, according to Tracy Woodruff, PhD, a professor of reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. Dr. Maricel Maffini, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, found that many plastics are used widely but have yet to be adequately studied or tested for safety. What’s more, tiny bits of plastic, known as microplastics, break off plastic all the time and are now found in food, water and air. And these tiny bits of plastic not only can leach chemicals but also may present risks all their own. Plastic particles have been found in human arteries, lungs and many other body parts.

In addition, plastic particles are killing bees. Microplastics are now so abundant in bee hives that they are interfering with bee reproduction. Thirteen different synthetic polymers were found in bees according to a study of honeybees and microplastics in Denmark. The study was published in Science of the Total Environment (May, 2021). Albert Einstein once said that if bees are eliminated, humans have only four years to live.

Here are 10 simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family, and your community, from plastic pollution:

• Get rid of plastic cutting boards. Cutting carrots on a plastic cutting board can release up to 15 milligrams of microplastics per cut, or about 50 grams per year. These small plastic particles will be ingested along with your vegetables.

• Don’t use plastic water bottles. 600 billion plastic water bottles are disposed of annually worldwide. A quart of bottled water can contain around 240,000 plastic particles with about 90% of those being nanoplastics, extremely small plastic particles, too small to be seen by the naked eye. Use metal water bottles or glassware.

• Avoid plastic produce bags. Around 5 trillion plastic bags are produced annually worldwide, which is equivalent to 160,000 plastic bags every second. If laid side by side, these bags could circle the world seven times. Use paper bags instead of plastic, or use biodegradable plastic bags. Trader Joe’s provides biodegradable plastic produce bags.

• Don’t use liquid laundry detergent. 620 million detergent bottles are disposed of in the U.S. per year. Use powdered detergent or detergent sheets.

• Avoid plastic storage bags. The average American family uses 500 zippered plastic storage bags every year. This totals a whopping 50 billion plastic bags a year. Use glass jars instead of plastic bags.

• Buy an organic mattress. Many mattresses contain plastics that offgas chemicals. In the United States, approximately 20 million mattresses are thrown away each year which is about 55,000 mattresses per day. Globally, only about 19% of mattresses are recycled.

• Don’t use plastic cups. Five hundred billion plastic cups are manufactured worldwide each year. Replace these with paper cups or glassware.

• Avoid plastic hangers. Eight billion plastic hangers are thrown away every year. Switch to metal or wooden hangers.

• Don’t use plastic tape. A leading plastic tape manufacturer produces over 12 million miles of tape each year, which is the equivalent of 22 miles per minute. Paper tape works well for shipping packages. As an alternative, you can use 3M Box Lock paper packaging tape.

• Avoid bubble wrap. Around 240,000 miles of bubble wrap are produced each year, which is enough to circle the Earth’s equator 10 times. As an alternative, you can use 3M Cushion Lock packing material which is made out of paper.

If everyone reduces plastic use, we will have a cleaner, less polluted planet. Do your part. It will make you and your family healthier and help solve a massive worldwide problem.

Joel D. Joseph is CEO of California Association for Recycling All Trash (www.calrecycles.com) and author of “50 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution.”

From The Progressive Populist, November 15, 2024

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